Campo dei Fiori, Rome

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Campo de' Fiori is a large local feeling square in the heart of Rome.

It is ringed by cafes and bars and is home to a fabulous flower and vegie market in the mornings, and is a happening place for nightlife in the evenings.

There are also some good clothing stores on the roads that lead into the square.

Yet another fabulous place to pull up a chair, order an espresso or vino and do some serious people watching/meeting....depending on how many of those vino's you've had!!

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The Campo Di Fiori is an exciting and historic spot in Rome. It has a very good open air market during the morning hours. In the evening it changes to an exciting spot with nice restaurants and night life.

It is a great place to pick up items for a picnic. Or get some flowers for your room. It really adds a touch of class to any hotel room. if you are staying in a family run place the owners find some flowers a welcome gift.

In any case try not to miss this nice spot.

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At the heart of Campo de' Fiori is a small square which is also an open-air market, Rome's most picturesque market and its most historical, according to my Eyewitness Travel Guide. This place has been a market for many centuries. Every morning, except on Sundays, can be found an array of stalls selling fruit, vegetables, cheese and cured meat, and whatnot (clothes, kitchen utensils), and dried fruits and beans.

It was a Saturday when we went, and the place was humming busy. Not as big, as varied, and as busy as I expected for a Saturday, still there was a lively crowd, a lot were tourists. The vegetable stalls were the most interesting. There were bushels of fresh greens which one can pick from and combine together for a salad mix -- a make-your- own mix. The stall selling decorative squash was also interesting, the shapes, colours, and textures of the squash were on their own pieces of art. I was intrigued by the different types of tomatoes and small aubergines. I was expecting more kinds of fresh mushrooms being sold at this time of the year, but only saw two types. There were a few stalls selling sauces for pasta, and different kinds of paté -- the latter could be sampled. These same stalls sold dried tomatoes, capers, and pasta as well. I was looking for stalls selling meat and cheeses, but found only one but selling only a few varieties. In the end, I opted for about 200 grams of capers, which cost me about 5 euros.

Overall, I was happy to have visited this market, as it is widely known but I was left quite underwhelmed. Somehow, it seemed touristy and a little artificial, hearing all these young men shouting their wares in english -- i probably would have to go to a small town or village market in a far-off region to have a feel of what is still very traditionally Italian.

The market is easy to find. The best way is to get off at Largo Argentina, where most public transport which goes in this area make a stop. This is the corner where the Area Sacra dell' Argentina is, a small complex of ruins right along the main street. From there it is less than 10 minutes' walk to the market. Just follow the Via Arenula, and on the 3rd corner, at Via Del Guibbonari, turn right and go straight on. That is a small shoppping street which ends right on the market.

This is what the squares name translates as. Here every morning except Sunday you'll find a lively market. The square is full of stalls selling fruit & veg, meat, fish and household goods. Around the square are delicatessen and bread shops. At night the square is full of people enjoying the restaurants & bars.

In the centre of the square is a statue of the philospher Giordano Bruno, burnt at the stake here in 1600 for heresy. A reminder that the area once held executions.

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With its open air flower and vegetable market, along with the hustle and bustle of locals, Campo de' Fiori is easily the liveliest piazza in Rome. Its name derives from the field of flowers that it was in medieval times, rather than from the market, which only began in the 19th century. Walking through the amazingly fresh and delicious-looking produce in the market makes it easier to understand why food in Rome and Italy is better than anywhere else in the world. Campo de' Fiori is also a popular meeting spot for locals, particularly in the evening.

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Campo de Fiori is a square that I would have liked to have spent more time at. We walked through a couple times, always at night however. In the morning there is supposed to be a busy produce market held at the square. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to peruse the market.

The statue of Giordano Bruno (priest and philosopher burnt at the stake) occupies the center of the square. At night the square is filled with sightseers and street performers (and also those protesting various causes).

The square is lined by restaurants and bars with outdoor seeting. We had a drink at a bar on the square, which was pretty expensive, but had free appetizers, which weren't very good.

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Campo dei Fiori (The Field of Flowers) is a very colorful piazza in Rome. During the morning hours, the piazza is full with vendors selling everything from fresh fruit and veggies to jewelry (Murano glass ones) and clothes. I could not believe how trashed the piazza looks after all the vendors are gone (mid day), but I have to give credit to the cleaning crew which takes care of the piazza and it makes it look spotless by the time evening comes.

There are plenty of good bars and restaurants around for a quick bite if you get hungry. Also, there are some really nice and different shops around the piazza.

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Produce markets are always fun, and Rome's Campo de' Fiori is no exception. Set down right in the middle of the city, the square is a blaze of colour and fresh and fruity smells all morning and a popular place to hang out on the cafes and bars that ring the square in the afternoons and evenings after the market has packed up. The array of fruit and vegetables is dazzling - everything looks so fresh and, as no Italian housewife worth her salt would use anything second-rate to feed her family, the quality is superb. You'll see more varieties of tomato on sale here that you ever dreamt of - and each one has its own attributes and particular use. Prices are good too - this is where Romans come to shop so you won't be charged over-inflated tourist prices here as you will at the fruit stalls in places that tourists frequent.

The streets that lead into the market square are definitely the place to browse awhile - we found the perfect purple belt for a friend in one small shop and gorgeous embroidered bags in another - MrL's big purchase was a chunk of perfect pecorino. You'll find traces of the area's history in the street names - Campo de' Fiori means Field of Flowers and that's just what the place was until the 15th century (only yesterday in Roman-time) - an unused meadow. They still sell flowers here but although you can still buy a travelling trunk in Via dei Baullari (the street of the coffer makers), a book in Via del Pellegrino (the street of the bookbinders) and a fine suit in Via dei Giubbonari (the street of the tailors) you'll have a harder time finding a crossbow in Via dei Balestrari.

Drunken revellers and dirty deeds in back alleys can be a problem at night in the area - but that's nothing new. It was here that Caravaggio murdered a tennis opponent in a fit of wine-fuelled rage and Lucrezia Borgia's brother was poisoned in his palace overlooking the square.

A more intellectual tradition sees the square's cafes and bars being the favourite meeting place for the city's alternative thinkers - a tradition that honours the 15th century philosopher-monk, Giordano Bruno, who was burnt at the stake here for his radical advocacy of the separation between the political and religious power of the Church. When that finally happened in the 19th century with the reunion of Italy, the men who fought that battle erected a memorial statue of Bruno on the spot where he died.