Tourist Attraction in Rome:
Piazza Colonna
Piazza Colonna, owes its name to the Column of Marcus Aurelius here since ancient times, and which also gives the name to the same name Rione Colonna, of which the square is part. The square, built at the end of the sixteenth century by Pope Sisto V, rises on the central Via del Corso, near Montecitorio and the Pantheon, not far from Piazza Venezia. The square plant has a rectangular shape, with the center column of Marco Aurelio, and is surrounded by some of the most important historic palaces in Rome. Here, right in front of the column, on the north side of the square is the entrance to Chigi Palace whose family belonged from 1659 to 1916 when it was bought by the state. It was built in the 16th century by Pietro Aldobrandini for his family; already the seat of the embassy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is today the seat of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. To the left of this, on the west side is the Wedekind palace, the historic home of the daily Il Tempo, which features a portico formed by ancient Ionian columns originating in the Etruscan city of Veio . ontinuing on the south side, near the church of Santi Bartholomew and Alessandro dei Bergamaschi is Palazzo Ferrajoli, erected by the Roman family Del Bufalo Cancellieri, who named the square throughout the fifteenth century, and belonged to their Marquis Niccolini heirs today hosted among other things, the representative offices of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Valle d'Aosta regions. Finally, overlooking the square but also Via del Corso, on the area where the palace was named Piombino because of the properties of the Boncompagni-Ludovisi princes of Piombino demolished in 1889, is now the palace of the gallery Colonna, now called gallery Alberto Sordi, historical meeting place of the classy Roma classes of a time. Not far from the column is an elegant fountain, designed by Giacomo Della Porta on behalf of Gregory XIII; fueled by the Aqua Waterfall aqueduct, is made up of a large Chio marble bathtub decorated externally by sixteen vertical bands in Carrara marble; two groups of dolphins emerge from the water and a small basin in the center: these elements, sculpted by Achilles Stocchi, were added to the fountain in the first half of the nineteenth century, following fountain restoration work.