Quattro Canti, officially known as Piazza Vigliena, is a Baroque square in Palermo

Palermo

Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

, Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, southern Italy.

It was laid out on the orders of the Viceroy

Viceroy

A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...

 the Duke of Maqueda between 1608-1620 by Giulio Lasso

Giulio Lasso

Giulio Lasso was an Italian architect, best known for his work in Palermo, Sicily. He was born in Florence.His most famous work is the Quattro Canti, an eight sided piazza in the centre of Palermo...

 at the crossing of the two principal streets in Palermo, the Via Maqueda and the Corso Vittorio Emanuele.

The piazza is octagonal four sides being the streets, and the remaining four sides are Baroque buildings the near identical facades of which contain fountain

Fountain

A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....

s with statue

Statue

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...

s of the four seasons, the four Spanish kings of Sicily, and of the patronesses of Palermo, (Cristina

Saint Christina

Saint Christina or Christine can refer to several saints:*Saint Christina of Persia, 6th century *Saint Christina of Bolsena...

, Ninfa, Olivia

Saint Olivia

Saint Olivia, according to the legend, was the beautiful daughter of a noble Sicilian family. She is supposed to have lived in the 9th century. When she was 13 years old she was kidnapped by and taken as a slave to Tunis...

, and Agata

Agatha of Sicily

Saint Agatha of Sicily is a Christian saint. Her memorial is on 5 February. Agatha was born at Catania, Sicily, and she was martyred in approximately 251...

). The facade

Facade

A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....

s onto the interchange are curved, and rise to four floors; the fountains rise to the height of the second floor, the third and fourth floors contain the statues in niches. At the time the piazza was built, it was one of the first major examples of town planning in Europe.