4. Three Ways Back to the Centre

A trident of streets radiate from Piazza del Popolo into the centre.

Via del Babuino is on our left, Via di Ripetta is on our right, Via del Corso runs down the centre. Let’s start on the left.

The Babuino is a shopping street, with local, independently owned, fashion boutiques.

It leads to the Spanish Steps and the mouth of Via Condotti.

Via Condotti, a short street linking the Spanish Steps to the Corso, has Rome’s most prestigious shops – Prada, Bulgari, Cartier. Window shopping is always fun here.

Via del Corso is one of Rome’s main commercial streets. It runs North to South from Piazza del Popolo to the Capitoline Hill.

Take a left turn from the Corso onto Via dei Sabini. After a few blocks one first hears, and then one sees, the oversized, magnificent, Trevi Fountain.

Further south on the Corso, Bill and I always visit Palazzo Doria Pamphilj (pam-FEE-lee): a 17th cenury palace with Velasquez’s “Portrait of Pope Innocent X,” and three Caravaggios.

From here, one could carry on up the Quirinal Hill to the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini (National Gallery of Antique Art). Bill and I call it the Barberini.

Its collection includes Caravaggio’s “Judith and Holofernes.”

You will climb a square staircase designed by Bernini. Be sure to descend these circular stairs at the other end of the building on your way out. They were designed by Bernini’s rival, Borromini.

The Complesso delle Quattro Fontane (Corner of the Four Fountains) is only two blocks away. Two goddesses and two river-gods occupy their own corners of the street.

Also at the corner is another Borromini masterpiece: the church of San Carlo alla Quattro Fontane. Try to see this church.

A block away from the Borommini is Bernini’s Sant'Andrea al Quirinale. It is wonderful to be able to compare church designs by these rival Baroque architects.

Now to the third street of our Piazza del Popolo trident Via di Ripetta, which passes between the newly reopened Mausoleum of Augustus (above) and the Ara Pacis.

The Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace), has an exterior by Richard Meyer.

Inside is a 1st century BCE monument to Emperor Augustus. Of the three streets of the trident, Bill and I find ourselves most often on the Ripetta because it is our most direct route to the Governo Vecchio, where we have three favourite restaurants.