Click the map for a larger view
Yes, that’s right Italy lovers…today is the beginning of the end of our walking tour of central Rome. The heart of Rome has history, romance, intrigue, and of course, wonderful sights.
As a recap…since you’ve been sleeping and dreaming of Italy since we started our tour a few weeks ago…here is where we’ve been and what we’ve seen:
This is one of my longest articles of Italy. It may be that getting through it will take longer than the actual walk through central Rome. But please, don’t let that discourage you…read on, dear reader.
Today, we visit a Piazza and a Campo. The word “piazza” shows up as “square” using my Google translate app. And “Campo” comes out as “field”. Today’s piazza is not a square, and our campo is not a field, though it used to be. But, we won’t let that literary quirk stop us from having a wonderful end to our special walk through the central part of Rome.
And, as you can see by clicking on the map above, the walk covers a lot of sightseeing in a short distance and time. From 9/10ths to 1 1/3rd miles in less than an hour if one were not prone to stop and gawk at the sights, as we have surely been doing. And, are you hungry yet after that delicious breakfast at Antico Caffe Greco?
THE WALK BEGINS…or I should say CONTINUES
We have just completed our visit to the Pantheon. This ancient building with its architectural uniqueness really captured our attention. And, let’s not forget that very tall column of exquisitely carved tribute to a Roman emperor of old. Here are just two reminder photos to jog your memory…and you can click HERE to review that Part 2 episode.
WE ARE OFF TO PIAZZA NAVONA
Here is the route of our very short walk to fame.
The walk from The Pantheon to Piazza Navona
Walk out of the Pantheon (note: you will not get to Piazza Navona if you stay in the Pantheon).
Immediately turn left (sinistra) and walk along Salita de Crescenzi (Crescenti’s Climb)…which is no climb at all.
After a 370-foot walk, you will come to a T-intersection at Via della Dogana Vechia (Old Custom’s Street) where you turn right (destra).
Walk 147 feet and turn left (sinistra) on Via del Salvator (Savior Street).
Stroll 312feet and turn left (sinistra) on Corso del Rinascimento (Course of the Renaissance).
You will come to an ally-like street after a walk of 80 feet, where you will turn right (destra) onto Corsia Agonale (Diagonal Lane).
Our destination is now in sight dead ahead, so walk 45 feet & 7 inches and you will be at, in and on Piazza Navona.
Regarding the distances referenced above, Google has a wonderful measurement feature. Whether you are interested in feet or miles, it is convenient and easy to use. I will go over the use of Google maps for your travels soon.
Piazza Navona
The first thing that you will notice about Piazza Navona is that it is definitely not a square, but an oval of 145 feet by 800 feet. The oval shape tracks its history.
The Piazza was the site of a 1st century stadium called The Stadium of Domitian. It was built by Emperor Titus Flavious Domitianus in AD 86 for the people of Rome to use for athletic games. The stadium was also known as the Circus Agonalis, or competition arena.
Its current oval shape follows the form of that stadium, which is long gone, and the arena floor was well below the present elevation of the piazza. Today, Piazza Navona sits over the interior arena, and grandstands holding around 30,000 people surrounded the arena floor, and the buildings you see surrounding the piazza would obviously not be there in the Stadium of Domitian days. With the surrounding grandstands, the width was 350 feet, with a length of 900 feet. Archeologists believe that the outside perimeter height was 100 feet above ground level, and the row one seats would be about 15 feet above the arena floor.
That arena would seem to be a perfect place for Charleston Heston to stage a Ben Hur sort of chariot race (if you have not seen that 1959 movie, I suggest that you do - check Amazon Prime), though I find no mention of any races other than those done on human feet.
Antonio Joli’s painting of a flooded Piazza Navona
So, right now as we begin our circuit of the piazza, we are on the arena floor and none of your fans are sitting in the grandstands. As a matter of fact, those grandstands have been gone for many centuries. However, we are a bit above that original arena floor, and that lower floor created an interesting diversion from normal athletics, as one could flood the arena for aquatic events. From 1652 until 1866, those floodings were held every Saturday and Sunday of August to celebrate the august Pamphili family (the family of Pope Innocent X). This painting by Antonio Joli depicts just such an event.
A little over 150 years ago, the pavement level was raised. The market that was held on the piazza was moved to nearby Campo de' Fiori, which is our next and final destination today.
Do you enjoy a European Christmas market? Each year a Christmas market is held in the piazza from the first week of December until the first week of January.
Let’s see what the piazza floor has in store for us in our 21st century.
The Piazza Navona Fountains
There are three fountains in the piazza…one at each end and one in the middle. When we were reading about the Trevi Fountain last month, we learned about the ancient Aqua Virgo aqueduct. Restoration of that piped water supply facilitated the construction of these three public fountains.
The northern most fountain is called the Fountain of Neptune created by Giacomo della Porta in 1574.
Fontana del Nettuno -or- Fountain of Neptune
The basin of the Fountain of Neptune (which originally was bare with no sculptures) was designed in 1574 by Giacomo Della Porta. It was sponsored by pope Gregory XIII. For the next 300 years, the fountain survived without statues. Then, in 1878 two sculptors added embellishments.
The first embellishment was Neptune fighting with an octopus. Antonio della Bitta was the creator of this rather entertaining sculpture. In my opinion, the overall fountain just wouldn’t be the same without Neptune poking an octopus.
The second embellishment was created by Gregorio Zappala, and it consists of the statues around the perimeter.
Let’s take a look at this fountain with its added sculptures. Click on the left image to get a larger view, but only if you do not mind seeing genitalia. Trust me on this statement: In Italy, male genitalia are very prevalent in statuary, as are female breasts, evidently.
Fontana del Moro -or- Fountain of the Moor
This fountain at the south end of the piazza mirrors in size and shape the Neptune fountain at the north end. And actually, both fountains were designed by Giacomo della Porta at the same time. It got its embellishments in the 1650s by Gian Lorenzo Benini and Giovanni Antonio Mari.
Here you see a nautical scene with tritons, so-called angry dolphins, a large conch shell, and a tush.
And, I just couldn’t move on without you getting a prime shot of this next guy. I’m pleased to say that I haven’t felt that way recently…how about you?!
Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi -or- Fountain of the Four Rivers
This is the premier fountain of Piazza Navona. It was designed in 1651 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for Pope Innocent X, and it celebrates the papal authority of four different continents…each represented by a major river of that continent.
Those rivers are:
the Nile representing Africa,
the Danube representing Europe,
the Ganges representing Asia, and
the Río de la Plata representing the Americas.
I could certainly bore you with the details of each of the gods represented and how they apply to specific rivers and their continents, but I think enough has been said.
The obelisk is made of Aswan granite and is connected with the emperor Domitian
And oh, at the tippy-top is a dove with an olive twig.
To see the images in larger size, click/tap the first one and work your way through.
Traveling companion Sue Lee used her cellphone to make a panorama photo of Piazza Navona. Because of the distortion one gets with a very wide panorama, it loses its long oval shape, and looks like it’s coming at you and then going away from you. Here is her photo, with the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone at the center.
Piazza Navona by Sue Lee
Though the photo well shows the tourist attracted to this piazza, I was wondering what this site would look like without those tourists. So, I spent about 5 minutes removing them. Here is my revision of Sue Lee’s photo. Same base photo, but with some Photoshop magic.
Piazza Navona without Sue Lee’s Tourists
Evening on Piazza Navona
Though we always enjoy our time at Piazza Navona during the day, it really comes alive in the evening. Street buskers, musicians, and such abound. On the northern end of the piazza, al fresco dining can be found. We enjoyed our meal at Ristorante Tre Scalini (three steps) and I’ve thrown in a couple of photos of our dining there.
LET’S HEAD TO CAMPO DE FIORI
Piazza Navona to Campo di Fiori [Click/Tap the map to enlarge it]
We have a very short 1,000 foot walk to the final destination of our Central Rome Walking Tour. This map shows you the suggested route, but of course you can twist and turn on your own to get to Campo de Fiori, or in English Field of Flowers.
At the Fontana Del Moro end of Piazza Navona (south end), take a right onto Via Di Pasquina for a very short 175 foot walk.
At the very small and triangular-shaped Piazza Di Pasquina, take a very sharp left onto Via di San Pantaleo, where it is about 250 feet to the Piazza di San Pantaleo, where you stay to the right as you prepare to cross Corso Vittorio Emanuele II.
As you cross Corso Vittorio Emanuele II bare right a bit and enter a street named Piazza Della Cancelleria (the Chancellery Square), where you walk 350 feet to our destination of Campo di Fiori.
But First!! Let’s Recall Some Things Along Our Way!!!
We’ve had an interesting walk this today, and we’ve seen some very interesting sights. Not only those covered in our three-part journey, but just sights around us not of the sightseeing variety. Here are a few of those that we’ve seen on our own journeys over the years. But please, stay tuned for our Campo di Fiori visit that will end our walk today.
We Had Lunch at Pizzarcano
Other Food Things We Saw
PLEASE NOTE: For each photo gallery, please click the first image to get a full-screen view, and then work your way through the photos. If you are using a computer (preferred), hover the mouse pointer of the image and then use your arrow keys to advance through the photos…this way you can see the captions for each photo. When photos begin to repeat, click the “X” at the top right of the screen to exit the gallery.
People We Saw Doing Things
Other Things Along The Way
Rome “Stumbling Blocks”
IN MEMORIAM
Here is an image from which I published a blog article in 2015. Please read about it here, and remember the impact.
And Now, Our Final Destination - Campo di Fiori
I was looking at Campo di Fiori using the Google Street View and an image appeared that captured my interest because one never sees Campo di Fiori during the day without a myriad of tents covering the campo. The aerial view shows what I mean. The statue dead center in the aerial view is the same as the one in the street view.
A Bit of Campo History
This campo was once an actual field of flowers during the middle ages. It is unique in Rome, as it is the only monumental square in the historic center not to house a church or basilica. The campo was built by Pope Calixtus III on that site of colorful flowers. Then, in 1440, the square was paved, with inns and hostels for pilgrims rising around its perimeter. As mentioned way above regarding Piazza Navona, the market that you see now in the campo was previously held in Piazza Navona, but was moved here in 1869.
What Do You Find In The Market? The market, consisting of fruits, vegetables and flowers, takes place every morning except Sunday, so plan accordingly. There is much variety under the tents. And, though it is a bustling market by day, it is even more bustling in the evening with dining and drinking.
What is really amazing is the mobility of all of those tents and their wares. All of the tents you see above in the aerial view of the campo, have to be removed along with their wares, each afternoon. The campo is market-vacant in the late evening for al fresco dining, and then in the early hours of the morning it slowly comes to life with vendors once again setting up their tents/stalls. Most stalls close by early afternoon so the campo can be cleared, so visit early.
Once dusk falls, things change dramatically, with al fresco restaurants and cocktail bars coming to life.
Ellen, Debbie & Scott 2012
Yes, we’ve arrived…no ifs or ands, but butts!
Our Market Favorite
Mauro Berardi
So, here is our favorite market vendor, where we come back during every Rome visit to gather Italian cooking spices.
Mauro Berardi’s spice market…where he has many culinary-related items.
Here is a recent 2023 photo of friendly Mauro.
Mauro has been running his business for many years. Here is an older photo of Mauro (same glasses and earring) and friend Debbie from 2012. Debbie has her credit card handy while she is doing a bit of negotiation with Mauro.
The area of Mauro’s tents cover a lot of territory.
Here are a number of photos of our shopping at Mauro’s site. You will note a lot of bending over to sniff at specialty of dried spices…and we always buy several bags to bring back home to use in our self-cooked Italian meals.
These sniffing photos are from past trips. The last photos in this gallery from 2023 show items that have been added since earlier trips. But, the spices are still prevalent!
There is a statue in the middle of Campo di Fiori. I won’t go into that story. If you want to, just do a search for Giordano Bruno.
Dining in Campo di Fiori
As I have mentioned above, the campo in the evening is a dining and drinking extravaganza. I’ll have to admit that we never participated in the evening, as we are usually staying quite a way from the campo. However, we have dined here during the day, and we were completely pleased with our meals.
Unfortunately, it seems that the ristorante that we enjoyed in 2012 is no longer on the campo. I can see the word “Arancia” in a couple of photos, so the osteria’s or trattoria’s name probably had to something to do with oranges.
Anyway, to give you an idea of the campo life during the day that is not related to the market tents/stalls, here are a few photos of our typical Roman lunch. It includes some local kids who enjoy playing in a lite rain.
And of course, we have to start with a Banfi Chianti!
I’m sad to say that the walk is over, once again. This walk is one of our favorite things to do with friends who are visiting Rome for the first time. With the exception of the Capuchin Crypt, none of the features on our walk require tickets or reservations. And, the walk is not in any way strenuous.
Of course, this is not the extent of Rome, as there is the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and many dining opportunities. So, don’t wander far, as I will be continuing our recent time in Rome in the coming weeks. And then, we will visit Siena, Tuscany, Florence, and of course…our favorite, Venice!
And, just in case you missed it, the route that we took to get to Italy started in Zurich and transportation was provided by the Bernina Express through the Swiss Alps, as we headed to bella Bellagio. See it> Bellagio/Why Go?, Bellagio/Getting There.
If you want to jump ahead a bit, here are some Rome sites that I have already written about:
The Vatican: This is in two parts, so after going through Part 1, please go on to Part 2. I will be making an addendum soon just to suggest that a private tour guide be used, rather than a group tour guide. That will be a generic article and not just focused on The Vatican experience.
Eat Here: La Pergola: The most fabulous of fabulous dining experiences in Rome. Be sure start the reservation process about 4 months in advance.
There will be more of Roma in upcoming articles. Until then, may God bless you, and
Ciao for now,
Steve
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