Originally the Piazza was a tennis court, but since 1966 the area has been a quiet paved area with a blue tiled pond, a fountain, and lavish flower beds. Along the southern edge of the Piazza, two columns support gilded figures of Burmese dancers. A low stone stairway climbs to the Gloriette -- a playful structure named after the grand monument at the Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna.
Built in the mid-1960s, Portmeirion's Gloriette is not a building, but a decorative facade. Five trompe l'oeil windows surround the open doorway. The four columns are the work of 18th century architect Samuael Wyatt, salvaged from the colonnade of Hooton Hall, Cheshire.


