Campo de' Fiori square in Rome

The Campo de Fiori is a piazza in Rome, located close to the larger and older Piazza Navona and near the edge of the Tiber river. The Campo itself was not a developed area in Roman times and this early lack of urban encroachment into the area accounts for its name, which translates from Italian as "field of flowers."

The first significant construction, a stepping stone on the way to Campo de Fiori's becoming a true piazza, was the church of Santa Brigida. The paving of the area followed a few decades later. Development continued after this initial step, and a number of buildings were erected around the square. In this manner, the piazza developed in an organic, piece-by-piece way, rather than rising up all at once as the result of a unified plan. The Campo de Fiori became a place of commerce and trade in the entire city of Rome, and a variety of tradesmen's shops sprung up.

The modern Campo de Fiori remains a bustling marketplace. The rectangular space is framed by tall buildings reflecting the styles of two centuries ago, and in the center stands a statue Giordano Bruno, a thinker whose ideas threatened the Church's dogmatic principles and resulted in his being burnt at the stake in 1600. The likeness was erected in 1887 and depicts Bruno, looking stoically and indomitably out from the hood of his robe, clasping a book in his hand, as if daring those who would quash the truth to try and snatch it from his metal grasp.