Piazza del Popolo assumed its current rectangular aspect in the first half of the 1500's with the addition of a harmonious columned portico comprised of numerous arches, each one unique, creating an asset of equilibrated harmony characterized by the symmetry which was so typical of the Renaissance. The most important buildings of the square also represent the three powers of the time: political, with the Palazo dei Capitani  ( People's Captains' Palace); religious, with the Chiesa di San Francesco ( Church of S. Francesco); and commercial with the Loggia dei Mercanti (Merchants' Lodge)
The Archaeological route at the Captains' Palace is an example of a museum of archaeology in an urban context, it offers one a visualization of a series of levels of pavements dating from the Roman epoch to the Middle Ages.