The PiazzaIn Italy, the town square was the one location where every section of life could be seen. A square, or piazza, was the heart and soul of the community. Larger cities like Venice or Rome might have more than one, each a representation of the surrounding neighborhoods. The male nobility would mingle in the square, there to be seen as much as anything. The lower and middle class would gather in the square to watch traveling theatre troupes and musicians as they set up stage. Young men of all social classes would mill about in the piazza, hoping to see something exciting or pick up information. The Piazza dei Signore was centrally located in Verona. The square was certainly the political center of Verona; the city hall stood along the Eastern edge of the square. The della Scala family – the ruling family of Verona for two hundred years – built their palazzo next door to the city hall. The piazza was home to dozens of market stalls. Servants sent out during the day to make purchases for their households would come to the market in the square. Public announcements by the Lord of Verona or the guard were made in the square. The Piazza dei Signore offered a near-perfect cross section of Veronese life. Anything exciting – the gossip, announcements, traveling entertainers, and even public executions – happened in the piazza. It's easy to picture some of Romeo and Juliet's scenes playing out in the Piazza dei Signore: Mercutio's "Queen Mab" speech, the bawdy banter between Mercutio and the Nurse, or Romeo's buoyant encounter with Benvolio and Mercutio after he secretly weds Juliet. |
Verona's Piazza dei Signore, as photographed in 2004Rome's Piazza del PopoloVenice's Piazza San MarcoFlorence's Piazza della SignoriaSiena's Piazza del Campo |
Information Drawn From:
"An Italian Institution – The Piazza." Italy Magazine, 23 May 2008. Web. 30 May 2013.
Bowd, Stephen D. Venice's Most Loyal City: Civic Identity in Renaissance Brescia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2010. Print.
Brown, Alison. The Renaissance. London: Longman, 1999. Print.
Humfrey, Peter. Venice and the Veneto. New York: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print.
Bowd, Stephen D. Venice's Most Loyal City: Civic Identity in Renaissance Brescia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2010. Print.
Brown, Alison. The Renaissance. London: Longman, 1999. Print.
Humfrey, Peter. Venice and the Veneto. New York: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print.