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Piazza

 
Piazza

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Piazza



 
 
When the Earl of Bedford
Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford

Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford Privy Council of England was an England politician. He was the only son of William Russell, 1st Baron Russell of Thornhaugh, to which barony he succeeded in August 1613....
 developed the first privately-ventured public square built in London, Covent Garden
Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London, England, located on the easternmost parts of the City of Westminster and the southwest corner of the London Borough of Camden....
, his architect Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones is regarded as the first significant British architecture, and the first to bring Renaissance architecture to England. He also made valuable contributions to stage design....
 surrounded it with arcade
Arcade (architecture)

An arcade is a passage or walkway covered over by a succession of arches or Vault supported by columns. In a Gothic architecture cathedral the arcade is the lowest part of the wall of the nave, supporting the triforium and the clerestory....
s, in the Italian fashion. Talk about the piazza was connected in Londoners' minds, not with the square as a whole but with the arcades, which were called the "piazzas".

In Britain piazza now generally refers to a paved open pedestrian space, without grass or planting, often in front of a significant building or shops.

In the United States, in the early 19th century, a piazza by further extension became a fanciful name for a colonnade
Colonnade

In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, as in the famous elliptically curving colonnades that Bernini added to the fa?ade of The apostel Peter's Basilica in Rome, which embrace and define the Piazza....
d porch
Porch

A porch is a structure attached to a building, forming a covered entrance to a vestibule or doorway. It is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure....
.






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When the Earl of Bedford
Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford

Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford Privy Council of England was an England politician. He was the only son of William Russell, 1st Baron Russell of Thornhaugh, to which barony he succeeded in August 1613....
 developed the first privately-ventured public square built in London, Covent Garden
Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London, England, located on the easternmost parts of the City of Westminster and the southwest corner of the London Borough of Camden....
, his architect Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones is regarded as the first significant British architecture, and the first to bring Renaissance architecture to England. He also made valuable contributions to stage design....
 surrounded it with arcade
Arcade (architecture)

An arcade is a passage or walkway covered over by a succession of arches or Vault supported by columns. In a Gothic architecture cathedral the arcade is the lowest part of the wall of the nave, supporting the triforium and the clerestory....
s, in the Italian fashion. Talk about the piazza was connected in Londoners' minds, not with the square as a whole but with the arcades, which were called the "piazzas".

In Britain piazza now generally refers to a paved open pedestrian space, without grass or planting, often in front of a significant building or shops.

In the United States, in the early 19th century, a piazza by further extension became a fanciful name for a colonnade
Colonnade

In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, as in the famous elliptically curving colonnades that Bernini added to the fa?ade of The apostel Peter's Basilica in Rome, which embrace and define the Piazza....
d porch
Porch

A porch is a structure attached to a building, forming a covered entrance to a vestibule or doorway. It is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure....
. Yet, the word piazza was used by some, especially in the Boston
Boston, Massachusetts

Boston is the State capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region, and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England." Boston city proper had a 2007 est...
 area, to refer to a front porch
Porch

A porch is a structure attached to a building, forming a covered entrance to a vestibule or doorway. It is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure....
, fanciful or otherwise, connected to a house or apartment.

Piazza is also a common last name for Italians and Italian-Americans. The name grew out of the region surrounding Venice, and large populations of Piazza reside in Calabria, Sicily, and Venice.

A central square in Gibraltar
Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory shares a border with Spain to the north....
's Main Street officially named John Mackintosh Square is colloquially referred to as The Piazza.

See also

  • Town square
    Town square

    Public square and city square redirect here. For Public Square, Cleveland, see Public Square and for City Square in Leeds see Leeds City Square....
  • Plaza
    Plaza

    Plaza is a Spanish language word related to "field" which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square. All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be incorporated in a wing...
  • List of city squares
    List of city squares

    The following is a partial list of prominent city squares: ...