Piazza Venezia

Piazza Venezia is a beautiful square in Rome, located at the foot of the Capitoline Hill, between Piazza di San Marco, to the west, and Piazza della Madonna di Loreto, to the east.

In the square, five of the most important streets of the city meet: Via dei Fori Imperiali, Via Cesare Battisti, Via del Corso, Via del Plebiscito, and Via del Teatro di Marcello.

SHORT HISTORY

The current appearance of the square derives largely from the demolition and reconstruction interventions carried out between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, following the construction of the National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II (Vittoriano).

Originally, the square extended only in the western half of the current one, and Via del Corso started from its northeastern corner. The imposing Vittoriano required a wider space in front, and it was decided to enlarge Piazza Venezia and make it symmetrical to the axis of Via del Corso. The extension was designed in its general lines by Giuseppe Sacconi and then defined by Guido Cirilli.

For this enlargement, the buildings present in the eastern part of the future square were demolished and Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali was built. The works began at the end of the 19th century and were completed in 1911, the year in which both Vittoriano and Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali were inaugurated.

At the beginning of the 1930s, on the occasion of the opening of Via dei Fori Imperiali and Via del Teatro di Marcello, the whole area was redesigned. The landscape architect Raffaele De Vico, in collaboration with the archaeologist Corrado Ricci, arranged the spaces as gardens.

ARCHITECTURE

The square is dominated by the National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II, and three monumental palaces surround it on the other sides. The oldest is the 15th-century Palazzo Venezia, located on the western side of the square. Today, the palace is the seat of the homonymous national museum.

In the northern part of the square, there is Palazzo Bonaparte, built between 1657 and 1677 on a project by the architect Giovanni Antonio De Rossi. In the eastern part of the square, we can find Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali, built between 1906 and 1911 by the architect Giuseppe Sacconi.

HOW TO GET THERE

The closest Metro sation is Colosseo, located about 1 kilometer away, on the Metro Line B. The closest bus stop, Piazza Venezia, is right in the square, on its western side, on the bus Lines 51, 60, 63, 80, 83, 85, 118, 160, 170 and 628.