Piazza del Popolo is considered one of the best urban developed piazzas in Rome. It was originally built in the 1600s but redesigned by Valadier at the beginning of the 1800s. In the last several years Piazza del Popolo has been closed off to traffic and has become an elegant setting for outdoor concerts, cultural events and a meeting place for the young and old.

The centre of the large piazza houses the second largest obelisk in Rome, the Obelisco Flaminio , built in Heliapolis by the pharaoh Ramsses II in the year 1200 B.C. The Emperor Augustus brought it to Rome, but it was Pope Sixtus V who ordered Domenico Fontana, in the year 1589, to place it in the centre of the piazza.

At the foot of the Pincio Terrace that overlooks the piazza and has a splendid view of the city, we find the church of Santa Maria del Popolo , originally erected in the eleventh century but completely restored during the Renaissance and decorated with some of the best Renaissance art in Rome. “The Conversion of St. Paul” and “The Crucifixion of St. Peter” by Caravaggio, frescoes by Pinturicchio, “The Assumption” by Annibale Carracci, architecture by Raphael and Bramante, and the sculptures of Sansovino, Andrea Bregno and of Bernini can all be found in this magnificent church.

The twin churches of Santa Maria in Montesanto and Santa Maria dei Miracoli also line the piazza and constitute the monumental façade of the famous trident of roads Via del Corso. between the two churches , Via del Babuino and Via Ripetta on either side. From Piazza del Popolo, it is only a five-minute walk along Via del Babuino to Piazza di Spagna and the famous steps of Trinità dei Monti.

On the far side of the piazza, facing the two churches and in front of our apartment, we find the impressive entrance of Porta del Popolo. For over fifteen hundred years this has been the most important entrance into the city of Rome from the consular road Flaminia. It is the city’s Renaissance entrance and from here people begin their afternoon stroll and shopping along the Via del Corso, Via del Babuino , Via Ripetta  and  the  adjacent roads  Via  dei Condotti e Via Frattina.