Our Eternal City: Rome part II

Rome’s downtown has become almost entirely a pedestrian zone where you will be able to discover hidden alleyways abutting crowded squares. A well-known point of interest is Campo de’ Fiori, a square where in the morning a food market is held. In the center of the square stands the statue of Giordano Bruno, the philosopher condemned by the Inquisition to be burned alive for heresy in the year 1600.

Right next to Campo de’ Fiori is Piazza Farnese. The French Historical Roman institute and the French Embassy are found here.

Just a few steps away, across Corso Vittorio Emanuele, you will find Piazza Navona, one of the most well-known squares of Rome. It was built under the direction of of Pope Innocent X, and its shape is that of a stadium. In Piazza Navona you will find sculptures by GianLorenzo Bernini (the fountain of the Four Rivers of the great continents, the Nile, the Danube, the Ganges and the Plate) and Francesco Borromini. The “gelateria i Tre Scalini” is found here, an amazing ice-cream place famous for its black truffle flavour. Not so well-known is the fact that it was used as a safe house by the resistance fighting the Nazi occupation during World War II.

Not far from here you will find Piazza della Rotonda, well-known for the massive Pantheon, a great Pagan church before becoming Christian, where two important kings of Italy are buried: Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I.