Piazza Trieste e Trento almost got a king for its centrepiece and ended up with a vegetable instead: plans to relocate a Spanish monarch's fountain here were blocked, so in 1956 the city installed the Fontana del Carciofo, the artichoke fountain, its mascot ever since. Known as Piazza San Ferdinando until 1919, the square was renamed to mark Trento and Trieste's union with Italy after the First World War, and channels Via Toledo, Via Chiaia and Via San Carlo past Teatro San Carlo toward Piazza Plebiscito.

On its corner, Gran Caffè Gambrinus has served espresso since 1860 to guests including Oscar Wilde, and is closely linked to caffè sospeso, the Neapolitan custom of paying for a coffee left behind for a stranger who cannot afford one.

VoiceMap's audio tours use this junction as a hinge, carrying walkers from Via Toledo's shops toward Plebiscito's grandeur, and down into underground Naples.