Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere

Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere is a little gem that is tucked in behind the apartment buildings and shops of Viale di Trastevere in Rome. The piazza is named for the church that stands at the piazzas west end, Santa Maria in Trastevere. We ventured to this piazza on the night of June 2nd for dinner, and we were shocked. We have been living in Trastevere for almost a month and have not been to this piazza or seen all the fun that is in this area.
As we entered the Piazza from the east side our eyes were immediately attracted to the high chapel of the church Santa Maria in Trastevere, which was built in the 8th century on the site of a private house of worship for Christians. These private houses for worship are called tituli. The frescoes of the church date to around the 12th century, which is considered a time of intense building in Rome and the surrounding area.
At the center of the piazza is a fountain by Carlo Fontana that dates to 1692. Like many of the other piazzas in Rome, this one turns into a social gathering spot in the evening with restaurants, pubs, bars, and shops that open up from what otherwise look like boarded up buildings. The octagonal base of the fountain was loaded with teenagers and adults alike, all shining in the floodlights that are placed atop of Santa Maria, as if to keep a watchful eye on the sacred piazza. The police also had a large presence in this piazza. All in all I would compare this pizza to Camp di Fiori which is located across the river.
The most amazing part of the evening, at least to me, was the accordion player that we saw on our way back out of the piazza later in the evening. He was a younger gentleman, probably around 23 to 24 years old. The thing that made him stick out from the other accordion players we’ve seen and also from the other musicians in the piazza at this time was his intense love for the music he was playing. He of course had his case open for money but his eyes never opened once while he was playing. He rocked back and forth violently and sang at the top of his lungs in Italian. I never thought that the accordion could be played this way, but I was surely wrong. He was tucked in a small corner of the piazza next to a pub, but he drew a crowd nonetheless. I would have tossed him some money, but I had nothing but large bills on me. If I see him again I will surely donate to this gentleman.
Ciao!

Photo credits: www.Sacred-Destination.com