Piazza del Popolo

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Map

Piazza del Popolo

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Piazza del Popolo was designed to provide a scenic entrance to Rome for the countless visitors who arrived from the north, along theVia Flaminia. 

Porta del Popolo

The monumental Porta del Popolo (once known as the Porta Flaminia), which stands on the site of an ancient Roman gate, was originally built by Pope Sixtus IV (r. 1471-84) for the Jubilee Year of 1475. 

At the behest of Pope Pius IV (r. 1559-65), the gate was rebuilt by the Florentine architect Nanni di Baccio Bigio (c. 1512-68), apparently to a design by Michelangelo. The inscription proclaims: PIVS IIII PONT MAX / PORTAM IN HANC AMPLI / TVDINEM EXTVLIT / VIAM FLAMINIAM / STRAVIT ANNO III (Pius the Fourth, Pontifex Maximus, elevated the gate to its present grandeur, and paved the Via Flaminia, in his third year).  In 1638 the two statues of St Peter and St Paul, the work of the sculptor Francesco Mochi (1580-1654), were added to the Porta del Popolo. 

Piazza del Popolo (1718) by Gaspar Van Wittel

The inner face of the gate was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) for Pope Alexander VII (r. 1655-67) in honour of the arrival of Christina of Sweden (ex monarch of Sweden and a recent convert to Catholicism), who made her official entry to Rome on December 3rd, 1655. Bernini added the armorial bearings of Alexander VII, a pyramid of six hills and an eight-pointed star, and the inscription: FELICI · FAVSTOQ · INGRESSVI / ANNO · DOM · MDCLV (To a happy and auspicious entrance, the year of our Lord 1655). ​

Inscription by Pope Alexander VII

In 1887 the two lateral archways were opened, after the demolition of the projecting towers flanking the gate. 

18th century Engraving by Giuseppe Vasi

The two inscriptions above the side gates read: ANNO MDCCCLXXIX / RESTITVTAE LIBERTATIS X / TVRRIBVS VTRINQVE DELETIS / FRONS PRODVCTA INSTAVRATA (In the year 1879, the tenth since the restoration of liberty, with the demolition of the towers on each side, the facade was extended and restored) and SPQR / VRBE ITALIAE VINDICATA / INCOLIS FELICITER AVCTIS / GEMINOS FORNICES CONDIDIT (The Senate and the Roman People, in the light of Italy's appropriation of the city, and the happy increase of the population, built the twin arches).

The 'Flaminio' Obelisk

Just inside the gate stands the 15th century church of Santa Maria del Popolo.  The centre-piece of the piazza is an ancient Egyptian obelisk, which once graced the spina of the Circus Maximus. 

Fountain of the Goddess Roma

The layout of the piazza was transformed by the Roman architect Giuseppe Valadier (1762-1839), at the behest of Pope Pius VII (r. 1800-23). Valadier designed the two hemicycles, which give the piazza its pleasing symmetry.

​The focal point of each hemicycle is a grand fountain; on the west side is the Fontana del Nettuno (Fountain of Neptune) and on the east the Fontana del Dea Roma (Fountain of the Goddess Roma, both the work of the Roman sculptor Giovanni Ceccarini (1790-1861). 

Fountain of Neptune

​At either end of each hemicycle stand statues depicting the four seasons (see bottom of page). 

Fountain of the Lions

Valadier also added the four fountains at the base of the obelisk. ​

Plaque to Pius VII

A plaque on the north side of the piazza records the intervention of Pope Pius VII. It reads: PIVS · VII · PONT · MAX · / FORI · AREAM / PER · HEMYCICLOS · PORREXIT / ET · GEMINO · FONTE · EXORNAVIT / VT · AEDIFICIIS · BINIS · VTRIMQVE / VNA · PARITER · EXSTRVCTIS /  PRINCIPEM · VRBIS · ADITVM / NOVO · CVLTV · NOBILITARET / PONT · ANNO · XXIV (Pius VII Pontifex Maximus extended the confines of the piazza with hemicycles and embellished it with twin fountains in order that by the two buildings constructed uniformly on each side he might ennoble with new refinement the city's chief approach in the 24th year of his pontificate).

Piazza del Popolo at Dawn

Three long streets, popularly known as il Tridente, radiate from the southern side of the piazza. Via del Corso (the central street) is flanked by a pair of Baroque churches: Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto. The street on the left is Via del Babuino, while the street on the right is the Via del Ripetta. ​

Plaque in Memory of Angelo Targhini & Leonida Montanari

A plaque near the gate (Porta del Popolo) is a grim reminder that Piazza del Popolo was also once the site of public executions. The plaque states that Angelo Targhini and Leonida Montanari, two members of a political group known as the Carbonari, were executed in the piazza on November 23rd 1825.

Giovanni Battista Bugatti (1779–1869) was Rome's official executioner from 1796 to 1864. Nicknamed Mastro Titta, a corruption of maestro di giustizia (Master of Justice), he was the city's longest-serving executioner. ​​

Spring by Filippo Guaccarini

Summer by F. M. Laboureur

Autumn by Achille Stocchi

Winter by Felice Raini

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