Piazza del Popolo

We did a lot of walking in Rome (as we had done in southern Italy). Basically, we just got up in the morning, ate breakfast and then headed out the door. I can’t remember our destination (possible the Spanish Steps) but we had decided to walk along the Tiber River and ended up walking through the Piazza del Popolo. This shot is taken from Pinician Hill looking down onto Piazza del Popolo.

“The Piazza del Popolo is a square in Rome. The name in modern Italian literally means “piazza of the people”, but historically it derives from the poplars (populus in Latin, pioppo in Italian) after which the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in the northeast corner of the piazza, takes its name.

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.”

Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July weekend.

reference: wikipedia