Campo dei Fiori- Rome, Italy - VirtualTourist.com

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.

Campo dei Fiori, Rome

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Campo dei Fiori, Rome

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