On our last day in Rome, we finally got around to exploring our own neighborhood. The Piazza del Popolo was the only entrance to Rome for over a thousand years. Via del Corso was (and still is) a broad avenue leading directly from here to the ancient Forum. In the middle ages, the the pope added another avenue to the right, from the piazza directly to the Vatican. Of course now it was assymetrical, so a subsequent pope completed the arrangements with a third avenue on the left, leading to the Spanish steps. Once symmetrical, an ancient Egyptian obelisk was added in the center of the piazza to emphasize the newfound balance, and then getting even more carried away, two small, perfectly formed churches were built behind the obelisk to give it a proper backdrop. These two identical churches are still in use, despite the fact that they were only built to decorate the piazza.



The piazza was the center of Rome's famous carnival held annually for over a thousand years. Highlights of the festivities included a series of races down the Via del Corso, including a riderless horse race, and a pretty horrific event involving the kidnapping of elderly Jews from the ghetto, who were then forced to eat huge amounts of food then race to the forum.