Piazza Vittorio

Few people know that Piazza Vittorio is the largest square in Rome. (Lovers of neorealist movies recognise the location from Vittoria de Sica’s masterpiece The Bicycle Thief.) The remains of an ancient building, Trofei di Mario, rise at the centre of the garden, but the strangest thing here is a door with symbols and Latin inscriptions on the wall. Modern occultists call it Porta Alchemica or Magic Portal, the only one of five former gates of Villa Palombara, once house of the alchemist marquis Palombara, who died in 1680. Eternal wealth to those who crack the code.