Piazza Colonna Rome, Via del Corso Buildings, Palazzo di Montecitorio Photos, Public Space Italy

Piazza Colonna Roma – Architettura Via del Corso

Public Realm in the Italian Capital City: Roman building photographs, Italy, Europe

page updated Sep 19, 2017

Piazza Colonna

Location: Via del Corso
Date built: –

Palazzo di Montecitorio
Date built: 1650-97
Design: Bernini; Carlo Fontana

This public space inn the heart of the Italian capital is located at the center of the Rione of Colonna in the historic heart of Rome, Italy.

It is named for the marble Column of Marcus Aurelius, which has stood there since AD 193. The bronze statue of Saint Paul that crowns the column was placed in 1589, by order of Pope Sixtus V. The Roman Via Lata (known these days as the Via del Corso) runs through the piazza’s eastern end, from south to north.

Column:

The piazza is rectangular. Its north side is taken up by Palazzo Chigi, formerly the Austria-Hungary’s embassy, but is now a seat of the Italian government.

Galleria Colonna, west of Piazza Colonna:

The east side is taken up by the 19th century public shopping arcade Galleria Colonna (since 2003 Galleria Alberto Sordi), the south side is taken up by the flank of Palazzo Ferrajoli, formerly the Papal post office, and the little Church of Santi Bartolomeo ed Alessandro dei Bergamaschi (1731-35). The west side is taken up by Palazzo Wedekind (1838) with a colonnade of Roman columns taken from Veii.

Rome buildings : Traditional architecture