Piazza della Libertà lies adjacent to Piazza del Popolo, separated from it only by the route of the two main streets that follow the line of the ancient decumanus.
The space is dominated by the Renaissance cathedral and its broad staircase, which acts as a visual threshold between the square and the church. On the right-hand side stands the seventeenth-century Monumental Fountain, with its evocative water features.
In the medieval period this square also hosted commercial activities, with shops arranged beneath a wooden portico facing the cathedral. This structure was demolished by Carlo II Manfredi as part of his programme to enhance the city centre.
Portico degli Orefici
The Portico degli Orefici, also known as the Portico dei Signori, was built to a design by G. B. Aleotti between 1604 and 1611 on the same site. It extends for 60 metres and features 16 arches supported by Doric columns. The houses above are the result of nineteenth-century restorations, which abandoned the idea of a unified façade as originally conceived.
At the end of the portico, on the corner of the square, stands Palazzo Laderchi, a work of Faenza Neoclassicism and home to the Museum of the Risorgimento and the Contemporary Age.
On the left, elegant early twentieth-century buildings preserve Liberty-style decorative motifs in ceramic and wrought iron by the Officine Matteucci.
Piazza della Libertà brings together and harmonises buildings and architectural styles from different periods, creating an interesting and eclectic ensemble that connects, thanks to the portico, with the space of the main square.
