Piazza sights in Rome
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Campo de' Fiori
Noisy, colourful 'Il Campo' is a major focus of Roman life: by day it hosts a much-loved market, while at night it morphs into a raucous open-air pub. Towering over the square is the Obi-Wan-like form of Giordano Bruno, a monk who was burned at the stake for heresy in 1600.
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Piazza Navona
With its baroque palazzi and extravagant fountains, pavement cafes, hawkers and surging crowds, stadium-sized Piazza Navona is Rome's most iconic public square. Laid out on the ruins of an arena built by Domitian in AD 86, it was paved over in the 15th century and for almost 300 years hosted the city's main market.
Of the piazza's three fountains, Bernini's high-camp Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) dominates. Depicting personifications of the Nile, Ganges, Danube and Plate rivers, it's festooned with a palm tree, lion and horse and topped by an obelisk. Legend has it that the figure of the Nile is shielding his eyes from the Chiesa di Sant'Agnese in…
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Piazza San Pietro
One of the world’s great public spaces, the piazza was laid out by Gian Lorenzo Bernini between 1656 and 1667 for Pope Alexander VII. Seen from above, it resembles a giant keyhole with two semicircular colonnades, each consisting of four rows of Doric columns, encircling a giant ellipse that straightens out to funnel believers into the basilica. The effect was deliberate – Bernini described the colonnades as representing ‘the motherly arms of the church’. The 25m obelisk in the centre was brought to Rome by Caligula from Heliopolis in Egypt and later used by Nero as a turning post for the chariot races in his circus.
The scale of the piazza is dazzling: at its…
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Piazza del Campidoglio
This elegant piazza, designed by Michelangelo in 1538, is the centrepiece of the Campidoglio (Capitoline Hill), one of the seven hills on which Rome was founded. In ancient times, Rome's two most important temples stood here: one dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus and the other (which housed Rome's mint) to Juno Moneta. More than 2000 years on, the hill is still a political powerhouse as the seat of Rome's municipal government.
You can reach the piazza from the Roman Forum, but the most dramatic approach is via the Cordonata, the graceful staircase that leads up from Piazza d'Ara Coeli. At the top, the piazza is bordered by three palazzi: Palazzo Nuovo to the left, Palazzo…
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Piazza Colonna
Together with Piazza di Montecitorio, this stylish piazza is Rome’s political nerve centre. On its northern flank, the 16th-century Palazzo Chigi has been the official residence of Italy’s prime minister since 1961.
Rising 30m above the piazza, the Colonna di Marco Aurelio was completed in AD 193 to honour Marcus Aurelius’ military victories. The vivid reliefs depict scenes from battles against the Germanic tribes (169–173) and, further up, the Sarmatians (174–176). In 1589 Marcus was replaced on the top of the column with a bronze statue of St Paul.
South of the piazza, in Piazza di Pietra, is the Tempio di Adriano. Eleven huge Corinthian columns, now embedded in…
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Piazza del Quirinale
A wonderful spot to enjoy a glowing Roman sunset, this piazza marks the summit of the Quirinale hill. The central obelisk was moved here from the Mausoleo di Augusto in 1786 and is flanked by 5.5m statues of Castor and Pollux reining in a couple of rearing horses.
If you’re in the neighbourhood on a Sunday you can catch the weekly changing of the guard (6pm in summer, 4pm the rest of the year).
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Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II Piazza
Laid out in the late 19th century as the centrepiece of an upmarket residential district, Rome’s biggest square is a grassy expanse with a down-at-heel feel, surrounded by speeding traffic, porticoes and bargain stores. Within the fenced-off central section are the ruins of Trofei di Mario, once a fountain at the end of an aqueduct. In the northern corner, the Chiesa di Sant’Eusebio is popular with pet-owners who bring their animals to be blessed on St Anthony’s feast day (17 January).
The square itself hosts cultural festivals throughout the year and an outdoor film festival in the summer.
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Piazza Barberini
More a traffic thorough- fare than a place to linger, this noisy square is named after the Barberini family, one of Rome’s great dynastic clans. In the centre, the Bernini-designed Fontana del Tritone (Fountain of the Triton) depicts the sea-god Triton blowing a stream of water from a conch while seated in a large scallop shell supported by four dolphins. Bernini also crafted the Fontana delle Api (Fountain of the Bees) in the northeastern corner, again for the Barberini family, whose crest featured three bees in flight.
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Piazza della Repubblica
Flanked by grand 19th-century neoclassical colonnades, this landmark piazza was laid out as part of Rome’s post-unification makeover. It follows the lines of the semicircular exedra (benched portico) of Diocletian’s baths complex and was originally known as Piazza Esedra. In the centre, the Fontana delle Naiadi aroused puritanical ire when it was unveiled by architect Mario Rutelli in 1901. The nudity of the four naiads or water nymphs, who surround the central figure of Glaucus wrestling a fish, was considered too provocative – how Italy has changed. Each reclines on a creature symbolising water in a different form: a water snake (rivers), a swan (lakes), a lizard…
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Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta
At the southern end of Via di Santa Sabina, this ornate cypress-shaded square takes its name from the Cavalieri di Malta (Knights of Malta), who have their Roman headquarters here, in the Priorato dei Cavalieri di Malta. Although it’s closed to the public, the priory offers one of Rome’s most charming views: look through the keyhole and you’ll see the dome of St Peter’s perfectly aligned at the end of a hedge-lined avenue.
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