Just as the kitchen is the heart of the home, the piazza has always been the heart of the town. And just as we gather at the table, so we gather in the square.
Songs, plays and performances have been written about an empty space. But the piazza is always full! Historic announcements, celebrations and condemnations, festivals, feasts and family feuds - here are five important Italian piazze and one that's iconic to us.
Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa
The Square of Miracles was founded as the Piazza del Duomo but changed name after Italy's beloved poet Gabriele D'Annunzio described it as a 'field of miracles'. The beautifully decorated, walled space encloses Pisa's most celebrated landmarks - the Cathedral, the Baptistry, Camposanto Monumentale Cemetery and Tuscany's most recognisable, leaning bell tower. This piazza is a favourite of tourists who flock to photograph the Leaning Tower of Pisa, of pilgrims and the people of Pisa who believe in a quirky legend regarding the walls of the Duomo. "Unghiate del diavolo" marks in the marble resemble devilish scratches, which, allegedly, and spookily, change number every time they're counted! UNESCO site since 1987, the grassy square seems like a film-set sun-trap but escape the crowds and duck into the cool interiors of the jaw-droppingly beautiful cemetery where I found one of my favourite statues during a solo trip around Tuscany.
Piazza delle Erbe, Verona
Enter into Italy's fair city and at once, you're through the gates and faced with an enormous arena surrounded by a grand, paved piazza within which grows a garden of cedar and pine trees! Verona's Piazza Brà is Italy's 8th largest square, at an impressive 25 000m². You can picture chariots, beasts and ancient crowds flocking around the 2000 year old arena and the square still stands as an important meeting point but to the people of Verona and indeed, many Italians, the smaller, more central Piazza delle Erbe, is truly where their love lies because this favourite spot has been buzzing since before Christ.
Embodying the charm of a bygone forum built to house a spa at one end and a temple at the other, Piazza delle Erbe was the first piece of the city laid out in plans when the Romans set to designing the streets of Verona.
"Underneath it lies the ruins of a rectangular Roman Forum, built smack bang in the middle of the city and double the size of the current piazza. At the head of the forum once lay the main temple of the city, the capitolium, dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva while on the side of the forum, town planning had included a basilica and tabernae - food stalls where you could eat and drink.
2 millennia later, the piazza is lined with Osterie and beautiful restaurants where you can still eat and drink to your heart's content - taste Truffle or Amarone risotto and a glass of Durello, Verona's sparkling white wine. The piazza is abuzz with a daily market, historically selling spices and vegetables, which is where it gets it's name - 'delle Erbe', of the herbs.'
This is a good place to start for a weekend in Verona, packed with osterie, nightlife and a collection of monuments and buildings you can feast your eyes on. There are a couple of towers on the square: the Column of Saint Mark which stands to prove the power of the Serenissima Republic of Venice who ruled Verona in the 15th century, The Gardello Tower - oldest clock tower in Verona and The Lamberti Tower which you can climb 368 steps up for gorgeous views over the city (or take the lift for 1 euro). Note the arched entrance to Piazza delle Erbe near the Municipal Commune with a curious giant whale rib suspended beneath. There's all kinds of legend about the bone in Arco della Costa but it was simply brought to Verona by a spice merchant in medieval times and hung here at the market.
This is a special place with history beneath your feet which you can sense in the ancient stones; it's worth spending a long, lazy lunch under one of the porticoes just to gaze upon the buildings including the painted Mazzanti houses which will no doubt catch your eye."
From our blog post: Verona For the Weekend
Piazza Garibaldi, Napoli
This gigantic space hardly feels like a piazza. 70 000m² partly covered in geometric roofing and housing a lower level of shops, this is more like a hub and indeed, Piazza Garibaldi was built in 1870 facing Naples's main train station, Napoli Centrale. Named after a statue of Guiseppe Garibaldi in the square, Neopolitans fondly refer to it as "a' Ferrovia" - the Railway, once simply known as Piazza della Stazione - the Train Station Square.
Used by commuters to short-cut to transport links and swiftly cut through to other parts of town, there's a road running through the square right up to the station entrance. Piazza Garibaldi is continuously frequented and signposted all over Naples as the 'main station reference'.
Piazza San Marco, Venice
A beauteous construction photographed by over 5 million visitors a year, we often think of Piazza San Marco as a rectangular (ish) shape. Lined by 16th century Procuratie extending from the front of St. Mark's Basilica, the square reaches all the way down to Canal Grande with a perpendicular arm called la Piazzetta - the Little Square.
Piazza San Marco is the only official piazza in Venice as the myriad of other spaces in this city of never-ending turns and passageways are called campi or piazzale. The square has always been the religious, state and community seat of Venice with it's direct access from the sea. The likes of Marco Polo, Napoleon, Casanova and Lord Byron all lived and loved the opulence, Napoleon called it “the world’s most beautiful drawing room”.
As the lowest point of the city, the huge square quickly fills with lagoon water during a yearly high tide, becoming an enormous, surreal expanse of water which never seems to bother the Venetians. Every house and shop has barricades at the ready and acqua alta boots. There are wooden boards and trestles propped and ready assemble in the case of high waters and life carries on. Waiters serve spritzes, bands continue to play and Piazza San Marco's grandeur is hardly tarnished, it almost becomes more alluring.
As I write this post, it is Carnival!
Right here in Piazza San Marco is where you can experience this joyous time of year at its height.
"Carnival officially opens with "La Festa delle Marie" 10 days before Shrove Tuesday. 12 costumed maidens are presented on centre stage in a beauty contest with the winner crowned the “Maria del Carnevale”. She earns the privilege of becoming next year's angel to fly from the bell tower. Traditionally, the 12 maidens were beautiful young brides presented to Venice's Doge who'd gift them a wedding dowry. Nowadays, they're the most exquisite photo opportunity.
Il Volo dell'Angelo
On Sunday, after the last ring of San Marco's twelve o'clock bell, a Carnival Angel flies down towards the Piazza Stage and an awaiting Doge. She descends from the famous bell tower in the carnation of last year's Maria of the Carnival, flying above a sea of 100 000 up-cast faces to an epic hush on one of the world's busiest squares. It's an awe-inspiring sight preceded by parades, shows, jugglers and performances.
In the same vein, Lo Svolo dell’Aquilam - The Eagle's Flight takes place around the same time, but instead of a beautiful maiden, the eagle takes the form of a famous Italian celebrity.
La Maschera più Bella - The best masked costume
Every morning and afternoon main stage hosts an array of mask wearers who compete through poetry and performance for the audience's vote on the best mask. On the last Sunday of Carnival, the grand finale takes place with the highest honour bestowed upon the best mask and its wearer."
From our blog post Carnevale - A Time of Raucous Indulgence
A square not without its secrets! Discover the gruesome, romantic and quirky legends in Piazza San Marco's Secrets!
Piazza Unità d'Italia, Trieste
"Trieste's charm lies in the underrated Italian art of 'il dolce far niente'. In Trieste, the so-named 'City of Coffee', you're enticed by piazzas and grand streets stacked with endless amounts of chairs and tables to simply sit. Visit Trieste to amble and relax, sit and sip your coffee, to take in the views from San Giusto, enjoy an aperitivo and simply 'do nothing' - fare niente."
From our blog post Trieste- Italy's Grand, Adriatic Port
Sometimes referred as Europe's largest square facing the sea, the Unity of Italy Square does seem vast and quite empty except for when it hosts a concert! Green Day and Iron Maiden have played here, squeezing over 12 000 fans into the space and Trieste's grand piazza does host a variety of enormous unities such as Holy Mass held by Pope Francis in July 2024 and Putin meeting Letta for bilateral talks in 2013 or the Western Balkans Summit, but stride the length of the square on a winter's day, towards cruise ships dwarfed by Piazza Unità's generous dimensions and if Trieste's famous wind, the Bora is whipping through at 70 km/hour, it suddenly feels kind of lonely.
From Piazza Unità d'Italia, in both directions, extends a sea-side promenade with a number of vintage cafes and glitzy restaurants offering up age-old traditions of coffees and teas in a city binding Slovenian, Croatian, Austrian, German and Italian cultures. If you're a cruise-ship holiday-maker, this stop is a good one.
An Iconic Italian Piazza to Us!
Piazza Giovanni Battista Cima, Conegliano
The last piazza in today's post is one that's dear to us, for romantic reasons.
When I moved to Italy from London for a teaching position, I found myself in the small city of Conegliano. I'd never visited Italy before and couldn't speak the language, I didn't even know what Prosecco was! But then neither did the rest of the world at that time.
As one of Veneto's most industrious small cities where commerce and family businesses flourish, Conegliano is also 'Prosecco Capital'.
In the shadow of a 10th century castle built on a prominently visible hill, lies the main square within the protective contrada walls. It is named after Conegliano's cherished Renaissance artist, Cima who lived down the road and no doubt as a boy spent his afternoons playing on the piazza.
The gently-sloping square spreads out before Conegliano's Accademia Theatre where a range of performances take place throughout the year but especially during Operatic Season. If I think of Piazza Cima, I think of balmy summer nights and tiny osteria tables. We'd sit out until late with no idea of the time sipping on local table wines and snacking on cicchetti from the counter. When I first moved to Conegliano and met Francesco, we'd spend most nights in Conegliano and many on this square.
One of Conegliano's festivities is the Dama Castellana in June. Knights and dames re-enact battles and perform dances on the square in a captivating feast for the eyes. The whole city joins the celebrations in the oldest part of town where in the same vein, a series of draughts competitions called Enodama takes place amongst the characteristic bars and taverns with the final on Piazza Cima.
"...played on the piazze and in the old osterie of the city in an attempt to establish a yearly champion, (but) this is not any old draughts game. The draughts are glasses of wine, red vs white, and when one is 'taken' it must be drunk. I was always Francesco's 'right hand lady' - he's pretty good at playing draughts..."
From our blog post Conegliano - Prosecco Capital
And the rest is glorious history.
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