Piazza della Minerva

Piazza della Minerva sits in the historic centre of Rome, south-east of the Pantheon in the rione Pigna. In antiquity a round temple of Minerva stood just east of the square; the medieval church and square took their names from it - Santa Maria sopra Minerva is Rome's only major Gothic church. At the centre stands Bernini's pulcino della Minerva: a small marble elephant designed in 1667 carrying a 6th-century BC Egyptian obelisk on its back. Bernini explained the unusual conceit by saying it takes a strong mind to support solid wisdom. The square today is much calmer than nearby Piazza della Rotonda; people stop briefly to photograph elephant and obelisk before stepping into the Minerva church to see the tomb of Fra Angelico.