The Piazza Duomo is the centre of Trento's old town and one of the most successful set-pieces of urban design in the Alps — small, asymmetrical, and surrounded on every side by buildings worth a long look. The cathedral closes the southern end; the medieval Palazzo Pretorio (the Bishop's Castle before the Buonconsiglio) sits beside it; and the long, frescoed facades of the Case Cazuffi-Rella, painted in the 16th century in chiaroscuro figures of virtues and ancient heroes, line the western side.
In the middle of the square stands the Fontana del Nettuno, an 18th-century bronze Neptune by Stefano Salterio that has become Trento's mascot. The pace of life on the square is unhurried — locals on cafe terraces from morning into night, children running across the cobbles, and the cathedral bells punctuating the day.