Piazza del Popolo

Piazza del Popolo is situated in Rome, at the feet of the Pincio.

Pope Sisto V, who had a passion for town planning, decided to build a square. He also had a passion for obelisks and he therefore commissioned Domenico Fontana for the realisation of the Obelisco Flaminio which is 24 metres high.

The square has been subjected to many elaborations and is now the best example of architectural stratification. On the right hand side of the square there is the Porta del Popolo which, for more than a thousand years, has represented the main entrance to Rome for those coming from the North. Its external facade was commissioned to Nanni di Baccio Bigio.

Beside the door there is the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, which has survived many restorations and nowadays one notes a Baroque style which is thanks to G. L. Bernini who also restored the internal facade of the door.

The form of the square was firstly trapezoid, it took its present form only at the end of the XVIII century.

During the occupation by Napoleon the architectural and urbanistic aspect of the square was rivisted by Giuseppe Valadier who enriched the square with numerous fountains and who gave it an elliptical shape which stretched out towards the Terrazza del Pincio.

This last has become one of the most famous walkways in Rome, also frequented by Popes.

During the Fascist era the last structural intervention was carried out. The square, nowadays, is a large pedestrian area which can host about 30,000 people.