The square is located in the historic center of Cervia and its origin dates back to the birth of the New Town, in 1697.
Originally built with river pebbles, it represented the civil and religious center in which the two largest representative architectures faced each other: the Town Hall and the Cathedral.
The main road that crossed the square from north to south, the via Romea, divided it in half and connected Porta Ravenna to Porta Cesenatico.
The Palazzo del Municipio, built between 1702 and 1712 as Palazzo Priorale, was designed in a simple and unadorned style by Francesco Fontana, son, pupil and collaborator of Carlo Fontana, one of the most prestigious architects in 18th century Rome.

The original drawings of the building were found by the historian Angelo Turchini in an American library in Illinois ("Cavagna Fund").