I happened on this picture the other day and it caught my eye. Not only because it was an old picture of Santa Croce, but because the statue of Dante has been moved from where it is shown in the picture. The Dante statue is now located at the top of the steps toward the left corner of the church when you face it.
From the picture, the piazza looks like it is roped off and filled with grass as well. But, these days, the piazza is filled with uneven stones that look like they've been there for centuries. I always have to be careful because it's easy to trip over stones that are sticking up a little higher than other ones. Also, when it rains puddles form quite easily and make it hard to walk without keeping one eye to the ground.
One other nice feature of the picture is the bell tower shown in the back. Since we moved here two years ago, we haven't seen the bell tower without the scaffolding, so it was nice to see it as it was meant to be.
I had always assumed that the piazza was authentic and untouched, but this photo made me realize that the piazza had probably been changed quite recently, maybe in the 50's or 60's.
I must say that I am happy with the open piazza now, and I'm sure Dante is happy to have been promoted so that he's closer to the church too.
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