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Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, also known as Piazza Vittorio, is a piazza in Rome, in the Esquilino rione. It is served by the Vittorio Emanuele Metro station.
Surrounded by palazzi with large porticoes in the 19th century style, the piazza was built by Gaetano Koch shortly after the unification of Italy. Umbertine in style, it is the largest piazza in Rome (316 x 174 metres)[1]. In the centre of the piazza is a garden with the remains of a fountain built by Alexander Severus, and the so-called "Porta Magica" (Magic Gate) or "Porta Alchemica" (Alchemist's Door), the entrance to Villa Palombara, residence of the alchemist Massimiliano II Palombara.
In Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette), it was in Piazza Vittorio that the protagonist Antonio Ricci and his young son Bruno seek desperately to recover his stolen bicycle, but realise the futility of their task as the vast square is filled with countless bicycles and bicycle parts that resemble his own.