Piazza Colonna Piazza Colonna Piazza Colonna is a piazza at the center of the Rione of Colonna in the historic heart of Rome, Italy. It is named for the marble Column of Marcus Aurelius, which has stood there since AD 193. The bronze statue of Saint Paul that crowns the column was placed in 1589, by order of Pope Sixtus V. The Roman Via Lata (now the Via del Corso) runs through the piazza's eastern end, from south to north. The piazza is rectangular. Its north side is taken up by Palazzo Chigi, formerly the Austria-Hungary's embassy, but is now a seat
Willie Piazza their abilities to sing and play musical instruments; jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton sometimes played her upright white piano. The average annual income for a Willie Piazza octoroon was thought to be $1,000-$2,000. Piazza herself became known as "Countess Willie Piazza" and cultivated an image of European sophistication. She used a “two foot ivory, gold and diamond” cigarette holder to smoke Russian cigarettes. After the closer of Storyville in 1917, Piazza continued to work as a prostitute and procuress. Piazza was one of the main characters (played by Virginia Mayo) in the 1978 Dennis Kane film "French Quarter". Willie Piazza