Where these two roads crossed was considered sacred ground. This open space was dominated by an imposing temple on one flank, a civic building forum on another with a central marketplace, sometimes with colonnaded shops and tenements above.
In many towns today the plan is still in place and the market is still held in the piazza. Other piazzas dating from Roman times take their shapes from other sources. The oval medieval Piazza Mercato in Lucca is built on the foundations of a Roman amphitheatre. Traces of the original masonry can be still seen, incorporated into the houses. In Rome itself, the foundations of the buildings facing the famous Piazza Navona are the ruined grandstands of the vast Stadium of Domitian.
As the Roman Empire collapsed, the rise of the Comuni dictated the shape of urban architecture. Instead of bold vistas, hilltop communities looked inward for their security and many piazzas are found snuggled deep within high walls, houses comfortably gazing at one another, oblivious to the cruel world that lay beyond the safety of the fortifications.
This period in history created what is arguably one of the greatest piazzas of all time: the Piazza del Campo in Siena. Its unique raked fan shape makes it a natural amphitheatre, a perfect place for a leisurely picnic lunch among the university students, but the steep gradient and the sharp corners play havoc with the bareback riders of the twice-yearly Palio.
The late medieval period saw the rise of the Venetian Republic and the other great piazza: Piazza San Marco lower, right. Hundreds of Italian cities reached their peak during the Renaissance. The town became the symbol of power and new piazzas were designed by architects for the first time. A gem of 15th-century architecture, the town is a perfect realization of the humanist principle of design. The grandest age of the piazza was the Baroque and its greatest exponent Bernini.
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Offers and prices are subject to change without notice. Skip to main content. Today, with rare exceptions, the fields are paved with stone. Campo Santa Margherita. Ponte di Ruga Bella. Postcards of the Doges. Piazza San Marco, the only piazza in Venice, is one of the most magnificent squares in the world, comprising a remarkable ensemble of architectural buildings.
Almost always located in front of a church and therefore paved, they are lively meeting places extremely valued by Venetians, young and older ones. Mark's Square, located in Venice, is one of the most important Italian squares, renowned throughout the world for its beauty and architectural integrity.
It is the only urban area of Venice, which takes the name of the piazza , all other spaces in the form of square are properly defined like campi. It has a trapezoidal shape and is meters long. The Piazzetta di San Marco is not part of the Piazza but an adjoining open space connecting the south side of the Piazza to the waterway of the lagoon. Originally dedicated to grazing and agriculture, in it was entirely paved, a well one of the few fountains to be found in Venice being placed in the middle.
It was subsequently used as the scene of many a bullfight, mass sermons and masked balls. After the 17th century the poor's market was moved here from Piazza San Marco.
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