A New Line of Sight

Prompt: How does the Piazza provide a lens for Italian culture?

Laughter, gestures flying, the sweet aroma of Italian cuisine, ring-a-ling of church bells, and endless chit chatter fill any piazza one steps into.  The fact that the piazza is in itself a gathering place for people of all stations and types goes to show how it encompasses a wide variety of Italian culture.  Certain piazzas also seem to have a “personality” of their own, and by visiting different ones people can hear the whisper of what each one wishes you to take with you. 

The surroundings on the outskirts of the piazzas offer different people what part of Italian culture they are looking for.  For example, the Piazza di Spagna pronounces endless fashion by the streets that streamline into it.  Gucci, Prada, and Dior all show their high end faces, tempting those who walk by.  Even Danilo our Italian professor claims that Italians only like the best and that here you might as well live large or go home.  The Piazza del Popolo on the other hand seems to beckon “come on in and pray” with both its twin churches and Santa Maria del Popolo standing proud.  The piazza also has the Villa Borghese gardens calling out to everyone wishing for relaxation.  Through Piazza Navona you can often stroll leisurely and look at art of the most beautiful places in Italy- anywhere from realistic landscapes to a more modern style of famous landmarks.  However, many of these qualities overlap between varying locations.  Most piazzas do offer shopping, places of worship, beauty, and art.  After all, each one I have seen involves people partaking in all of these activities, not excluding eating, viewing sculptures, gathering around fountains, and people catching up with one another on their daily lives.  Can't find the piazza you are looking for?  Just look up in the sky for the soaring obelisk that marks each spot.  However, each one just seems to have a certain specialty and unique zest.  Through the all encompassing fulfillment of needs and desires offered, the piazza becomes a center of life for Italians.

What better way to learn of Italian culture than from the Italians themselves?  Piazzas provide some of the best “people-watching” around.  All you need is a bench, maybe a freshly made panino and cappuccino from the charming little shop next door, and time.  Granted, tourists filled much of the piazza during the August month and you are constantly seeing the flash of a camera, people staring blankly at maps, and people trying to pose as a native.  My friend Maria even stated “Sometimes I forget I am not from here.  I accidently told someone I was Italian and she gave me such a strange look.”  Tourists become enthralled with the new culture surrounding them and everything at times seems to come almost naturally.  Yet as much as one tries, the true Italians in the piazza see right through you.  Barzini notes “[The tourists] try hard to gesticulate wildly as they speak.  They usually manage it in the style of amateur comedians playing an Italian character” (6).  However, as the August month rolled to an end along with much of the radiating heat, the piazzas filled up with not only tourists, but again with the Italians themselves.  That is when the true magic of Rome started happening.

Just the other day we had a scavenger hunt in which we had to find various places and objects in the different piazzas.  I could not help but notice the variety of people we were now able to ask.  Before I looked around and saw people from almost every country but Italy.  Now the piazza was bursting full with true Italian life.  Through our new lens we could witness businessmen in suits talking over a little drink or two, the carabinieri standing tall by their vehicles making sure nothing has gone awry, teenagers jesting away, and gypsies with all sorts of goods ready to throw at the remaining tourists.  If you are studious enough to learn the Italian language and your lens is stronger, you can take away all of the conversations you hear and have a deeper understanding of everyday life.  Even if your lens is not strong enough, you still are able to perceive the endless gestures Italians are known for which manage to tell so much.  “Conversations can be followed at a distance by merely watching the changing expressions of those taking part in them… Reading facial expressions is an important art in Italy” (Barzini 61).  Since each expression is a piece of artwork as noted in The Italians, than they are also a clear view into Italian culture. 

Why does one have to go to a piazza though for a lens into that culture?  I have easily walked around side streets and found shops, churches lost in time, and mini fountains with sculpture décor.  I have walked around and seen people doing their everyday things as I am getting from point A to point B.  The train alone is a hotspot for Italian conversation used to pass the time away.  I have seen sites such as the Coliseum and Roman Forum which also give information on what has led to the culture of today.  The answer simply seems to be that you can have sights into Italian culture elsewhere, but everywhere else is only a piece of that lens.  In the piazza you have diversity and layers of what makes up the culture to complete the lens and obtain the bigger picture.  Italian religion, food, social etiquette, art, and even the tourists which at times compose much of Rome gather into one place called the piazza- and through this piazza can you really get the idea of why you have come to the beautiful place called Rome.