If you have been to Rome, you likely enjoyed a coffee in one of the many elegant, old-fashioned cafés of Piazza Navona: yes, that coffee probably cost you twice as much as anywhere else, but man, was it worth it! The grandness of the square with its baroque architecture, the lively atmosphere, the street artists — it’s just such a beautiful, characteristic spot. 

But Piazza Navona has been at the heart of Rome’s social activities for almost two millennia, albeit under a different name, at least at the beginning. Its origin goes back to the Stadium of Domitian, built in 85 AD, whose elongated shape, stretching approximately 275 meters in length and 106 in width, has been preserved to this day.