The Piazza del Popolo, looking west from the Pincio.

The Piazza lies inside the northern gate in the Aurelian Walls, once the Porta Flaminia of ancient Rome, and now called Porta del Popolo. This was the starting point of the Via Flaminia, the road to Ariminum (modern Rimini) and the most important route to the north. At the same time, before the age of railroads, it was the traveller's first view of Rome upon arrival. For centuries, the Piazza del Popolo was a place for public executions, the last of which took place in 1826.

An Egyptian obelisk of Ramesses II from Heliopolis stands in the centre of the Piazza.

Valadier's design

The layout of the piazza today was designed in neoclassical style between 1811 and 1822 by the architect Giuseppe Valadier,^[1] who demolished some insignificant buildings and haphazard high screening walls to form two semicircles, reminiscent of Bernini's plan for St. Peter's Square, replacing the original cramped trapezoidal square centred on the Via Flaminia. Valadier's Piazza del Popolo, however, incorporated the verdure of trees as an essential element; he conceived his space in a third dimension, expressed in the building of the viale that leads up to the balustraded overlook from the Pincio (above, right).

An Egyptian obelisk of Rameses II from Heliopolis stands in the centre of the Piazza. The obelisk, known as the obelisco Flaminio, is the second oldest and one of the tallest obelisks in Rome (some 24 m high, or 36 m including its plinth). The obelisk was brought to Rome in 10 BC by order of Augustus and originally set up in the Circus Maximus. It was re-erected here in the Piazza by the architect-engineer Domenico Fontana in 1589 as part of the urban plan of Sixtus V. The Piazza also formerly contained a central fountain, which was moved to the Piazza Nicosia in 1818, when fountains in the form of Egyptian-style lions were added around the base of the obelisk.

The entrance of the Tridente from Piazza del Popolo, defined by the "twin" churches of Santa Maria in Montesanto (left, built 1662-75) and Santa Maria dei Miracoli (right, built 1675-79). The Via del Corso exits between the two churches.

One side of the Fontana dell'Obelisco.

To the north of the Piazza stand the Porta del Popolo, leading to the Piazzale Flaminio, and the ancient church of Santa Maria del Popolo. The Porta del Popolo was reconstructed to the current appearance by Pope Alexander VII in 1655, to welcome Queen Christina of Sweden to Rome after her conversion to Roman Catholicism and abdication. It was designed by Bernini: whereas such festive structures elsewhere were built of weather-resistant plaster,^[2] in Rome the structure was more permanently executed in stone. Opposite Santa Maria del Popolo stands a Carabinieri station, with a dome reflecting that of the church.

Fontana del Nettuno.

Fountains

The aqueduct carrying the Acqua Vergine Nuovo was completed in the 1820s, and its water provided the opportunity for fountains and their basins that offered the usual public water supply for the rione. Ever since the Renaissance such terminal fountains also provided an occasion for the grand terminal water show called in Rome a mostra. "What makes a fountain a mostra is not essentially its size or splendor, but its specific designation as the fountain that is a public memorial to the whole achievement of the aqueduct."^[3] Valadier had planned for fountains in the upper tier of the Pincio slope, but the were not carried out, in part for lack of water.^[4]

The fountains by Giovanni Ceccarini (1822-23), with matching compositions of a central figure flanked by two attendant figures, stand on each side of the Piazza to the east and west, flanked by neoclassical statues of The Seasons (1828).^[5]. Neptune with two Tritons,^[6] stands on the west side, Neptune with his trident is accompanied by two dolphins. Rome between the Tiber and the Aniene on the east side, against the steep slope of the Pincio, represents the terminal mostra of the aqueduct. Dea Roma armed with lance and helmet, and in front is the she-wolf feeding Romulus and Remus.

At the center of the piazza is the Fontana dell' Obelisco: a group of four mini fountains each comprising a lion on a step plinth, surround the obelisk.

Steps lead from the Piazza del Popolo to the Pincio to the east.

Urbanisation in three dimensions

Valadier's masterstroke was in linking the piazza with the heights of the Pincio, the Pincian Hill of ancient Rome, which overlooked the space from the east. He swept away informally terraced gardens that belonged to the Augustinian monastery connected with Santa Maria del Popolo. In its place he created a carriage drive that doubled back upon itself and pedestrian steps leading up beside a waterfall to the Pincio park, where a balustraded lookout, supported by a triple-arched nymphaeum is backed by a wide gravelled opening set on axis with the piazza below; formally-planted bosquets of trees flank the open space. The planted Pinco in turn provides a link to the Villa Borghese gardens.

Until quite recently, the Piazza del Popolo was choked with traffic in a sea of car parking; today, these have been swept away in favour of pedestrians.

Notes

References

• Giedion, Siegfried, Space, Time and Architecture pp 151-54
• Thais-Rome: Fountains

External links

• Roberto Piperno "Piazza del Popolo"
• Riccardo Cigola, "Piazza del Popolo"
• Piazza del Popolo

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