The Laterano complex has been one of the most significant and central locations in the history of Rome and the Church ever since 313 AD when Constantine assured religious freedom to the Christians of the Empire with the Edict of Milan.
Today, the area is divided into two large squares. The first is Piazza San. Giovanni in Laterano, which is located at the back of the basilica and has the large Lateran Obelisk as its fulcrum, and the second, is Piazza Porta Giovanni, on which the grand eighteenth-century façade of the basilica stands.
In our day, due to a strange twist of fate, the square, which is so full of sacred sites, has become a sort of "secular gathering point" for the city.
It was the funeral site for communist leaders Togliatti and Berlinguer and periodically welcomes the representatives of major national unions for speeches as well as oceans of spectators who gather for huge concerts held annually on 1 May.
Be sure not to miss: San Giovanni in Laterano, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Scala Santa (Holy Stairs), Battistero Lateranense (Lateran Baptistery), and the Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti Musicali (National Museum of Musical Instruments).

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