Piazza di Spagna
This is probably the most famous square, for Romans as well as for tourists who are all meeting on the Spanish Steps. On the bottom of the stairs there is the graceful Boat Fountain and on top of the stairs you can see the church Trinità dei Monti.
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Piazza del Popolo
The Porta del Popolo on the north side of the Piazza marks one end, while the East is dominated by the passeggiata del Pincio. This piazza served as an exposition hall, a stadium, and a theater for popular plays. The face of the piazza changed a great deal from the 1400's to the 1800's, with the reconstruction of the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, the placement of the Flaminian obelisk at the center of the piazza, and the addition of neo-classical elements by Giuseppe Valadier.
Piazza Navona
After visiting the Pantheon, turn left on leaving and use a map to find your way to the west, and the Piazza Navona. (It's straight ahead, but if it's your first time in Rome, a map may be comforting.)
Piazza Navona is built on the foundations of Domitian's Circus, and you'll recognize the shape.
A Christmas fair fills it in December. There are three fountains, of which the one in the center is world class, the fountain of the four rivers. The Tre Scalini ice cream shop (Gelateria) is famous for its Tartufo (Truffle) ice cream, preferably Tartufo con Panna
La Bocca della Verità, (the mouth of truth)
This strange river god used to be a drain cover, but since the middle ages this frightening image served as a lie detector. It was believed that if you told a lie with your hand in the mouth of this god, it would be bitten of. Of course it had to be helped sometimes by a servant with a blade. The Bocca was placed in the front yard of the Sta. Maria in Cosmedin church in the 17th century.
The sculpture is thought to be part of a roman fountain or perhaps a
Piazza del Campidoglio
On top of the Capitoline Hill, the place from which in the old days the starting Roman empire was governed, now stands (a copy of) the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. Its the only bronze statue from Roman origin to survive till present day without ever having been buried. This was mainly due to a misconception about the depicted emperor who was thought to be Constantine, the first Christian emperor.
Migelangelo redesigned the square where once stood the most important temple of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, by a commission from Pope Paulus III in 1538. He placed a
Piazza Venezia
Orient yourself facing the large marble monument (Vittoriano/'Wedding Cake') to the south. Take a brief look to your right at the balcony of Palazzo Venezia from which Mussolini used to orate.
Dominating the square, the Vittoriano is the monument to King Victor Emanuele, the unifier of Italy. (The 1870 Resorgimento - Italy is a young country, despite its ancient heritage.) Gaudy to some, the Italians derisively call it the Wedding Cake or the Typewriter. The flame in the center and the military guards mark Italy's tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Cross the square toward the right side of the Wedding Cake
