Campo de' Fiori

Campo de' Fiori, the field of flowers, is the most Roman of squares: no grand church, no triumphal monument, just centuries of daily life. Its famous open-air market has filled the square every morning except Sunday since 1869, stalls piled with seasonal produce, flowers, spices and pasta. Come before noon to see the square working as it has for generations, and haggle a little; it is expected.

The brooding hooded statue at the centre is the philosopher Giordano Bruno, burned at the stake on this spot in 1600 for heresy. When the monument was erected in 1889 it faced deliberately toward the Vatican, and it remains a symbol of free thought. The square is unusual among Rome's piazzas in having no church at all, which suits its earthy character.

The surrounding lanes are dense with bakeries, wine bars and street food; the famous forno on the square corner has fed generations of Romans its pizza bianca. A block south stands Palazzo Farnese, the finest Renaissance palace in Rome, designed in part by Michelangelo and now the French Embassy, and the elegant Via Giulia runs behind it toward the river.

After dark the market square flips into one of the centre's liveliest nightlife spots, its terraces full until late. Campo de' Fiori is a five-minute walk from Piazza Navona and the Pantheon, and just across Ponte Sisto from Trastevere; no metro reaches this pedestrian heart, so arrive on foot or by bus to Corso Vittorio Emanuele II.

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