Rome Campo dei Fiori market. Campo dei Fiori Square (Piazza Campo dei Fiori)
Campo dei Fiori is shrouded in many myths and legends related to the bloodshed that took place here several centuries ago. Previously, there had been no public executions of both ordinary criminals and scientific luminaries. The monument in honor of a genius who was burned at Campo dei Fiori attracts the attention of everyone without exception.
Now the square is no longer associated with darkness and blood. The authorities of Rome have made every effort to ensure that Campo dei Fiori has become one of the city's attractions, where you can leisurely stroll and buy everything you need when visiting the morning.
Campo dei Fiori: historical chronicles and key architectural features
During the Middle Ages, the territory was owned by the Orsini family. There were practically no buildings here until the 15th century. A large number of flowers and other greenery - the main reason for the current name of the square (“blooming field”).
Since the 15th century, very active and rather haphazard construction began at Campo dei Fiori. The most impressive object of those times was the Palazzo della Cancelleria of the owner Bramante.
Campo dei Fiori went down in the history of the city as a place of public executions. Giordano Bruno was burned here in 1600. 289 years later, a monument was erected on the square in honor of the outstanding thinker of the Middle Ages.
Over time, public executions moved to the outskirts of Rome, so Campo dei Fiori managed to get rid of the label of death and blood. Severed heads and bonfires were replaced by shopping arcades of local entrepreneurs.
The square was filled with houses of traders who did not think about a single architectural concept or other lofty concepts. It is all the more surprising that Campo dei Fiori was able to acquire its own unique atmosphere, the emergence of which began during the Inquisition.
Great personalities associated with Campo dei Fiori
Due to the fact that several centuries ago the square was the site of public executions, the Italians came up with stories about ghosts and restless souls who would not leave this place and regularly caught their eye.
The most popular of all is the legend of the ghost of Giordano Bruno, who has been walking around Campo dei Fiori for more than four hundred years. When you personally visit the attraction and immerse yourself in the great history of Rome, you can imagine the bloodshed that took place here. The statue of Giordano Bruno reminds of them through the centuries. Maybe once upon a time people actually observed guests from other worlds here.
What attracts tourists
Guests of the city go to the square to experience the atmosphere iconic place and look at the monument in honor of a man who could not save his life in the fight against human ignorance.
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Great story somewhat contrasts with shopping arcades. This aspect should not be exaggerated, because food markets operate only until 14 hours.
For most of the day, the square is immersed in the atmosphere of the Middle Ages. The spirit of the past is felt most strongly in the evening.
Book a hotel room nearby. This can be done at Booking.
There are also restaurants in Campo dei Fiori. Guests of the establishments can enjoy quality food with a view of one of the most famous places Rome. For example, La Carbonara specializes in Italian pasta.
“Flower” Square began to be built up in the 13th century, when the first houses of artisans and merchants grew up on the former wasteland. There was no development plan either at that time or later, so until today there is no single architectural ensemble here.
The most notable building in this place is the Cancelleria Palace (Palazzo della Cancelleria), founded at the end of the 15th century, the author of which was Bramante himself (he also designed the Church of St. Peter in). This building originally belonged to Cardinal Riario, but after the owner was accused of conspiracy, it became the property of the church and turned into an office.
Interesting: It is believed that Cardinal Rafael Riario was a gambler, and he built the palace to win from a card game.
The history of this interesting corner also has dark pages. Executions took place here in the Middle Ages, and today a statue of Giordano Bruno marks the spot where the great scientist was burned.
How to get to Campo dei Fiori
Campo de’ Fiori square is located almost in the city center, in the Parion district, near the Tiber embankment. Nearest metro stations: Lepanto on the red line A or Colosseo on the blue line B (the distance in both cases is about 2 kilometers).
The exact address: Piazza Campo de' Fiori, 00186 Roma RM, Italy.
How to get there from Termini Station:
Option 1
On foot: distance about 3 kilometers, go through Via Nazionale and Piazza Venezia.
Option 2
Bus: take route no. 70 to the Rinascimento stop or route no. 64 to C.so Vittorio Emanuele for about 15 minutes.
On foot: from any of the stops the distance is about 350 meters.
Campo dei Fiori on the map
What to see
If you come to Campo dei Fiori in the morning, you can find a large and noisy market here. It is open every day except Sunday from 06:00 to 14:00. Locals flock here to buy farm products: cheese, vegetables and fruits, fresh fish. Therefore, it is best to visit this place twice: during the day - for tasty food and real Italian flavor, and in the evening - to see its second face.
Campo de' Fiori is the daily and most popular market in Rome under open air since 1869
However, if you want to feel the atmosphere of the ancient place of executions, it is worth coming only at night, because, according to legend, the sign of the executed Giordano Bruno wanders here at night. But in the evenings the square is almost always crowded: young people like to gather near the monument, and the numerous pubs and cozy restaurants are usually full of visitors. This is a lively place, which is very popular due to its numerous clubs, shops, antique shops and cafes.
Interesting: On the façade of the Taverna della Vacca restaurant you can still see today the ancient coat of arms of the Cattanei family, which owned this building since the 15th century.
Virtual tour
Campo dei Fiori, although not the largest or most beautiful in Rome, still has its own special atmosphere. It will be of interest to those who are planning their own route along To the Eternal City, aiming to see not only its tourist side, but also the places that the Romans themselves love. However, there are also many attractions around: just a 10-minute walk from here is Piazza Navona, the Sapienza Palace, the Palazzo Capponi Museum and much more.
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It's true what they say - if you want to see Rome, move away from the Trevi Fountain, for example, towards the Piazza des Flowers.
And there is a reason to write about this attraction today. After all, on February 17, 1600, in this place with such a romantic name, a great man was burned alive - Giordano Bruno, a scientist whose knowledge was several centuries ahead of the primitive and dark time in which he lived.
Therefore, I propose a short excursion around Campo dei Fiori - part of historical Rome.
By the way, Bruno is not the only martyr who was allowed to have a barbecue on the flower square. In the Middle Ages, many victims of the Inquisition were tortured at this place.
If you are not very superstitious and the energy of execution does not bother you, then you can have a good time on this small spot.
Life there is in full swing around the clock: from morning to evening there is brisk trade, and when the sellers fold up their tents, the square is filled with tourists and other party-goers. Among other things, they like to organize famous Italian aperitifs here, and there are a lot of clubs around.
It’s worth warning right away that Piazza Campo de "Fiori is not the cheapest market in the city, but not the most expensive either, because local residents they go there too.
However, tourists are not housewives, right? If city guests visit the market, they do not do so to load their bags with groceries and go home.
In the markets they catch the color, get acquainted with the real life of the city and just stare around.
You can buy a portion of freshly cut fruit mix and “peck” at the juicy slices while walking between the rows, you can have breakfast on the veranda of a nearby restaurant and watch the bustle from afar, or you can buy flowers and lay them at the monument to the executed monk, which stands in the center of this square and seems looks at everyone.
Here are the things: on the site of a flower field, a square was erected to kill people, so that later they could sell flowers again... Everything returns to normal.
Until the 15th century, when Pope Nicholas the Fifth moved the papal throne to the Vatican, Campo dei Fiori It was a pretty deserted street with nothing interesting on it. But later the situation changed, as Campo dei Fiori became an important thoroughfare center that connected the Vatican.
Today every day Campo dei Fiori One of the main markets in the city is opening, where you can always buy fresh vegetables and fruits. And in the evening, the place of the market is occupied by numerous cafes with outdoor tables, where it is so pleasant to sit with a cup of coffee.
Every evening, groups of walking Romans and city guests gather here in order to decide what their future program will be, so the square can be called a kind of center of entertainment life in Rome.
In the center of the square is a statue of Giordano Bruno. And this is not at all accidental, since Campo dei Fiori also has a sad reputation. It was in this square that the great scientist was burned in 1600, who, challenging the foundations of the medieval world, defended the heliocentric system of Copernicus. It must be said that Copernicus himself made his work and his ideas public only before his death, although, according to Copernicus himself, this theory was developed by him while studying in Bologna.
One of the most interesting museums in Rome it is the Barracco Museum, founded by Baron Giovanni Barracco. The Baron was an avid collector and amassed a magnificent collection that included works of Egyptian, Cretan, Assyrian, Greek and Roman art.
Of particular interest is the collection of Greek sculpture, which contains the head of Ephebe.
Very close to the museum is Piazza della Cancelleria, where the pride of Rome, the Chancellery Palace, is located. This palace was built at the end of the 15th century by the nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, Raphael Riario. Interestingly, the money for the construction was won in a game of chance.
From Piazza della Cancelleria along Corso Vittorio Emanuele Segundo you can go to Piazza Chiesa Nuova and visit the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella. This church was built on the initiative of the founder of the Oratorian movement, Filippo Neri.
Despite the fact that the construction of the church was completed in 1599, the church is still popularly called “new”. Because of this, the area is called “new”. The inside of the church is painted with frescoes by Pietro da Cortona.
Next to the church is the Oratorium Filippini, with a beautiful wide concave façade. It is the work of Borromini, who built this building in the second half of the 17th century for the meeting of the Oratorian Order. Today the building is used for public cultural events.
One of the most beautiful, elegant and aristocratic streets in Rome is Via Giulia, named after the founder of the street, Pope Julius II. Julius II was not only a spiritual ruler, but also a very successful military leader. When he returned victorious from a military campaign in 1513, he decided to pave this street for his triumph. It was originally planned that the street would lead all the way to St. Peter's Cathedral. However, due to the death of Julius II, this plan was never put into practice.
From the north, Via Giulia is limited by the Golden Square, so named because jewelers from the Renaissance lived there. The dominant feature of the square is the Church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, which was built by order of Pope Leo the Tenth.
Back to the side Campo dei Fiori It is best to return along Via Pellegrino. This street today is the center of ancient craftsmanship. Restorers are working on this street. There are also many antique shops there.
September 10th, 2010
In the very north of Venice's Cannaregio, next to the ghetto, is old square Campo dei Mori. 
Once upon a time, on the site of Palazzo Mastelli there were Fondaco degli Arabi - Arab warehouses - this was a time of active trade between the Venetian Republic and the east. This is where the name of the square came from - Dei Mori - Square of the Moors. 
There is another explanation - Palazzo Mastelli belonged to three brothers, successful merchants who came to Venice from Morea in 1112. Morea-Peloponnese (although sometimes they say Cyprus). In Venice they took the surname Mastelli, no one knew their real surname, and after the name of the place from which they came, the square became Piazza Morea - over time the name was shortened to Mori.
For several centuries, the palazzo belonged to the Mastelli family, but a strange event first happened in 1757, when the notary Pietro Prezato lived in the Palazzo. Suddenly, the ringing of five bells located in the palazzo was heard in all the rooms of the palazzo; this was repeated several evenings in a row at the same hour; the arrival of the local priest did not help. Even an exorcist was called, who also could not expel the spirit that had allegedly moved into the palazzo.
Since then, although not a single century has passed, music and voices suddenly begin to be heard from the palazzo, after a while everything calms down. People say that these are the spirits of ancient traders returning from another ghostly campaign and celebrating successful trade deals.
Another interesting legend is associated with the palazzo; on the facade overlooking the canal there is a bas-relief depicting a merchant with a camel. 
They say the merchant and his camel disappear once a year - at midnight on Epiphany - only to return the next morning. (Theophany is connected with the appearance of Christ to the pagan Magi from the East; maybe that’s why the Eastern magician leaves for such important matters?)
On the square itself there are three stone figures of the Mastelli brothers - Rioba, Sandi and Afani, the fourth brother - Sior Antonio Rioba (the name is engraved on the luggage that the figure carries on his shoulders).
May the Lord turn my hand into stone!” Ryoba exclaimed. To the brothers, well-known merchants in Venice, who also had a bad reputation as deceivers and ignoramuses, but no one could provide evidence, everything remained at the level of rumors, whispers - a woman came who asked to sell her fabrics. She said that after the death of her husband, she got a shop in the very center of Venice and now she will have to manage it herself. Ryoba was delighted - he realized that the woman did not understand anything, and she could be handed cheap fabric of poor quality under the guise of expensive - then no one could blame them - you can always say that the woman herself wanted to buy this particular fabric. He winked at the brothers and saw that they themselves were already rubbing their hands, anticipating a successful deal.
This is a wonderful fabric, customers will line up at your store - he assured the woman, slipping her a cheap one - may the Lord turn my hand into stone if I am deceiving! -
Let it be so, the woman answered and handed Ryoba the coins; as soon as he took them in his hand, the coins turned into stone, and his hand began to turn to stone; the brothers froze with horror on their faces; but one by one, like Ryoba, they began to turn into stone.
Liars and criminals, you have turned into three stone statues - which you have always been, having nothing human - said Saint Magdalene, and it was her.
The workers who came the next day found three stone statues. Everyone immediately realized that these were the Mastelli brothers, who were petrified as punishment, but later they began to say that the brothers disappeared without a trace; asculptures always decorated the building. 
Not a single century stone statue Rioby cries in February, when the days become colder than the stones. They say that if you put your hand to the chest of the statue at this time, you can hear its heart beating. 
And the last legend of the quarter... very close by is the house of the famous artist, Jacopo Robusti, nicknamed Tintoretto. This is house number 3399 on Fondamenta Dei Mori. The nickname stuck to the artist because his father was a dyer at a factory. 
Tintoretto had 4 daughters, one of them. Ottavia inherited her father's house, the other two, Alturia and Perina, went to a monastery, and it was from them that this story became known. And it concerns the fourth, eldest daughter, Marietta.
Once little Marietta went to the Madonna del Orto church for the first communion in her life; children had to go to church for 10 days for morning services before receiving communion.
On the very first morning, on the way to church, Marietta met an old woman who asked where the girl was going. Marietta explained. Would you like to become like Madonna? asked the old woman.
Don't laugh at me, it's impossible!
“It’s quite possible,” the old woman answered, “I’ll teach you what to do.” Instead of reading a prayer, hold the prosphora in your mouth, then hide it in your clothes and when you return home, hide it in a secret place. When you do this 10 times and collect 10 prosphoras, I will come and explain to you what to do.
The girl did just that. For several days she came home and put the prosphora in a box, which she then buried again in the garden. But a few days later the dogs dug up the bed and the box was pulled to the surface. Marietta confessed everything to her father. Tintoretto, despite his deep religiosity. He knew well the stories that were told in Venice about witches - this was one of the ways to recruit young girls and turn them into witches.
He decided not to tell anyone about this story, but prepared a large linden stick and told his daughter to wait for the woman at the entrance on the 10th day and invite her to enter the house.
He ordered his daughter to quietly place the prosphora near the altar so that the priest would think that the servant had accidentally lost them.
As soon as the witch entered, she received a good blow with a linden stick. But she immediately turned into a cat and dodged - she rushed further into the house, jumping from furniture to walls and curtains. But very soon the witch realized that everything was lost and she would not be able to perform the ritual. Then she turned into a black cloud that slid towards external wall palazzo. A hole appeared in the wall through which the witch escaped. No one ever saw her again. Tintoretto, just in case, played it safe - so that the witch could not return to the house, he installed a small altar with the image of Hercules in place of the hole.
These are the stories walking around a small Venetian quarter...
And reality sometimes presents such stories that after a while they themselves will turn into legends...
On the night of April 30 to May 1 of this year, Rioba’s head was lost... The nights in this quarter are deserted, dark...
At about two o'clock in the morning, nearby - literally a hundred meters away - someone broke the glass of Osteria Rioba. The owner ran out into the street to check what was going on. And he claimed that, returning home, he saw a head on Rioba. “When I pass by, I always look at Rioba,” he told local journalists. But in the morning the head was no longer there!
The loss was discovered around eight in the morning by two French tourists who arrived early at the campo. And none of the locals discovered that the statue had lost its head!
The tourists asked one of the locals: “Where is the head?” Here a scandal broke out. Journalists and police came running. On the fourth day, again around eight in the morning, the head was found. 43-year-old l "operatore ecologisto di Veritas - double in our opinion :) Stefano Scarpa, who has been sweeping the area since he was 17, discovered the head in a plastic garbage bag 400 meters from the decapitated statue.
This news became the main news on local television in the morning, and the janitor became the real hero of the day. A high-ranking official from the mayor's office personally shook hands with the environmental operator while cameras flashed. The chief police chief praised the act of the city's patriot.
Now they promised to return the head to its place - whoever will be in these parts - share, I won’t be going to Venice anytime soon.
And the history of Campo will be incomplete without the history of the church. The church, previously dedicated to St. Christopher, received a new name - Madonna del Orto - or also Santa Maria Odorifera - after an ancient statue was found in a nearby vegetable garden Holy Virgin, to which miraculous properties were attributed. 
Built in 1300 by Fra Tiberio Da Parma, head of the Order of the Humiliated (Umiliate), and rebuilt in the 15th century when it was threatened with destruction, it is now considered one of the finest examples of Venetian Gothic. 
In the church lie the ashes of Tintoretto, his son Domenico, and his daughter, the same Marietta whom Tintoretto saved from the witch. 
In the 14th century, not far from the Madonna del Orto, there was a workshop of the sculptors Jacobello Pietro Paolodelle Mazenier, who, with the young Paolo, son of Jacobello, carried out work for the Palazzo Doge, Frari and the Basilica of San Marco. The legend is associated with the youngest of the sculptors.
If you look closely at the church, you will see that in 12 niches there are figures of the apostles. 
According to tradition, the figure of Judas, who was present at the Last Supper, is always replaced in works of art by the figure of St. Matthew. But it was not always so.
In the 14th century there were many alternative religious movements and many sects that worshiped the devil. One of them, secret from his father and uncle, included young Paolo.
The devil appreciated the master's talent and invited him to become the creator of his kingdom on earth. The key place was chosen as the Church of St. Christopher (Madonna dell'Orto), where demons and evil spirits were supposed to gather.
To do this, the devil gave Paolo one of the 30 coins received by Judas for betraying Christ. The coin still bears drops of Judas' blood.
In secret from his father and uncle, Paolo had to put a coin inside one of the sculptures of the apostles and give his face the features of Judas. So he did. 
Soon there would be a procession of the Passion of Christ outside the church on Good Friday. The role of one of the Saints in the procession was played by a girl who also went down in the history of Venice. Twelve-year-old Isabella Contarini spent 15 days in a coma due to typhoid fever. And not only did she fully recover, but she gained the ability to communicate with the other world. Seeing a person's inner aura, she predicted the future.
In the middle of the procession, Isabella suddenly shouted, “What, are you no longer afraid of holy places, Satan? You think. How can you resist the will of the Lord and the faith of His people?
The crowd froze in amazement, and Paolo, immediately guessing what was the matter, rushed to the girl, but froze, unable to move, since the young deacon, who had oriented himself to the situation, sprinkled him with holy water.
And then the sky darkened and rose strong wind, Paolo fell unconscious, and the devilish spirit came out of him. When he woke up, the young man did not remember anything that had happened.
And the statue was left alone; it could no longer harm anyone.
But in Venice they say that once a year, on Good Friday, the figure of Judas disappears from the niche - it goes to the bloody field of Jerusalem, the lands once bought by Judas, where on this night all 30 pieces of silver of Judas must gather. The figure is accompanied on his night journey by the statues of Faith and Justice, which are usually found on the roof of the church. In the morning everything returns to its place. (Photos not mine)
