Via Giulia

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  • Address
    near Campo De' Fiori, Via Giulia, Centro Storico
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  • Transport
    bus: Via Giulia

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Lonely Planet review

Designed by Bramante as an approach road to St Peter's, Via Giulia is a picturesque street lined with Renaissance palazzi and potted orange trees. The Michelangelo-designed Arco Farnese is near one end and the street is lined with other works, as well as the Museo Criminologico with its torture and execution displays.

At its southern end, near Ponte Sisto, is the Fontana del Mascherone, a baroque fountain depicting a 17th-century hippy surprised by water spewing from his mouth. The Arco Farnese, covered with cascading ivy creepers, was built to a design by Michelangelo and was constructed as part of an unfinished project to connect Palazzo Farnese with Villa Farnesina on the opposite side of the Tiber.

A bit north, on the left, in Via di Sant'Eligio, is Chiesa di Sant'Eligio degli Orefici (; - Mon-Fri), the 16th-century goldsmiths' church designed by Raphael. Buzz at Via di Sant'Eligio 7 for admission.

Further down, the Museo Criminologico (06 683 00 234; www.museocriminologico.it; Via del Gonfalone 29) provides a break from the Renaissance eye-candy with macabre displays of torture devices and guillotines.

The area at the northern end of Via Giulia is known as the Quartiere Fiorentino because of the Florentine colony that once lived here.