Monuments of Rome - Piazza Venezia

The topographical centre of Rome, more than a square, Piazza Venezia is a crossroads of streets, with a lot of traffic, but it is an excellent starting point to start exploring Rome, as it is located at a strategic point between medieval and Renaissance Rome and the centre of archaeological Rome. In the past, the square was much more modest, divided into two small squares by Palazzetto Venice .

The square in front of Palazzo Venezia connected the Via Papalis from the Vatican to the Lateran with the Via Lata , which led to the city centre from Porta Flaminia . On the square, in place of today's Palazzo delle Assicurazioni, was Michelangelo's art workshop . The decision to build on the side of the Capitol the monument to Victor Emmanuel II caused the destruction of the papal square to create the new political-moral centre of the new Italy. The new arrangement, the result of demolition and reconstruction, reflects the new ideology of grandeur and the desire to create the myth of the 'third Rome' on the remains of imperial and papal Rome. Opposite the façade of Palazzo Venezia rises the modern Palazzo delle Assicurazioni (Insurance Palace), mirroring the forms of the famous opposite. On the north side at the corner with the Corso is the 17th century Palazzo Bonaparte, named after Napoleon's mother, who after the fall of the emperor lived there until her death in 1836. Still perfectly preserved is the little balcony with green canopies from which the old lady used to spy on passers-by without being seen. At Christmastime, the colourful Christmas tree is placed in the centre of the square, a pendant to the Vatican tree in St Peter's Square, which makes the large flowerbeds in perpetual blossom even more attractive.