(DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

ROME : THE ANCIENT CENTRE  399


VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
A History of the
Practical Information Palatine Hill
Via di San Gregorio 30.
Map 6 F1. Tel 06 39 96 77 00.
Open 8:30am–1 hour before
sunset. Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec.
& includes entry to the Forum,
the Colosseum and the Palatine
Museum. 8 9 =
Transport
@ 75, 80, 81, 175, 673, 850.
Cryptoporticus q Colosseo. v 3.
This underground gallery,
elaborately decorated with
stuccoed walls, was built by
Emperor Nero.
Romans of the Decadence by Thomas
Couture (1815–79)
The Founding of Rome
According to legend the
twins Romulus and Remus
were brought up on the
Palatine by a wolf. Here
Romulus, having killed his
brother, is said to have
founded the village that was
Forum The Palace of destined to become Rome.
entrance Septimius Severus Traces of mud huts dating
This extension of the back to the 8th century BC
Domus Augustana have been found on the hill,
projected beyond the lending archaeological
hillside, supported on support to the legend.
giant arches.
The Republic
By the 1st century BC the
Palatine was the most
desirable address in Rome
and home to the leading
citizens of the Republic. Its
residents, including the erotic
poet Catullus and the orator
Cicero, were notoriously
0 metres 75 indulgent, and their villas
were magnificent dwellings
0 yards 75 with doors of ivory, floors of
bronze and frescoed walls.
The Empire
Augustus was born on the
Palatine in 63 BC, and lived
there in a modest house
after becoming emperor.
The hill was therefore an
obvious choice of abode
for future emperors.
Domitian’s ambitious house,
the Domus Flavia (1st century
AD), and its private quarters,
the Domus Augustana,
remained the official
Stadium residence of future emperors
Part of the Imperial palace, (who were re ferred to as
this enclosure may have been Augustus) for more than
used by the emperors as a 300 years.
private garden.




398-399_EW_Italy.indd 399 26/04/16 4:31 pm

400-401_EW_Italy.indd 400 19/03/15 12:22 pm

ROME AND LAZIO  401

AROUND PIAZZA NAVONA

The area around Piazza Navona, known as heyday began in the 15th century, when
the centro storico, has been inhabited for the papacy returned to Rome. Throughout
at least 2,000 years. Piazza Navona stands the Renaissance and Baroque eras, princes,
above an ancient stadium; the Pantheon popes and cardinals settled here, as did
has been a temple since AD 27; and the the artists and artisans they commissioned
Theatre of Marcellus in the Ghetto has been to build and adorn lavish palaces, churches
converted into exclusive flats. The area’s and fountains.

Sights at a Glance
Churches and Temples Ancient Sites and Buildings Museums and Galleries
2 Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza 4 Palazzo Altemps 0 Palazzo Spada
3 San Luigi dei Francesi 7 Palazzo della Cancelleria r Palazzo Doria Pamphilj
5 Santa Maria della Pace 9 Palazzo Farnese Historic Piazzas and Areas
6 Chiesa Nuova w Area Sacra di Largo Argentina 1 Piazza Navona
e Gesù y Pantheon 8 Campo de’ Fiori
t Santa Maria sopra Minerva q Ghetto and Tiber Island
u Sant’Ignazio di Loyola i Piazza Colonna
p La Maddalena
o Piazza di Montecitorio
0 metres 250
0 yards 250
V I A T O M A C E L L I
LUNG O T. M A RZIO VIA F. BORGHESE IN LUCINA
Ponte
Cavour
PIAZZA S.
LORENZO
Umberto T e v e r e VIA M.TE BRIANZO VIA DI CAMP O MAR ZIO PIAZZA D. V I A
VIA IN
LUCINA
Ponte
Ponte S. F i u m e VIA D ELL’ O RSO V I A D E L L A S C R O FA V. DEI PREFETTI PARLAMENTO
Angelo L U N G O T. T O R D I N O N A V. ZANARDELLI COPPELLE D
PIAZZA
LUNGOT. DEI FIORENTINI C O R S O V. DEL BANCO S. SPIRITO BANCHI NUOVI VIA DEI CORONARI VIA D. PARIONE V. DI S. MARIA DELL’ ANIMA NAVONA COR PIAZZA DELLA PIAZZA V. DEL VIA COLONNA E L
V. PAOLA
ANTONINA
V. DI PANICO
PONTE
CAPRANICA
VIA D.
PIGNA
V. D. M.TE
GIO RDA NO
ROTONDA
SEMINARIO
PIAZZA S.
VIA D. GOVERNO VECCHIO
ROMANO
V I T T O R I O
PIAZZA D. PIAZZA COL. C O R S O
MINERVA
V I A G I U L I A
VIA D. BANCHI VECCHI
V. S.F. NERI VIA DEL PELLEG RINO I I CESTARI V. DEI VIA D. GESÙ
E M A N U E L E
PIAZZA SO DEL RINASCIMENTO
Ponte G. VIA MONSERRATO V. D EI CAPPELLARI V. DEI LARGO DI TORRE V.D. PLEBISCITO
EUSTACHIO V. DI TORRE ARGENTINA
Mazzini BAULLARI ARGENTINA
PIAZZA
PARIONE D. GESÙ
V. DEI FARNESI FARNESE VIA DEI G IUBBONARI V. DELLE BOTTEGHE OSCURE V. S. MARCO
PIAZZA
V I A G I U L I A
PIAZZA
D’ARACOELI O
V. D EI C H IAVA R I
VIA DEI PE TTINARI VIA ARE NUL A PIAZZA MARGANA
PIAZZA
LUNGOT. D. SANGALLO LUNGOT. DEI TEBALDI
MATTEI
Ponte REGOLA PIAZZA V. PORTICO D’OTTAVIA VIA D. TEATRO DI MAR CEL L
CENCI
Sisto V. D. ZOCCOLETTE LUNGOT. DEI CENCI
VIA CATALANA
LUNGOT. D. VALLATI
Ponte
Garibaldi ISOLA
TIBERINA
See also Rome Street Finder
maps 9, 10
The starry blue vault of the nave in Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Piazza della Minerva For keys to symbols see back flap
400-401_EW_Italy.indd 401 19/03/15 12:22 pm

402  ROME AND LAZIO

Street-by-Street: Around Piazza Navona

No other piazza in Rome can rival the theatricality of The Torre dell’Orologio by
Piazza Navona. The luxurious cafés are the social centre Borromini (1648) formed part of
of the city, and day and night there is always something the Oratorio dei Filippini.
going on in the pedestrian area around the three 6 Chiesa Nuova
flamboyant Baroque fountains. The Baroque is also This church was rebuilt in
represented in many of the area’s churches. 1575 for the order founded
To discover an older Rome, walk along The Vatican by San Filippo Neri.
Via del Governo Vecchio to admire
the façades of Renaissance
buildings, browse in the
fascinating antiques shops
and lunch in one of the V I A D E L C O R A L L O
many trattorias.

At the
Oratorio
dei Filippini D E L L A N I M A
(1637), biblical V I A D E L G O V E R N O V E C C H I O V I A D I PA R I O N E
stories were
sung and the
congregation
responded with a
chorus – the origin
of the oratorio. V I A D I S A N TA M A R I A

Via del Governo
Vecchio preserves a
large number of fine
Renaissance houses. C O R S O V I T T O R I O E M A N U E L E I I PIAZZA DI

5 Santa Maria della Pace PASQUINO
This Renaissance church has
frescoes of the Four Sibyls
by Raphael and a refined
courtyard by Bramante.
The Baroque
portico is by
Pietro da Cortona.


Pasquino is a 3rd-century-BC
Hellenistic statue of Menelaus.
Romans have been hanging
satirical verses at its feet since
the 16th century.
Palazzo
D E L L A V A L L E
Palazzo Braschi, a late 18th-century Pamphilj P I A Z Z A D I
building designed by Cosimo Morelli, has a S A N T Ź A N D R E A
splendid balcony overlooking the piazza. Fontana del
Moro
Campo de’
0 metres 75 Fiori
Sant’Andrea della Valle, begun
0 yards 75 in 1591, has a flamboyant
Baroque façade flanked by
angels with outstretched wings
Key
by Ercole Ferrata. The church is
Suggested route the setting of the first act of
Puccini’s Tosca.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600

402-403_EW_Italy.indd 402 26/04/16 5:18 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : AROUND PIAZZA NA VONA  403


Sant’Agnese in Agone 1 Piazza Navona
by Borromini (1657) Map 2 E4. @ 30, 70, 81, 87, 130, 186,
is allegedly built on 492, 628.
the site where, AROUND
PIAZZA
in AD 304, the NAVONA Rome’s most beautiful Baroque
young St Agnes Tevere piazza follows the shape of a
was exposed 1st-century-AD stadium built by
naked to force VATICAN
AND
her to renounce TRASTEVERE Domitian, which was used for
her faith. athletic contests (agones),
Locator Map chariot races and other sports.
See Rome Street Finder map 2 Traces of the stadium are still
visible below the church of
Sant’Agnese in Agone, which is
dedicated to a virgin martyred
Fontana dei on the site for refusing to marry
Quattro Fiumi 3 San Luigi dei Francesi
This church, which was a pagan.
completed in 1589, is best The piazza began to take on
known for three paintings its present appearance in the
by Caravaggio. 17th century, when Pope
Innocent X, whose family
D E L L A N I M A palazzo was on the piazza,
commissioned a new church,
palace and fountain. The
fountain, the Fontana dei
Quattro Fiumi, is Bernini’s most
magnificent, with statues of the
V I A D I S A N TA M A R I A P I A Z Z A N A V O N A A G O N A L E V I A D E L S A L V AT O R E that time (the Nile, the Plate,
four great rivers of the world at
the Ganges and the Danube)
sitting on rocks below an
C O R S I A
obelisk. Bernini also designed
the muscle-bound Moor in the
Fontana del Moro, though the
RINASCIMENTO
CORSO DEL seat of the Italian Senate, the 19th century, the piazza
Palazzo Madama, the present statue is a copy. Until
was originally built for was flooded in August by
the Medici family in the stopping the fountain outlets.
16th century, on the site The rich would splash around
V I A D E G L I
S TA D E R A R I
of one of their banks. in carriages, while street
urchins paddled. Even today
2 Sant’Ivo alla the piazza remains the social
Sapienza centre of the city.
This tiny domed church
is one of Borromini’s
V I A D E I S E D I A R I
most original creations.
He worked on it
between 1642 and 1650.
S A N T Ź A N D R E A
P I A Z Z A D I
D E L L A V A L L E
Largo di Torre
Argentina



1. Piazza Navona
The piazza is lined with palaces and pavement cafés, Symbolic figure of the River Nile on
and punctuated by flamboyant Baroque fountains. Bernini’s Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi




402-403_EW_Italy.indd 403 26/04/16 5:18 pm

404  ROME AND LAZIO

2 Sant’Ivo alla 5 Santa Maria della
Sapienza Pace
Corso del Rinascimento 40. Map 2 F4. Vicolo del Arco della Pace 5.
Tel 06 06 08 (tourist information). Map 2 E3. @ 70, 81, 87, 116, 492, 628.
@ 30, 70, 81, 87, 116, 186, 492, 628. Open 9–11:45am Mon, Wed & Sat. 7
Open 9am–noon Sun. 7
Named by Pope Sixtus IV to
Hidden in the courtyard of Side relief of the Ludovisi Throne, on display celebrate the peace he hoped
Palazzo della Sapienza, seat of in the Palazzo Altemps to bring to Italy, this church
the old University of Rome, dates from the 1480s and
Sant’Ivo’s spiral belfry is 4 Palazzo Altemps contains a beautiful fresco
nevertheless a distinctive Via di Sant’Apollinare 46. Map 2 E3. by Raphael. Bramante’s
landmark on Rome’s skyline. Tel 06 39 96 77 00. @ 70, 81, 87, 115, refined cloister was added in
Built by Borromini in 1642–60, 280, 628. Open 9am–7:45pm Tue– 1504, while the façade was
the church is astonishingly Sun. Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec. & 8 designed in 1656 by Pietro
complex, an ingenious = 7 da Cortona.
combination of concave and
convex surfaces. The work An extraordinary collection of 6 Chiesa Nuova
spanned the reigns of three Classical sculpture is housed in
popes, and incorporated in the this branch of the Museo Via del Governo Vecchio 134.
design are their emblems: Nazionale Romano (see p416). Map 2 E4. Tel 06 687 52 89.
Urban VIII’s bee, Innocent X’s Restored as a museum during @ 46, 64. Open 7:30am–noon, 4:30–
dove and olive branch, and the the 1990s, the palazzo 7pm daily. 7
star and hills of Alexander VII. was originally built
for Girolamo San Filippo Neri commissioned
Riario, nephew this church in 1575 to replace
3 San Luigi dei of Pope Sixtus IV the dilapidated one given to
Francesi in 1480. In the his Order by Pope Gregory XIII.
popular uprising Neri required his followers to
Piazza di San Luigi de’ Francesi 5. that followed the humble themselves,
Map 2 F4 & 10 D2. Tel 06 68 82 71. pope’s death in and set aristocratic
@ 70, 81, 87, 116, 186, 492, 628. 1484, the building young men
Open 10am–12:30pm, 3–7pm daily was sacked and to work as
(Thu: am only). ^
Girolamo fled the labourers
The French national church city. In 1568 Cardi- on the church.
in Rome, San Luigi is a nal Marco Sittico Against his
16th-century building, best Altemps bought wishes, the nave,
known for three magnificent the palazzo; it was apse and dome
canvases by Caravaggio in the renovated in the were richly frescoed
Cerasi chapel. Painted between 1570s by Martino after his death
1597 and 1602, these were Longhi the by Pietro da
Caravaggio’s first significant Elder, who Cortona. There
religious works: The Calling of added the are three
St Matthew, Martyrdom of St obelisk- paintings by
Matthew and St Matthew and crowned belvedere Galata’s Suicide in the Rubens around the
the Angel. The first version of and marble unicorn. Palazzo Altemps altar. The first versions
this last was initially rejected The Altemps family were rejected, so
because it depicted the saint were avid collectors; the court- Rubens repainted them on
as an old man with dirty feet. yard and its staircase are lined slate, placing the originals
with ancient above his mother’s tomb.
sculptures, which
complement the
Ludovisi sculp tures. 7 Palazzo della
One of the high- Cancelleria
lights is the marble
statue Galata’s Piazza della Cancelleria. Map 2 E4.
Suicide, a copy of Tel 06 69 88 75 66. @ 46, 62, 64, 116,
the original in the 916. Open 7:30am–8pm Mon–Sat,
9:30am–7:30pm Sun & hols.
Salone del Camino.
On the first floor is A supreme example of the
the Greek, 5th-cen- confident delicacy of early
tury-BC Ludovisi Renaissance architecture, this
Detail from Caravaggio’s The Calling of St Matthew Throne, with a panel palazzo was begun in 1485, and
(1597–1602) in San Luigi dei Francesi depicting Aphrodite. was allegedly financed by the
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


404-405_EW_Italy.indd 404 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : AROUND PIAZZA NA VONA  405


gambling proceeds of Raffaele
Riario, a nephew of Pope Sixtus
I. In 1478 Riario was involved in
the Pazzi conspiracy against the
Medici, and when Giovanni de’
Medici became Pope Leo XIII in
1513, he took belated revenge,
seizing the palace and turning it
into the papal chancellery.

8 Campo de’ Fiori Tiber Island, with Ponte Cestio, built in 46 BC, linking it to Trastevere
Map 2 E4. @ 116 & routes to Corso 0 Palazzo Spada
Vittorio Emanuele II. stake for heresy on this spot in
1600 for suggesting the earth Piazza Capo di Ferro 13. Map 2 E5.
Campo de’ Fiori (Field of moved around the sun. Tel 06 683 24 09. @ 23, 116, 280 &
Flowers) was one of the routes to Largo di Torre Argentina.
liveliest and roughest areas Open 8:30am–7:30pm daily (last adm:
of medieval and Renaissance 9 Palazzo Farnese 7pm). Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec.
Rome. Cardinals and nobles Piazza Farnese. Map 2 E5. 06 68 60 11. & 8 = 7
mingled with fishmongers @ 23, 116, 280 & routes to Corso
and foreigners in the piazza’s Vittorio Emanuele II. 8 only (3pm, A stucco extravaganza studded
market; Caravaggio killed his 4pm & 5pm on Mon, Wed & Fri. Book in with reliefs of illustrious Romans,
opponent after losing a game advance). ∑ ambafrance-it.org this palazzo was built in 1550,
of tennis on the square; and but bought in 1637 by Cardinal
the goldsmith Cellini murdered Originally constructed for Bernardino Spada. A keen patron
a business rival nearby. Today, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, of the arts, Spada com missioned
the area continues to be a who became Pope Paul III in Borromini to create an illusionistic
hub of secular activity. The 1534, this palazzo was started by tunnel that appears four times
colour ful market, trattorias and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, longer than it is. The cardinal’s
down-to-earth bars retain the and continued after his death art collection, located in the
original animated atmosphere. by Michelangelo, who created Galleria Spada, includes works
In the Renaissance the piazza the cornice on the façade and by Guercino, Dürer and
was surrounded by inns, many the courtyard’s third storey. Artemisia Gentileschi.
of which were owned by The palace, now the French
the 15th-century courtesan Embassy, is closed to the public,
Vannozza Catanei, mistress but when the chandeliers are lit q Ghetto and Tiber
of Pope Alexander VI. at night you may be able to Island
The square was also a place glimpse the ceiling of the Galleria,
of execution. The statue in an illusionistic masterpiece Map 2 F5 & 6 D1. @ 23, 63, 280, 780
its centre is the philosopher (1597–1603) by Annibale Carracci and routes to Largo di Torre Argentina.
Giordano Bruno, burned at the based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
The first Jews came to Rome as
traders in the 2nd century BC
and were greatly appreciated
for their financial and medical
skills during the Roman Empire.
Persecution began in the 16th
century, when Pope Paul IV
forced all of the Jews to live
within a walled enclosure, an
area later to form the hub of
the present-day Ghetto.
Today Via del Portico
d’Ottavia, the district’s main
street, leads to Rome’s central
synagogue, passing restaurants
and shops selling Roman Jewish
food. Ponte Fabricio links the
Ghetto with Tiber Island, a
centre of healing since 293 BC,
when a Temple to Aesculapius
was founded. The island is now
Fruit stalls at Campo de’ Fiori’s lively morning market home to a hospital.




404-405_EW_Italy.indd 405 4/4/17 5:36 PM

406  ROME AND LAZIO

Street-by-Street: Around the Pantheon

The maze of narrow streets around the Pantheon is a
mixture of lively restaurants and cafés, and some of
Rome’s finest sights. This is also the city’s financial and
political district, home to Parliament, government
offices and the Stock Exchange. The Pantheon itself,
with its awe-inspiring domed interior, has long been
a symbol of the city.
u Sant’Ignazio di Loyola
This church has a superb
illusionistic ceiling painted by r . Palazzo Doria Pamphilj
Andrea Pozzo in 1685. Among the masterpieces in
the art gallery of this vast
family palazzo is Salomé by
The Temple of Titian (above), painted
Hadrian now in 1516 .
forms the façade
of the Stock Via della Gatta
Exchange.
PIAZZA DI
SANT,IGNAZIO

Piazza della
Minerva centres on
Bernini’s outlandish
C O L L E G I O
sculpture of an P I A Z Z A D E L
elephant I G N A Z I O R O M A N O
V I A D E L S E M I N A R I O V I A D E L P I E D I M A R M O
supporting
VIA DI SANT,
an Egyptian VIA DELLA GATTA
obelisk.


R O T O N D A
P I A Z Z A D E L L A
PIAZZA V I A D E L G E S Ù V I A D E L P L E B I S C I T O
DELLA
MINERVA



The Pie’ di
Marmo
Santa Maria
Sopra Minerva
Palazzo Altieri incorporates the hovel
of an old woman who refused to allow
her house to be demolished when this
palace was built in the 17th century.


y . Pantheon e Gesù
The Pantheon, a temple to “all the gods”, Built in the late 16th century, this
is Rome’s best-preserved ancient building. Jesuit church served as a model
It was built in the 1st century AD, probably for the Order’s churches
to a design by Emperor Hadrian. throughout the world.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


406-407_EW_Italy.indd 406 26/04/16 5:18 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : AROUND PIAZZA NA VONA  407


w Area Sacra di
Largo Argentina
AROUND Largo di Torre Argentina. Map 2 F5.
PIAZZA @ 40, 46, 62, 64, 70, 81, 87, 186, 492.
NAVONA
Closed to the public.
Tevere
VATICAN
AND The remains of four temples
TRASTEVERE were discovered in the 1920s at
Locator Map the centre of Largo Argentina,
See Rome Street Finder map 3 now a busy bus terminus and
traffic junction. They date from
the era of the Republic, and are
among the oldest found in
Rome. For the purpose of iden­ Baroque Triumph of Faith over Idolatry
tification, they are known as A, by Pierre Legros, Gesù
B, C and D. The oldest (temple C)
dates from the early 3rd century e Gesù
BC. It was placed on a high Piazza del Gesù. Map 3 A4. Tel 06 69
platform preceded by an 70 01. @ H, 46, 62, 64, 70, 81, 87,
altar and is typical of Italic 186, 492, 628 & other routes.
temple plans as opposed to
Via della Gatta is overlooked by the Greek model. Temple A is Open 7am–12:30pm, 4–7:45pm daily.
this marble statue of a cat (gatta)
that gives the narrow street its from the 3rd century BC, but in Built between 1568 and 1584,
name. medieval times the small church the Gesù was Rome’s first
of San Nicola di Cesarini was Jesuit church. The Jesuit order
built over its podium, and the was founded in Rome in 1537
The Pie’ di Marmo, remains of its two apses are still by a Basque soldier, Ignatius
an ancient marble visible. The column stumps to Loyola, who became a Christian
foot, is probably the north belonged to a great after he was wounded in
part of a giant portico, known as the battle. The order was austere,
statue from the Hecatostylum (portico of intellectual and heavily
temple to the 100 columns). In Imperial engaged in missionary activity
Egyptian
goddess Isis. times two marble latrines and religious wars.
were built here – the The much­imitated design of
remains of one are visible the Gesù typifies Counter­
behind temple A. Behind Reformation architecture, with a
V I A D E L P L E B I S C I T O of a great platform of tufa blocks. main altar as the centrepiece for
temples B and C, near Via di
large nave with side pulpits for
Torre Argentina, are the remains
preaching to crowds, and a
These have been identified as
the Mass. The illusionistic
decoration on the nave ceiling
part of the Curia of Pompey,
and dome was added by
a rectangular building where
the Senate met, and where
The nave depicts the Triumph
Julius Caesar was assassi nated
by Brutus, Cassius and their Il Baciccia in the 17th century.
of the Name of Jesus and its
followers on 15 March 44 BC. message is clear: faithful,
Catholic worshippers will be
joyfully uplifted to Heaven
while Protestants and heretics
are flung into the fires of Hell.
t Santa Maria The message is reiterated in the
sopra Minerva Cappella di Sant’Ignazio, a rich
This is one of Rome’s few display of lapis lazuli, serpentine,
Gothic churches, with silver and gold. The Baroque
works by Michelangelo, marble by Legros, Triumph of
Bernini and Filippino Lippi. Faith over Idolatry, shows a
female “Religion” trampling on
Key
the head of the serpent Idolatry,
Suggested route while in Théudon’s Barbarians
Adoring the Faith, an angel aims
a kick to wards a decrepit old
0 metres 75
Area Sacra, with the ruins of circular barbarian couple entangled
0 yards 75 temple B with a snake.
406-407_EW_Italy.indd 407 26/04/16 5:18 pm

408  ROME AND LAZIO


r Palazzo Doria
Pamphilj
Via del Corso 305. Map 3 A4.
Tel 06 679 73 23. @ 64, 81, 119, 492.
Open 9am–7pm daily. Closed 1 Jan,
Easter Sun, 1 May, 25 Dec. & 7 -
9 8 by appt for private apartments.
∑ doriapamphilj.it
Palazzo Doria Pamphilj is a vast
edifice whose oldest parts date
from 1435. When the Pamphilj
family took over in 1647 they
built a new wing, a splendid
chapel and a theatre.
The family art collection has
over 400 paintings dating from
the 15th to 18th centuries, inclu­
ding a portrait of Pope Innocent
X by Velázquez and works by
Titian, Guercino, Caravaggio and
Claude Lorrain. The opulent Interior of the Pantheon, burial place for Italian monarchs
rooms of the private apartments
retain many of their original Cosmatesque tombs to a bust y Pantheon
furnishings, including Brussels by Bernini. Highlights include Piazza della Rotonda. Map 2 F4.
and Gobelins tapestries, Murano Antoniazzo Romano’s Tel 06 68 30 02 30. @ 116 & many
chandeliers and a gilded crib. Annunciation featuring Cardinal routes. Open 9am–7:30pm daily
Juan de Torquemada, uncle of (9am–6pm Sun). Closed 1 Jan,
the vicious Spanish Inquisitor, 1 May, 25 Dec. 7
and the Carafa Chapel’s frescoes
by Filippino Lippi. The Pantheon, the Roman
In the Aldobrandini Chapel are “temple of all the gods”, is the
the tombs of the 16th­century most extraordinary and best­
Medici popes, Leo X and his preserved ancient build ing in
cousin Clement VII, and near the Rome. The first temple on the
steps of the choir is a stocky Risen site was a conven tional
Christ, begun by Michelangelo. rectangular affair erected by
The church also contains the Agrippa between 27 and 25 BC;
tombs of many famous Italians, the present structure was built
such as St Catherine of Siena and pos sibly designed by
Velázquez’s Pope Innocent X (1650) who died in 1380, and Fra Emperor Hadrian in AD 118.
Angelico, the Dominican friar The temple is fronted by a
t Santa Maria and painter, who died in 1455. massive pedimented portico
screening what appears to be
Outside, Bernini’s spectacular
sopra Minerva sculpture of an elephant holds a cylinder fused to a shallow
an obelisk on its back. dome. Only from the inside
Piazza della Minerva 42. Map 2 F4.
Tel 06 679 39 26. @ 116 & many can the true scale and beauty
other routes. Open 7am–7pm Mon– of this building be appreciated:
Fri; 7:30am–12:30pm, 3:30–7pm Sat; a vast hemispherical dome
8am–noon, 3:30–7pm Sun. equal in radius to the height of
the cylinder giving perfectly
One of Rome’s rare Gothic buil­ harmonious proportions to the
dings, this church was built in building. A circular opening, the
the 13th century over what were oculus, lets in the only light.
thought to be the ruins of a In the 7th century Christians
Temple of Minerva. It was a claimed to be plagued by
strong hold of the Dominicans, demons as they passed by, and
who produced some of the permission was given to make
Church’s most infamous inquisi­ the Pantheon a church. Today
tors and tried the scientist Galileo it is lined with tombs, ranging
in the adjoining monastery. from a restrained monument to
Inside, the church has a superb Raphael to huge marble and
collection of art and sculpture, Simple vaulted nave of Santa Maria porphyry sarcophagi holding
ranging from 13th­century sopra Minerva the bodies of Italian monarchs.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


408-409_EW_Italy.indd 408 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : AROUND PIAZZA NA VONA  409

u Sant’Ignazio di o Piazza di
Loyola Montecitorio
Piazza di Sant’Ignazio. Map 2 F4. Map 2 F3. Palazzo di Montecitorio
Tel 06 679 44 06. @ 117, 119, Tel 06 676 01. @ 116. Open 10am–
492. Open 7:30am–7pm daily (from 3:30pm 1st Sun of month (except Jul,
9am Sun). 5 Aug & 1st week of Sep).
This church was built by Pope The obelisk in the centre of
Gregory XV in 1626 in honour Piazza di Montecitorio formed
of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder the spine of a giant sundial
of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) brought back from Egypt by
and the man who most Augustus. It vanished in the 9th
embodied the zeal of the century, and was rediscovered
Counter-Reformation. under medieval houses during
Together with the Gesù (see the reign of Julius II (1503–13).
p407), Sant’Ignazio forms the Detail from the AD 180 Column of Marcus The piazza is dominated by
nucleus of the Jesuit area of Aurelius, Piazza Colonna the Palazzo di Montecitorio, de -
Rome. It is one of the most signed by Bernini and completed
extravagant Baroque churches i Piazza Colonna in 1697, after his death, by Carlo
and its vast interior is plated with Map 3 A3. @ 116, 117, 492. Fontana. It has been the seat of
precious stones, marble, stucco Italy’s Chamber of Deputies
and gilt, creating a thrilling Home to Palazzo Chigi, official since the late 19th century.
sense of theatre. The church residence of the prime minister,
has a Latin-cross plan, with an Piazza Colonna is dominated by
apse and many side chapels. and named after the majestic
A cupola was planned but never Column of Marcus Aurelius.
built, as the nuns from a nearby This was erected after the death
convent objected that it would of Marcus Aurelius in AD 180 to
obscure the view from their roof commemorate his victories over
garden. Instead the space was the barbarian tribes of the
filled by a perspective painting of Danube. It is clearly an imitation
a dome on a flat disc. of Trajan’s Column (see p392),
Even more striking is the with scenes from the emperor’s
illusionistic ceiling created by wars spiralling in reliefs up the
the Jesuit artist Andrea Pozzo column. The 80-year lapse
in 1685, a propagandist extra- between the two works
vaganza extolling the success of produced a great artistic
Jesuit missionaries throughout change: the wars of Marcus
the world. Above four women, Aurelius are rendered with
representing Asia, Europe, simplified pictures in stronger
America and Africa, lithe angels relief, sacrificing Classical La Maddalena’s stuccoed façade
and beautiful youths are sucked proportions for the sake of
into a heaven of fluffy clouds. clarity and immediacy. p La Maddalena
Piazza della Maddalena 53. Map 2 F3.
Tel 06 899 281. @ 116 & many other
routes. Open 8:30–11:30am,
5–6:30pm daily (9–11:30am Sat).
Situated in a small piazza near
the Pantheon, the Maddalena’s
Rococo façade, built in 1735,
epitomizes the love of light and
movement of the late Baroque.
The façade has been restored,
despite the protests of Neo-
Classicists who dismissed its
painted stucco as icing sugar.
The diminutive dimensions
of the church did not deter
17th- and 18th-century
decorators from filling the
interior with paintings and
ornaments from the floor to
Baroque illusionistic ceiling by Andrea Pozzo in Sant’Ignazio di Loyola the top of the elegant cupola.




408-409_EW_Italy.indd 409 4/4/17 5:36 PM

Flaminio
V. L. DI
SAVOIA
PIAZZA DEL CORSO D'ITALIA
V. CAMPANIA
CAMPO
VIA F. DI POPOLO MARZIO VIALE DEL MUR O T O RTO LUDOVISI VIA
SAVOIA
V. DI RIPETTA VIA DEL BABUINO VIA DI PORTA PINCIANA V. VITTORIO VENETO VIA SICILIA PIEMONTE VIA ROMAGNA VIA QUINTINO SELLA
V.
V. A. BRUNETTI VIA
V. LOMBARDIA
V. D.
GRECI
VIA MARGUTTA
DEL
VIA
VITTORIA
TOSCANA
LIGURIA
CARROZZE Spagna VIA LUDOVISI SALLUSTIANO
VIA
LUNGOT. IN AUGUSTA
CORSO
PIAZZA
Ponte AUGUSTO V. DELLE MARIO DE' VIA VIA V.L. BISSOLATI V. CERNAIA
Cavour PIAZZA SETTEMBRE
IMPERATORE MIGNANELLI
V. TOMACELLI V. FRANCESCO CRISPI Barberini VIA BARBERINI VIA VOLTURNO
PIAZZA
V. FRATTINA FLORI V. DUE MACELLI SISTINA BARBERINI X X V. BARBIERI
DE NICOLA
Repubblica
PIAZZA SAN VIA DEL TRITONE V I A VIA PIAZZA D. VIALE E. VIA MARSALA
SILVESTRO V. D.GIARDINI REPUBBLICA
LARGO CHIGI TREVI GIARDINI VIA DELLE QUATTRO FONTANE VIA VIA FIRENZE TORINO Termini Stazione Centrale
VIA
VIA VIMINALE
DEL
VIA PIACENZA
QUIRINALE
V. D.
Termini
MURATTE VINCENZO V. SAN PIAZZA DEL VIA DEL QUIRINALE VIA A. DEPRETIS VIA M. V. CAVOUR VIA Roma Termini
D’AZEGLIO
DEL
NAPOLI
VIA
V. CESARE BALBO
VIA
PIAZZA D. V. D. PILOTTA QUIRINALE CONSULTA VIA NAZIONALE PALERMO PIAZZA VIA D. MANIN GIOVANNI
PILOTTA MONTI URBANA DELL’ CATTANEO
VIA D.
CORSO
PIAZZA DEI MILANO ESQUILINO C. GIOLITTI
SS. APOSTOLI VIA S. M. MAGGIORE VIA PRINCIPE AMEDEO
V.
V. PANISPERNA VIA CAVOUR V. CARLO
V. IV NOVEMBRE
Cavour VIA ALBERTO
VIA D.
V. LEONINA LARGO VIA VIA GIOVANNI LANZA STATUTO
PIAZZA S.
VENOSTA MARTINO MERULANA
AI MONTI
VIALE DEL MONTE OPPIO VIA D. TERME
PARCO DI
TRAIANO
DI TRAIANO
VIALE
DOMUS
VIA LABICANA
410-411_EW_Italy.indd 410 4/4/17 5:36 PM

ROME AND LAZIO  411

NORTHEAST ROME

This area stretches from the exclusive a road was built to channel them as quickly
shopping streets around Piazza di Spagna as pos sible to the Vatican. About the
to the Esquiline Hill, once bourgeois, same time, the Quirinal Hill became the
but now a poor, often seedy area full of site of a papal palace. When Rome became
early Christian churches. The Piazza di capital of Italy in 1870, Via Veneto became
Spagna and Piazza del Popolo district grew a lavish residential area, and the Esquiline
up in the 16th century, when the in crease in was covered with apartments for the new
the influx of pilgrims was such that civil servants.

Sights at a Glance
Churches Museums and Galleries Historic Buildings
3 Santa Maria del Popolo 9 Galleria Nazionale di Arte Antica: 2 Villa Medici
7 Sant’Andrea al Quirinale Palazzo Barberini Piazzas and Fountains
8 San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane w Museo Nazionale Romano 1 Piazza di Spagna and
0 Santa Maria della Concezione Palazzo Massimo the Spanish Steps
q Santa Maria della Vittoria Ancient Sites and Buildings 6 Trevi Fountain
e Santa Prassede 4 Ara Pacis
r San Pietro in Vincoli 5 Mausoleum of Augustus
t Santa Maria Maggiore p417




Flaminio
V. L. DI
SAVOIA
PIAZZA DEL CORSO D'ITALIA
V. CAMPANIA
CAMPO
VIA F. DI POPOLO MARZIO VIALE DEL MUR O T O RTO LUDOVISI VIA
SAVOIA
V. DI RIPETTA VIA DEL BABUINO VIA DI PORTA PINCIANA V. VITTORIO VENETO VIA SICILIA PIEMONTE VIA ROMAGNA VIA QUINTINO SELLA
V.
V. A. BRUNETTI VIA
V. LOMBARDIA
V. D.
GRECI
DEL
VIA MARGUTTA
VIA
TOSCANA
VITTORIA
LIGURIA
CARROZZE Spagna VIA LUDOVISI SALLUSTIANO
VIA
LUNGOT. IN AUGUSTA
CORSO
PIAZZA
Ponte AUGUSTO V. DELLE MARIO DE' VIA VIA V.L. BISSOLATI V. CERNAIA
Cavour PIAZZA SETTEMBRE
IMPERATORE MIGNANELLI
V. TOMACELLI V. FRANCESCO CRISPI Barberini VIA BARBERINI VIA VOLTURNO
PIAZZA
V. FRATTINA FLORI V. DUE MACELLI SISTINA BARBERINI X X V. BARBIERI
Repubblica
DE NICOLA
PIAZZA SAN VIA DEL TRITONE V I A VIA PIAZZA D. VIALE E. VIA MARSALA
SILVESTRO V. D.GIARDINI REPUBBLICA
LARGO CHIGI TREVI GIARDINI VIA DELLE QUATTRO FONTANE VIA TORINO Termini Stazione Centrale
VIA
VIA VIMINALE
DEL
VIA PIACENZA
VIA FIRENZE
QUIRINALE
V. D.
Termini
MURATTE VINCENZO V. SAN PIAZZA DEL VIA DEL QUIRINALE VIA A. DEPRETIS VIA M. D’AZEGLIO V. CAVOUR VIA Roma Termini
DEL
NAPOLI
VIA
V. CESARE BALBO
VIA
PIAZZA D. V. D. PILOTTA QUIRINALE CONSULTA VIA NAZIONALE PALERMO PIAZZA VIA D. MANIN GIOVANNI
PILOTTA MONTI URBANA DELL’ CATTANEO
VIA D.
CORSO
PIAZZA DEI MILANO ESQUILINO C. GIOLITTI
SS. APOSTOLI VIA S. M. MAGGIORE VIA PRINCIPE AMEDEO
V.
V. PANISPERNA VIA CAVOUR V. CARLO
V. IV NOVEMBRE
Cavour VIA ALBERTO
VIA D.
V. LEONINA LARGO VIA VIA GIOVANNI LANZA STATUTO
PIAZZA S.
VENOSTA MARTINO MERULANA
AI MONTI
VIALE DEL MONTE OPPIO VIA D. TERME
PARCO DI
TRAIANO
DI TRAIANO
VIALE
0 metres 250 DOMUS
0 yards 250 VIA LABICANA
See also Rome Street Finder
maps 2, 3, 4, 7
The Spanish Steps leading up to the church of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti For keys to symbols see back flap
410-411_EW_Italy.indd 411 4/4/17 5:36 PM

412  ROME AND LAZIO

Street-by-Street: Piazza di Spagna

The network of narrow streets around Piazza di Spagna forms
one of the most exclusive areas in Rome, drawing droves of
tourists and Romans to the elegant shops around Via Condotti.
The square and its nearby coffee houses have long attracted
those who want to see and be seen. In the 18th century the
area was full of hotels for frivolous aristocrats doing the
Grand Tour, as well as artists, writers and composers, who
took the city’s history and culture more seriously.

Caffé Greco is an 18th-century
café once frequented by writers
and musicians such as Keats,
Goethe, Byron, Liszt and Wagner. Trinità dei Monti is a
16th-century church at
Spagna the top of the Spanish
Steps. There are fine
views of Rome from
the stairway.

Babington’s Tea
Rooms, founded
VIALE TRINITA
DEI MONTI
by two English
spinsters in
1896, still serves
English teas.



P I A Z Z A D I S PA G N A
MIGNANELLI
V I A C O N D O T T I PIAZZA

V I A C A P O L E C A S E





The Keats-Shelley
V I A D I P R O PA G A N D A
Memorial House,
where the poet Keats
died in 1821, is now a
museum honouring
English Romantic
poets.



The Collegio di
Propaganda
The Colonna dell’ Fide, built for the
1 . Piazza di Spagna and Immacolata, erected in Jesuits in 1662,
the Spanish Steps 1857, commemorates has a superb
These have been at the heart Pope Pius IX’s doctrine façade designed
of tourist Rome since the of the Immaculate by Francesco
18th century. Conception. Borromini.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


412-413_EW_Italy.indd 412 4/4/17 5:36 PM

ROME : NOR THEAST ROME  413


were crowded with models
dressed as Madonnas, saints
and emperors, hoping to attract
the attention of foreign artists.
NORTHEAST
ROME The steps were built in the
AROUND
PIAZZA 1720s to link the square with
NAVONA
THE the French church of Trinità dei
ANCIENT
CENTRE Monti above. The French wanted
Tevere
to place a statue of Louis XIV at
Locator Map the top, but the pope objected,
See Rome Street Finder map 3 and it was not until the 1720s
that the Italian architect
Francesco de Sanctis produced
the voluptuous Rococo design
which satisfied both camps.
The Fontana Barcaccia, sunk into
The Fontana della Barcaccia at the foot of the paving at the foot of the
the Spanish Steps steps due to low water pressure,
was designed by Bernini’s less
1 Piazza di Spagna famous father, Pietro.
and the Spanish
Steps 2 Villa Medici
Map 3 A2. @ 116, 117. q Spagna. Accademia di Francia a Roma, Viale
Trinità dei Monti 1. Map 3 A2. Tel 06
Shaped like a crooked bow tie, 676 12 23. @ 117. q Spagna. Open
and surrounded by muted, for tours only. 8 Gardens: in English
shuttered façades, Piazza di at noon & 4:30pm Tue–Sun (4pm in
Spagna is crowded all day and winter), but call to confirm; Cardinal’s
(in summer) most of the night. apartments: Wed only. & -
The most famous square in
Rome, it takes its name from the Superbly positioned on the
Palazzo di Spagna, built in the Pincio Hill, this 16th-century
17th century to house the villa has retained the name that
Spanish Embassy to the Holy See. it assumed when Cardinal
Sant’Andrea delle Fratte The piazza has long been the Ferdinando de’ Medici bought it
contains two angels by Bernini haunt of foreign visitors and in 1576. It is now home to the
(1669) made for Ponte expatriates. In the 18th and French Academy, founded in
Sant’Angelo, which Pope 19th centuries the square stood 1666 to give artists the chance
Clement X thought too
V I A C A P O L E C A S E the weather. hotel district. Some of the musicians were also allowed
to study in Rome. From 1803
at the heart of the city’s main
lovely to expose to
to study here: both Berlioz
travellers came in search of
and Debussy were students.
knowledge and inspiration,
although most were more
The villa is only open for
interested in collecting statues
gardens, with a gorgeously
to adorn their family homes.
When the Victorian novelist exhibitions, but the formal
frescoed pavilion, and copies
V I A D I P R O PA G A N D A
Charles Dickens visited, he of ancient statues, can be
reported that the Spanish Steps visited in certain months.
0 metres 75
0 yards 75
Key
Suggested route
19th-century engraving of the inner façade of the Villa Medici




412-413_EW_Italy.indd 413 4/4/17 5:36 PM

414  ROME AND LAZIO


emperor’s family can be
identified, including Augustus’s
grandson, Lucius, clutching at
the skirt of his mother, Antonia.
The site is housed in a building
by architect Richard Meier.

5 Mausoleum of
Augustus
Piazza Augusto Imperatore. Map 2 F2.
Tel 06 06 08. @ 81, 117, 492, 628, 926.
Open for events; call for info. & 7
Pinturicchio’s fresco of the Delphic Sibyl (1509) in Santa Maria del Popolo Now just a weedy mound
3 Santa Maria del there are two realistic works ringed with cypresses and
strewn with litter, this was once
Popolo painted by Caravaggio in the most prestigious burial
1601: the Conversion of St Paul place in Rome. Augustus had
Piazza del Popolo 12. Map 2 F1. and the Crucifixion of St Peter. the mausoleum built in 28 BC,
Tel 06 361 08 36. @ 117, 119, 490, The artist uses daringly
495, 926. q Flaminio. Open exaggerated lighting effects the year before he became sole
7:30am–12:30pm & 4–7pm Sun–Thu; and foreshortening techniques ruler, as a tomb for himself and
7:30am–7pm Fri & Sat. his descendants. The circular
to intensify the dramatic effect. building was 87 m (270 ft) in
Santa Maria del Popolo was one diameter with two obelisks
of the first Renaissance churches (now in Piazza del Quirinale
in Rome, commissioned by Pope and Piazza dell’ Esquilino) at
Sixtus IV della Rovere in 1472. the entrance. Inside were four
Lavish endow ments by Sixtus’s concentric passageways linked
descendants and other powerful by corridors where urns holding
families have made it one of the ashes of the Imperial family
Rome’s greatest artistic treasures. were placed, including those of
Shortly after Sixtus died in Augustus who died in AD 14.
1484, Pinturicchio and his pupils
frescoed two chapels (first and
third right) for the della Rovere 6 Trevi Fountain
family. On the altar of the first Piazza di Trevi. Map 3 B3. @ 116 &
chapel there is a lovely Nativity Detail of the Ara Pacis frieze many other routes.
from 1490 that depicts a stable
at the foot of a Classical column. 4 Ara Pacis Nicola Salvi’s theatrical design
In 1503 Sixtus IV’s nephew Lungotevere in Augusta. Map 2 F2. for Rome’s largest and most
Giuliano became Pope Julius II Tel 06 06 08. @ 70, 81, 117, 119, 186, famous fountain was completed
and had Bramante build a new 628. Open 9am–7:30pm daily (last in 1762. The central figures are
apse. Pinturicchio was called adm: 6:30pm). Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec. Neptune, flanked by two Tritons,
in again to paint its vaults with 7 ∑ arapacis.it one trying to master an unruly
Sibyls and Apostles framed sea-horse, the other leading
in an intricate tracery of Painstakingly reconstructed
freakish beasts. over many years from scattered
In 1513 Raphael created the fragments, the exquisitely carved
Chigi chapel (second left) for Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace)
the wealthy banker Agostino celebrates the peace created by
Chigi. The design is an Emperor Augustus throughout
audacious Renaissance fusion the Mediterranean. Commissioned
of the sacred and profane; there by the Senate in 13 BC and
are pyramid-like tombs and a completed four years later, the
ceiling mosaic of God holding altar stands in a square enclosure
the signs of the zodiac of Carrara marble, carved with
describing Chigi’s horoscope. realistic reliefs of such quality
Raphael died before the chapel that experts think the craftsmen
was finished and it was may have been Greek.
completed by Bernini, who The reliefs on the north and
added the dynamic statues of south walls depict a procession
Daniel and Habakkuk. In the that took place on 4 July, 13 BC, Rome’s largest and most famous
Cerasi chapel, left of the altar, in which the members of the fountain, the Trevi
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


414-415_EW_Italy.indd 414 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : NOR THEAST ROME  415


a quieter beast, symbolizing
the two contrasting moods
of the sea.
The site originally marked the
terminal of the Aqua Virgo
aqueduct, built by Augustus’s
right-hand man and son-in-law,
Agrippa, in 19 BC to channel
water to Rome’s new bath
complexes. One of the reliefs
on the first storey shows a
young girl, Trivia, after whom
the fountain may have been
named. She is said to have first
shown the spring, 22 km The dome of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, by Borromini
(14 miles) from the city, to
thirsty Roman soldiers. 8 San Carlo alle palazzo. Designed by Carlo
Quattro Fontane Maderno as a typical country villa
on the fringes of the city, it now
Via del Quirinale 23. Map 3 B3. overlooks Piazza Barberini, where
Tel 06 488 32 61. @ 116 & routes to traffic hurtles around Bernini’s
Piazza Barberini. q Barberini. Triton fountain. Maderno died
Open 10am–1pm, 3–6pm daily (only shortly after the foundations
am Sat & Sun).
had been laid, and Bernini and
In 1638, Borromini was Borromini took over. The most
commissioned by the dazzling room is the Gran
Trinitarians to design a Salone, with an illusion-
church and convent on istic ceiling frescoed by
a tiny cramped site at Pietro da Cortona in
the Quattro Fontane 1633–9. The palazzo
crossroads. The also houses part of
church, so small that the Galleria
it is said it would fit Nazionale d’Arte
inside one of the Antica with
piers of St Peter’s, works by Titian,
Interior of the Sant’Andrea al Quirinale is designed with Filippo Lippi,
7 Sant’Andrea al bold, fluid curves Caravaggio and
Artemisia Genti-
on both the
Quirinale façade and interior Ceiling fresco detail in Palazzo leschi. The most
to give light and life Barberini (1633–9) famous is a portrait
Via del Quirinale 29. Map 3 B3. of a courtesan,
Tel 06 487 45 65. @ 116, 117. to the diminutive
Open 8:30am–noon, 2:30–7pm Tue– building. The dome, with its reputedly Raphael’s
Sat; 9am–noon, 2:30–6pm Sun. ^ concealed windows, illusionistic lover, La Fornarina, although not
coffering and tiny lantern painted by the artist himself.
Sant’Andrea was designed for designed to make it look
the Jesuits by Bernini and higher than it really is, is a
executed by his assistants cunning feature. 0 Santa Maria della
between 1658 and 1670. The Concezione
site was wide but shallow, so 9 Galleria
Bernini took the radical step Via Veneto 27. Map 3 B2. Tel 06 88 80
of pointing the long axis of his Nazionale di Arte 36 95. @ 52, 53, 61, 62, 63, 80, 116,
oval plan towards the sides, and Antica: Palazzo 175. q Barberini. Open Capuchin
leading the eye round to the Barberini Museum: 9am–7pm daily; Church:
altar by means of a strong 7am–1pm & 3–6pm daily. &
horizontal cornice. At the altar Via delle Quattro Fontane 13. Map 3 Below this unassuming church
he combined sculpture and B3. Tel 06 482 41 84. @ 52, 53, 61, 62, is a crypt decked with the
painting to create a theatrical 63, 80, 116, 175, 492, 590. q Barberini. dismembered skeletons of 4,000
crucifixion of Sant’Andrea Open 8:30am–7pm Tue–Sun (last Capuchin monks. They form a
(St Andrew); the diagonally adm: 6:30pm). Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec. macabre reminder of the
& ^ 8 = d 7 (lift).
crucified saint on the altarpiece ∑ galleriabarberini.beniculturali.it transience of life, with vertebrae
looks up at a stucco effigy of wired together to make sacred
himself ascending to the lantern, When Maffeo Barberini became hearts and crowns of thorns, and,
where the Holy Spirit and Pope Urban VIII in 1623, he in one chapel, the skeleton of a
cherubs await him in heaven. decided to build a grand family tiny Barberini princess.



414-415_EW_Italy.indd 415 4/4/17 5:36 PM

416  ROME AND LAZIO

q Santa Maria della older collec-
Vittoria tions. During
the 1990s it
Via XX Settembre 17. Map 3 C2. underwent
Tel 06 42 74 05 71. @ 61, 62, 175, 910. a major
q Repubblica. Open 8:30am–noon,
3:30–6pm daily. reorganization
and now has
Santa Maria della Vittoria is an five branches:
intimate Baroque church with a the Palazzo
lavish, candlelit interior. Inside Altemps (see
the Cornaro chapel is one of p404); the Baths
Bernini’s most ambitious of Diocletian;
sculptures, the Ecstasy of St the Aula
Teresa (1646). The physical Ottagona, the
nature of St Teresa’s ecstasy Crypta; Balbi;
is apparent as she appears and the Palazzo
collapsed on a cloud with her Massimo. In the
mouth half open and eyes latter, exhibits
closed, struck by the arrow of a dating from the One of the finely detailed Quattro Aurighe mosaics on display at the
smiling angel. Past and present 2nd century BC Museo Nazionale Romano Palazzo Massimo
ecclesiastical members of the to the late 4th
Venetian Cornaro family, who century AD are displayed in a mausoleum, built by Pope
commissioned the chapel, series of rooms over three floors. Paschal II for his mother,
sit in boxes as if watching and Highlights include the Quattro Theodora. Her square halo
discussing the scene being Aurighe mosaics from a villa in shows that she was still alive
played out in front of them. northern Rome, the breath- when the mosaic was created.
taking series of frescoes from
Livia’s summer villa, and the r San Pietro in
famous statue of her husband,
the Emperor Augustus. Vincoli
Piazza di San Pietro in Vincoli. Map 3
e Santa Prassede C5. Tel 06 97 84 49 50. @ 75, 85, 117.
q Colosseo. Open 8am–12:30pm,
Via Santa Prassede 9a. Map 4 D4. 3–7pm daily (Oct–Mar: to 6pm). 7
Tel 06 488 24 56. @ 16, 70, 71, 75,
714. q Vittorio Emanuele. Open The church’s name means
7:30am–noon, 4–7pm daily. 7 “St Peter in Chains”, so called
because it houses what are said
The church was founded to be the chains with which
by Pope Paschal II in the 9th St Peter was shackled in the
century and decorated by Mamertine Prison (see p393).
Byzantine artists with the most According to tradition, one set
important glittering mosaics in of chains was sent to Constanti-
Rome. In the apse Christ stands nople by Empress Eudoxia;
Bernini’s Ecstasy of St Teresa (1646) in Santa between Santa Prassede and when it was returned to Rome
Maria della Vittoria her sister, dressed as Byzantine some years later, it miraculously
empresses, among white-robed fused with its partner.
w Museo Nazionale elders, lambs, feather-mop San Pietro is now best known
palms and bright red poppies.
for the Tomb of Julius II, commiss-
Romano Palazzo The Cappella di San Zeno is ioned from Michelangelo by the
Massimo even lovelier, a jewel-box of a pope in 1505. Much to the
artist’s chagrin, Julius soon
Palazzo Massimo, Largo di Villa Peretti 1 became more interested in the
(1 of 5 sites). Map 4 D3. Tel 06 39 96 building of a new St Peter’s and
77 00. @ all routes to Termini. the tomb project was laid to
q Repubblica. Open 9am–7:45pm
Tue–Sun. & ticket valid for all sites. one side. After the pope died in
9 7 = 8 1513, Michelangelo resumed
work on the tomb, but had only
Founded in 1899, the Museo completed the statues of the
Nazionale Romano – one of the Dying Slaves (now found in
world’s leading museums of Paris and Florence) and Moses
Classical art – houses most of when he was called away to
the antiquities found in Rome paint the The Last Judgment in
since 1870, as well as important 9th-century mosaic, Santa Prassede the Sistine Chapel.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


416-417_EW_Italy.indd 416 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : NOR THEAST ROME  417

t Santa Maria Maggiore VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

A confident blend of architectural styles, ranging from Early Practical Information
Christian to late Baroque, Santa Maria is also famous for its Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore.
superb mosaics. Founded in about AD 420, it retains the Map 4 D4.
original colonnaded triple nave, lined with panels of rare Tel 06 69 88 68 00.
Open 7am–6:45pm daily. 5 7
5th-century mosaics.
The Cosmatesque marble Transport
@ 16, 70, 71, 714. v 14.
floor and bell tower are q Termini, Cavour.
medieval, as are the
spectacular mosaics on the
triumphal arch and in the Bell
loggia. The lavish coffered tower
ceiling is Renaissance; the
façades, domes and Coronation of the Virgin
chapels, Baroque. This is one of the wonderful
13th-century mosaics in the
apse by Jacopo Torriti.
5th-century
mosaics
Tomb of Cardinal
Rodriguez
This Gothic tomb,
which dates from
1299, contains
magnificent
marblework by
the Cosmati.















18th-century façade 13th-century
by Ferdinando Fuga mosaics





Column in
Piazza Santa Cappella Sistina
Maria Maggiore This chapel was
In 1611, a bronze built for Pope Sixtus V
of the Virgin and (1584–7) by
Cappella Paolina Child was added Domenico Fontana
Flaminio Ponzio, architect of to this ancient and was opulently
the Villa Borghese, designed marble column covered with
this sumptuous chapel in which came from ancient marble.
1611 for Pope Paul V who is the Basilica of It houses the
buried here. Constantine. pope’s tomb.




416-417_EW_Italy.indd 417 4/4/17 5:36 PM

Ottaviano
San Pietro
VIAL E VATI C ANO CITTÀ DEL ANGELICA V. DI PORTA V. D. MASCHERINO
500m
VATICANO
V. DEI CORRIDORI B.GO S. PIAZZA
ANGELO
PIA
PIAZZA S. V. D. CONCILIAZIONE LUNGOT. VATICANO
Stazione PIETRO
Vaticana
S A N T’ U F FIZIO BORGO S. SPIRITO
V I A D E L
VIALE VATICANO
VIA DEL GIANICOLO ONOFRIO
FABRIZI SALITA DI S. LUNGOT. GIANICOLENSE

V. DELLA LUNGARA
VIALE A LDO V. S. FRANCESCO RIARI V. D. LUNGARA Te v e r e
DI SALES
DEI
VIA
LUNGO. D. FARNESINA
PIAZZALE
V. G. GARIBALDI APOLLONIA
GIUSEPPE
ISOLA
GARIBALDI GIANICOLO VIA D. SCALA LUNGOT.R.SANZIO TIBERINA
PIAZZA S.
V. D. PAGLIA LUNGARETTA PISCINULA
PIAZZA IN
VIA DELLA
V. ALDO FABRIZI
VIA G. GARIBALDI V. L. MANARA TRASTEVERE V. D. SALUMI
V. GIACOMO V. GOFFRE DO MAMELI COSIMATO V. S. FRANCESCOA TRASTEVERE LUNGOT. RIPA
V. A. MASINA
MEDICI
PIAZZA S.
VIALE N. FABRIZI VIA G. SACCHI V. E. MOROSINI A RIPA VIA D. LUCE VIA ANICIA
PORTO DI RIPA
VIA CALANDR ELLI VIALE GLORIOSO VIALE DI VIA G. VIA DI S. MICHELE
VIA DANDO LO
VILLA VIA DANDOLO INDUNO GRANDE
SCIARRA
418-419_EW_Italy.indd 418 26/04/16 5:18 pm

ROME AND LAZIO  419

THE VATICAN AND
TRASTEVERE

Vatican City, the world capital of Catholicism, collections of the Vatican Museums, as
is the world’s smallest state. It occupies 43 ha well as being the residence of the pope.
(106 acres) within high walls watched over Neighbouring Trastevere is quite different,
by the Vatican guard. It was the site where a picturesque old quarter, whose inhabitants
Saint Peter was martyred (c.AD 64) and consider themselves to be the only true
buried, and it became the residence of the Romans. Sadly, the proletarian identity of
popes who succeeded him. The papal palaces, the place is in danger of being destroyed
next to the great basilica of St Peter’s, are by the proliferation of trendy restaurants,
home to the Sistine Chapel and the eclectic clubs and shops.

Sights at a Glance
Churches Museums and Galleries
2 St Peter’s pp422–3 3 Vatican Museums pp424–31
7 Santa Maria in Trastevere 5 Palazzo Corsini and Galleria
8 Santa Cecilia in Trastevere Nazionale d’Arte Antica
9 San Francesco a Ripa Historic Buildings
0 San Pietro in Montorio
and the Tempietto 1 Castel Sant’Angelo
4 Villa Farnesina
Parks and Gardens See Rome Street Finder
6 Botanical Gardens maps 1, 2, 5, 6, 9
Ottaviano
San Pietro
VIAL E VATI C ANO VATICANO ANGELICA V. DI PORTA V. D. MASCHERINO
500m
CITTÀ DEL
V. DEI CORRIDORI B.GO S. PIAZZA
ANGELO
PIA
PIAZZA S. V. D. CONCILIAZIONE LUNGOT. VATICANO
Stazione PIETRO
Vaticana
S A N T’ U F FIZIO BORGO S. SPIRITO
V I A D E L
VIALE VATICANO
VIA DEL GIANICOLO ONOFRIO
FABRIZI SALITA DI S. LUNGOT. GIANICOLENSE

V. DELLA LUNGARA
VIALE A LDO V. S. FRANCESCO RIARI LUNGO. D. FARNESINA
V.
DI SALES
Te v e r e
DEI
VIA
D. LUNGARA
PIAZZALE
V. G. GARIBALDI APOLLONIA
GIUSEPPE
ISOLA
GARIBALDI GIANICOLO VIA D. SCALA LUNGOT.R.SANZIO TIBERINA
PIAZZA S.
V. D. PAGLIA LUNGARETTA PISCINULA
PIAZZA IN
VIA DELLA
V. ALDO FABRIZI
VIA G. GARIBALDI V. L. MANARA TRASTEVERE V. D. SALUMI
V. GIACOMO V. GOFFRE DO MAMELI COSIMATO V. S. FRANCESCOA TRASTEVERE LUNGOT. RIPA
V. A. MASINA
MEDICI
PIAZZA S.
VIALE N. FABRIZI VIA G. SACCHI V. E. MOROSINI A RIPA VIA D. LUCE VIA ANICIA
PORTO DI RIPA
VIA DANDO LO
0 metres 250 VIA CALANDR ELLI VIALE GLORIOSO VIALE DI VIA G. VIA DI S. MICHELE
0 yards 250 VILLA VIA DANDOLO INDUNO GRANDE
SCIARRA
St Peter’s with the Ponte Sant’Angelo in the foreground For keys to symbols see back flap
418-419_EW_Italy.indd 419 26/04/16 5:18 pm

420  ROME AND LAZIO

A Tour of the Vatican

The Vatican, a sovereign state since . St Peter’s
February 1929, is ruled by the pope, Most of the great
Europe’s only absolute monarch. architects of the
Renaissance and
About 500 people live here, and in Baroque periods
addition to accommodation for staff had a hand in the
and ecclesiasts, the city has its own design of the Basilica
post office, banks, currency, judicial of St Peter’s, the most
famous church in
system, radio station, shops and a daily Christendom
newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano. (see pp422–3).


















. Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo frescoed the ceiling
with scenes from Genesis (1508–
12), and the altar wall with The
Last Judgment (1534–41). The
chapel is used by cardinals when
electing a new pope (see p428).





Raphael
Rooms
0 metres 75
0 yards 75

KEY
1 Piazza San Pietro was laid out `
by Bernini between 1656 and 1667. P I A Z Z A D E L S A N T ’ U F F I Z I O P I A Z Z A
2 Information office S A N P I E T R O
3 The Papal Audience Chamber
4 Vatican Radio broadcasts in 20 P I A Z Z A
languages throughout the world P I O X I I
from this tower, part of the
9th-century Leonine Wall.
5 The Vatican Gardens, open for
guided tours, make up one third of
the Vatican’s territory.
To Via della Conciliazione
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


420-421_EW_Italy.indd 420 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : THE V A TIC AN AND TR ASTE VERE  421


1 Castel
Sant’Angelo
AROUND
PIAZZA
NAVONA Lungotevere Castello. Map 2 D3.
Tel 06 681 91 11. @ 34, 280.
Tevere
Open 9am–7:30pm daily (last entry
VATICAN
AND 6:30pm). Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec. &
TRASTEVERE
9 = - 7 ∑ castelsantangelo.
beniculturali.it
Locator Map This massive fortress takes its
See Rome Street Finder map 1 name from the vision of the
This staircase leading down Archangel Michael by Pope
from the museums, designed in Gregory the Great in the 6th
1932 by Giuseppe Momo, is in century as he led a procession
the form of a double helix, across the bridge, praying for
consisting of two spirals: one to the end of the plague.
walk up and one to walk down. The castle began life in
AD 139 as the Emperor
Hadrian’s mausoleum. Since
then it has been a bridgehead
Entrance to Vatican in the Emperor
Museums Aurelian’s city
wall, a medieval
citadel and
prison, and a
place of safety
for popes
during times
of political
. Vatican Museums unrest. A
The marble group of corridor links Illusionistic frescoes
the Laocoön (AD 1) is it with the by Pellegrino Tibaldi
one of many presti­ Vatican Palace,
gious works of art in providing an escape route for
the Vatican (see p426). the pope. From dank cells to
fine apartments of Renaissance
popes, the museums cover all
aspects of the castle’s history,
including the Sala Paolina, with
illusionistic frescoes (1546–8)
by Pellegrino Tibaldi and
Perin del Vaga and the
Courtyard of Honour.

V I A D I P O R T A A N G E L I C A The Cortile della Pigna

is named after a
bronze pine cone from
an ancient fountain.
P I A Z Z A
S A N P I E T R O

P I A Z Z A . Raphael Rooms
P I O X I I
Raphael frescoed this
suite in the early
16th century. Works like
The School of Athens
established his reputation,
which soon equalled that
of his contemporary Castel Sant’Angelo viewed from the
Michelangelo (see p431). Ponte Sant’Angelo



420-421_EW_Italy.indd 421 4/4/17 5:36 PM

422  ROME AND LAZIO

2 St Peter’s

Catholicism’s most sacred shrine, the Dome of St Peter’s
sumptuous, marble-caked basilica of The 136.5 m- (448 ft-) high
dome, designed by
St Peter’s draws pilgrims and tourists Michelangelo, was not
from all over the world. It holds completed in his lifetime.
hundreds of precious works of art,
some salvaged from the original
4th-century basilica built by
Constantine, others commissioned
from Renaissance and Baroque
artists. The dominant tone is set by
Bernini, who created the baldacchino
twisting up below Michelangelo’s
huge dome. He also created the
Cathedra in the apse, with four saints
supporting a throne that contains
fragments once thought to be relics
of the chair from which St Peter
delivered his first sermon.


KEY
1 Entrance to Historical Artistic
Museum and Sacristy
2 The Monument to Pope
Alexander VII was Bernini’s last work
in St Peter’s. Completed in 1678, it
shows the Chigi Pope among figures
of Truth, Justice, Charity and Prudence.
3 A staircase of 537 steps leads to
the summit of the dome.
4 The Baldacchino was
commissioned by Pope Urban VIII in
1624; Bernini’s extravagant Baroque
canopy stands above St Peter’s tomb.
5 The Papal Altar stands over the
crypt where St Peter is reputedly Historical Plan of the
buried.
Basilica of St Peter’s
6 The church is 186 m (615 ft) long.
St Peter was buried in AD 64 in
7 The foot of St Peter, sculpted by a necropolis near the site of his
Arnolfo di Cambio in the 13th century, cruci fixion in the Circus of Nero.
has worn thin from the touch of In AD 324 Constantine constructed
pilgrims over the centuries.
a basilica over the tomb. The
8 Two minor cupolas by Vignola old church was rebuilt in the
(1507–73) 15th century, and throughout the
9 Markings on the floor of the nave 16th and 17th centuries various
show how other churches compare architects developed the existing
in length. structure. The new church was
in augurated in 1626.
0 Façade by Carlo Maderno (1614)
q From this Library window, the Key
pope blesses the faithful gathered in
the piazza below. Circus of Nero
w The Holy Door is used only in Holy Constantinian
Years. Renaissance
e Atrium by Carlo Maderno Baroque
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


422-423_EW_Italy.indd 422 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Starsight template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.2)
Date 23rd October 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : THE V A TIC AN AND TR ASTE VERE  423

The Grottoes VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
A fragment of this 13th-century
mosaic by Giotto, salvaged Practical Information
from the old basilica, is now Piazza San Pietro.
in the Grottoes, where Map 1 B3.
many popes are buried. Tel 06 69 88 37 12 (Sacristy);
06 69 88 16 62 (tourist info).
Basilica: Open Apr–Sep:
7am–7pm daily (mid-Oct–Mar:
to 6:30pm). 5 7 &
Treasury: Open Apr–Sep:
8am–7pm daily (Oct–Mar:
to 6:15pm). &
Grottoes: Open Apr–Sep:
8am–6pm daily (Oct–Mar: 5:30pm).
Michelangelo’s Pietà Dome: Open 8am–6pm daily
Protected by glass since an (Oct–Mar: to 5pm). &
attack in 1972, the Pietà Papal audiences: usually Wed at
was created in 1499 10:30am in Piazza San Pietro or in
when Michelangelo the Papal Audience Chamber.
was only 25. Tickets (free) from Prefecture of
the Pontifical Household. Call 06
69 88 31 14 or check availability
at office through bronze doors
on right of the colonnade
(9am–1pm). The pope appears
at noon Sun to bless the crowd
in Piazza San Pietro.
Transport
@ 23, 49, 70, 180, 492.
q Ottaviano San Pietro.


Filarete Doors
These bronze
doors from
the old
basilica were
decorated with
biblical reliefs
by Filarete
between 1439
and 1445.














Entrance


Piazza San Pietro
On Sundays, religious festivals
and special occasions such as
canonizations, the pope blesses
the crowds from a balcony.




422-423_EW_Italy.indd 423 4/4/17 5:36 PM

424  ROME AND LAZIO

3 Vatican Museums

Home to the Sistine Chapel and Raphael Rooms as well
as to one of the world’s most important art collections,
the Vatican Museums are housed in palaces originally
built for Renaissance popes Julius II, Innocent VIII
and Sixtus IV. Most of the later additions were made
in the 18th century, when priceless works of art
accumulated by earlier popes were first put on show.
Etruscan Museum
The Etruscan collection includes a
woman’s gold clasp (fibula) from the
7th-century-BC Regolini-Galassi tomb
at Cerveteri, north of Rome.
Gallery of Maps Gallery of the
The Siege of Malta is one of 40 Candelabra
maps of the Church’s territories,
frescoed by the 16th-century
cartographer Ignazio Danti
on the gallery’s walls.

Raphael Rooms
This is a detail of the Gallery of
Expulsion of Tapestries
Heliodorus from the
Temple, one of many
frescoes painted by
Raphael and his
pupils for Julius II’s
private apartments Stairs
(see p431). down
Upper
floor



Sala dei Chiaroscuri
Raphael
Loggia


Sistine Chapel
(see p428-30)





Gallery Guide
The museum complex is vast: the
Sistine Chapel is 20 to 30 minutes’ walk Modern religious
from the entrance, so allow plenty of art on view here
time. There is a strict one-way system, was sent to the
and it is best to be selective or choose popes by artists
one of four colour-coded itineraries, Borgia Apartment worldwide, such
which vary from 90 minutes to Pinturicchio and his assistants frescoed as Bacon, Ernst
a 5-hour marathon. these rooms for Alexander VI in 1492–5. and Carrà.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


424-425_EW_Italy.indd 424 26/04/16 4:31 pm

ROME : THE V A TIC AN AND TR ASTE VERE  425


Gregorian Pio-Clementine Museum VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
Profane The finest of the Vatican’s
Museum Classical statues are on Practical Information
display here, like the Apollo Città del Vaticano (entrance
Belvedere, a Roman copy in in Viale Vaticano).
marble of a 4th-century-BC Map 1 B2.
Greek bronze. Tel 06 69 88 46 76.
Open 9am–6pm Mon–Sat (last
adm: 4pm); 9am–2pm last Sun
Stairs up to of month (last adm: 12:30pm).
Etruscan Closed religious and public hols.
Museum Special permit required for
Raphael Loggia, Vatican Library,
Lapidary Gallery and Vatican
Archives. & free last Sun of
month. 7 special routes.
- 0 = ∑ mv.vatican.va
Transport
Entrance @ 49 to entrance, 23, 81, 492,
990. q Ottaviano San Pietro,
Cipro Musei Vaticani.
Cortile Ottagonale
Lower
floor



Braccio
Nuovo



Egyptian Museum
The collection of Egyptian artifacts includes
this painted bas-relief from a 2400 BC tomb.
The museum was organized by Father
Chiaramonti Ungarelli, a 19th-century Egyptologist.
Museum
The Lapidary Gallery
contains inscriptions from
pagan and Christian
catacombs, but is closed Pio-Christian Museum
to the public.
Early Christianity adopted Classical images
so that its doctrines could be more easily
understood. This 4th-century statue of
Christ as the Good Shepherd derives from
the pastoral figure of the shepherd.

Key to Floorplan
Egyptian and Assyrian art
Pinacoteca Greek and Roman art
The Vatican’s art gallery has Etruscan art
15th- to 19th-century
works, and is particularly Early Christian and Medieval art
strong on the Renaissance. 15th- to 19th-century art
This unfinished painting of Modern religious art
St Jerome by Leonardo da
Vinci reveals his mastery Lapidary Gallery
of anatomy. Non-exhibition space




424-425_EW_Italy.indd 425 26/04/16 4:31 pm

426  ROME AND LAZIO

Exploring the Vatican’s Collections

The Vatican’s greatest treasures are its superlative Greek and
Roman antiquities, together with the mag nificent artifacts
excavated from Egyptian and Etruscan tombs during the
19th century. Some of Italy’s greatest artists, such as Raphael,
Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, are represented in
the Pinacoteca (art gallery) and parts of the former palaces,
where they were employed by popes to decorate sumptuous
apartments and galleries.


Here, the most famous exhibits
Egyptian and are the gold jewellery and
Assyrian Art
bronze throne, bed and funeral
The Egyptian collection contains cart, found in the 650 BC Head of an athlete in mosaic from the
finds from 19th- and 20th-century Regolini-Galassi tomb in Baths of Caracalla, AD 217
excavations in Egypt, as well as Cerveteri (see p470).
statues that were brought to Prize Greek and Roman pieces the 5th-century-BC Greek
Rome in Imperial times. There form the nucleus of the sculptor Polyclitus. There is
are also Roman imitations of Pio-Clementine Museum. also a Roman copy of this on
Egyptian art from Hadrian’s These include high- display opposite. The Museo
Villa (see p472) and from quality Roman copies Gregoriano Profano, housed in
temples in Rome devoted of 4th-century-BC a separate wing, follows the
to Egyptian gods and Greek statues, such as evolution of Roman art from
goddesses, such as Isis the Apoxyomenos (an reliance on Greek models to a
and Serapis. athlete wiping his body recognizably Roman style.
The genuine Egyptian after a race) and the In this museum, original Greek
works, displayed on the Apollo del Belvedere. works include large marble
lower floor next to the The splendid Laocoön fragments from the Parthenon
Pio-Clementine (1st century AD), origin ally in Athens. Among the Roman
Museum, include from Rhodes, was found pieces are two reliefs, the Rilievi
statues, mummies, in 1506 in the ruins of della Cancelleria, commissioned
mummy cases and a Nero’s Golden House. by Domitian in AD 81 to glorify
Book of the Dead. One Works such as these the military parades of his
of the main treasures inspired Michel- father, Emperor Vespasian.
is a colossal granite angelo and other There are also fine Roman floor
13th-century statue Renaissance artists. mosaics, two from the Baths
of Queen Mutuy, the Roman copy of the The much smaller of Caracalla (see p441), and one,
mother of Rameses II, Greek Doryphoros Chiaramonti Museum in the Round Room, dated
which was found on is lined with ancient 3rd century AD, from the Baths
the site of the Horti Sallustiani busts, and its extension, the of Otricoli in Umbria.
gardens near Via Veneto. Also Braccio Nuovo, has a In the Vatican Library is the
noteworthy are the head of 1st-century-BC statue of 1st-century-AD Aldobrandini
a statue of Montuhotep IV Augustus from the villa of his Wedding, a beautiful Roman
(20th century BC), the beautiful wife Livia. It is based on the fresco depicting a bride being
mummy case of Queen Doryphoros (spear-carrier) by prepared for her marriage.
Hetepheres, and the tomb of Iri,
who was the guardian of the
Pyramid of Cheops. This dates
back to the 22nd century BC.

Greek, Etruscan and
Roman Art
The greater part of the Vatican
Museums is dedicated to Greek
and Roman art. However, the
Etruscan Museum houses a
superb collection of Etruscan
(see p48) and pre-Roman
artifacts from Etruria and the
Greek colonies of southern Italy. Roman mosaic from the Baths of Otricoli, Umbria, in the Round Room
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


426-427_EW_Italy.indd 426 26/04/16 5:19 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Flashmap follow-on template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.4)
Date 5th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : THE V A TIC AN AND TR ASTE VERE  427


Early Christian and
Medieval Art
The main collection of early
Christian antiquities is in the
Pio-Christian Museum, which
contains inscriptions and
sculpture from catacombs
and early Christian basilicas.
The sculpture consists chiefly
of reliefs from sarcophagi,
though the most striking work
is a free-standing 4th-century
statue of the Good Shepherd.
The sculpture’s chief interest
lies in the way it blends
biblical episodes with pagan
mythology. The idealized
pastoral figure of the shepherd
became Christ himself, while
bearded philosophers turned
into the Apostles.
The first two rooms of the
Pinacoteca are dedicated to late
medieval art, mostly wooden
altarpieces painted in tempera.
The outstanding work is Giotto’s
Stefaneschi Triptych of about
1300, which decorated the main
altar of the old St Peter’s. Pietà (c.1471–4) by the Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini in the Pinacoteca
The Vatican Library has a
number of medieval treasures, age. The galleries around the fascinating frescoes can be
including reliquaries, textiles, Cortile del Belvedere were found in the Loggia of
enamels and icons. decorated by great artists Raphael, but a visit here
between the 16th and the requires special permission.
19th centuries. The Pinacoteca has many
The Gallery of Tapestries is important Renaissance works.
hung with tapestries woven in Highlights from the 15th century
Brussels to designs by students are a fine Pietà by Giovanni
of Raphael. The Apartment of Bellini, part of his Coronation of
Pope Pius V has beautiful the Virgin altarpiece in Pèsaro
15th-century Flemish tapestries, (see p372); and Leonardo da
and the Gallery of Maps is Vinci’s unfinished St Jerome,
frescoed with 16th-century discovered, after being long lost,
maps of ancient and in two halves. One was being
contemporary Italy. used as a coffer lid in an antique
Alongside the Raphael Rooms shop, the other as the seat of a
(see p431) are the Room of the stool in a shoemaker’s.
Chiaroscuri and Pope Exceptional pieces from the
Nicholas V’s private 16th century include eight
chapel. This was tapestry cartoons, the
frescoed be tween Transfiguration and
1447 and 1451 Madonna of Foligno
Detail of Giotto’s Stefaneschi Triptych by Fra Angelico. by Raphael, in
(1330) in the Pinacoteca Also worth a room devoted
seeing is to the artist;
the Borgia a Deposition
15th- to 19th- Apartment, by Caravaggio;
century Art decorated in an altarpiece
Many Renaissance popes were the 1490s by Pinturicchio’s Adoration of the Magi by Titian;
connoisseurs of the arts who Pinturicchio (1490s), Borgia Apartment and St Helen by
considered it their duty to and his pupils Veronese, which
sponsor the leading painters, for the Borgia pope, shows the saint as a gorgeously
sculptors and goldsmiths of the Alexander VI. Another set of dressed aristocrat.




426-427_EW_Italy.indd 427 26/04/16 5:19 pm

428  ROME AND LAZIO

Sistine Chapel: The Ceiling

Michelangelo frescoed the ceiling for Pope
Julius II between 1508 and 1512, working Libyan Sibyl
The pagan
on specially designed scaffolding. The main prophetess reaches
panels, which chart the Creation of the for the Book of
World and Fall of Man, are surrounded by Know ledge.
subjects from the Old and New Testaments – Like most
except for the Classical Sibyls who are said female figures
Michelangelo
to have foreseen the birth of Christ. In the painted, the
1980s the ceiling was restored, revealing beautiful Libyan
colours of an unsuspected vibrancy. Sibyl was probably
modelled on a man.

































Creation of the
Sun and Moon
Key to Ceiling Panels
Genesis: 1 God Dividing Light from Darkness;
2 Creation of the Sun and Moon; 3 Separating Waters
from Land; 4 Creation of Adam; 5 Creation of Eve;
6 Original Sin; 7 Sacrifice of Noah; 8 The Deluge;
9 Drunkenness of Noah.
Ancestors of Christ: 10 Solomon with his Mother;
KEY 11 Parents of Jesse; 12 Rehoboam with Mother; 13 Asa
with Parents; 14 Uzziah with Parents; 15 Hezekiah with
1 Illusionistic architecture Parents; 16 Zerubbabel with Parents; 17 Josiah with
Parents.
2 The lunettes are devoted to
frescoes of the ancestors of Christ, Prophets: 18 Jonah; 19 Jeremiah; 20 Daniel; 21 Ezekiel;
22 Isaiah; 23 Joel; 24 Zechariah.
like Hezekiah.
Sibyls: 25 Libyan Sibyl; 26 Persian Sibyl; 27 Cumaean
3 The Ignudi are athletic male Sibyl; 28 Erythrean Sibyl; 29 Delphic Sibyl.
nudes whose significance is Old Testament scenes of salvation: 30 Punishment of
uncertain. Haman; 31 Moses and the Brazen Serpent; 32 David
and Goliath; 33 Judith and Holofernes.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600
428-429_EW_Italy.indd 428 26/04/16 5:19 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Starsight template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.2)
Date 23rd October 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : THE V A TIC AN AND TR ASTE VERE  429

Creation of the Sun and Moon
Michelangelo depicts God as a dynamic
but terrifying figure commanding the sun
to shed light on the earth.






Original Sin
This shows Adam and Eve tasting the forbidden fruit from
the Tree of Knowledge, and their expulsion from Paradise.
Michelangelo represents Satan as a snake with the body
of a woman.



































Restoration of the Sistine Ceiling
The restorers of the Sistine Chapel used computers, photo­
graphy and spectrum technology to analyse the fresco
before cleaning began. They separated Michelangelo’s work
from that of later restorers and discovered that the restorers
had attempted to clean the ceiling with materials ranging
from bread to retsina wine. The new restoration revealed the
familiarly dusky, eggshell­cracked figures to have creamy
skins, lustrous hair and to be dressed in brightly coloured,
luscious robes: “a Benetton Michel angelo” mocked one critic,
claiming that a layer of varnish that the artist had added to
darken the colours had been removed. However, after
examining the work, most experts agreed that the new
colours probably matched those painted by Michelangelo. A restorer cleaning the Libyan Sibyl






428-429_EW_Italy.indd 429 26/04/16 5:19 pm

430  ROME AND LAZIO

Sistine Chapel: The Walls

The massive walls of the Key to the Frescoes: Artists and Subjects
Sistine Chapel, the main
chapel in the Vatican Palace,
were frescoed by some of
the finest artists of the 15th
and 16th centuries. The 12
paintings on the side walls,
by artists including Perugino, The Last Judgment
Ghirlandaio, Rosselli,
Botticelli and Signorelli, Perugino Botticelli Ghirlandaio
show parallel episodes from
the lives of Moses and Christ. Rosselli Signorelli Michelangelo
The decoration of the chapel
walls was completed 1 Baptism of Christ in the Jordan 7 Moses’s Journey into Egypt
between 1534 and 1541 by 2 Temptations of Christ 8 Moses Receiving the Call
Michelangelo, who added 3 Calling of St Peter and St Andrew 9 Crossing of the Red Sea
the great altar wall fresco, 4 Sermon on the Mount 10 Adoration of the Golden Calf
11 Punishment of the Rebels
5 Handing over the Keys to St Peter
The Last Judgment. 6 Last Supper 12 Last Days of Moses
the removal of some earlier face the wrath of God, a
The Last Judgment by frescoes and two windows subject that is rarely used for
Michelangelo
over the altar. A new wall was an altar decoration. The pope
Revealed in 1993 after a erected which slanted inwards chose it as a warning to
year’s restoration, The Last to stop dust settling on it. Catholics to adhere to their
Judgment is considered to Michelangelo worked alone faith in the turmoil of the
be the masterpiece of on the fresco for seven years, Reformation. In fact, the work
Michelangelo’s mature years. until its completion in 1541. conveys the artist’s own
It was commissioned by Pope The painting depicts the tormented attitude to his faith.
Paul III Farnese, and required souls of the dead rising up to It offers neither the certainties
of Christian orthodoxy, nor the
ordered view of Classicism.
In a dynamic, emotional
composition, the figures are
caught in a vortex of motion.
The dead are torn from their
graves and hauled up to face
Christ the Judge, whose
athletic, muscular figure is
the focus of all the painting’s
movement.
Christ shows little sympathy
for the agitated saints around
him, clutching the instruments
of their martyrdom. Neither
is any pity shown for the
damned, hurled down to the
demons in hell. Here Charon,
pushing people off his boat
into the depths of Hades, and
the infernal judge Minos, are
taken from Dante’s Inferno.
Minos has ass’s ears, and is a
portrait of courtier Biagio da
Cesena, who had objected to
the nude figures in the fresco.
Michelangelo’s self-portrait is
on the skin held by the martyr
Souls meeting the wrath of Christ in Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment St Bartholomew.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


430-431_EW_Italy.indd 430 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Flashmap follow-on template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.4)
Date 5th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : THE V A TIC AN AND TR ASTE VERE  431


Raphael Rooms
Pope Julius II’s private apartments were built above those
of his hated predecessor, Alexander VI, who died in 1503.
Julius was impressed with Raphael’s work and chose him
to redecorate the four rooms (stanze). Raphael and his
pupils began in 1508, replacing works by better-known
artists, including Raphael’s teacher, Perugino. The new
frescoes quickly established the young artist’s reputation
in Rome, but the project took 16 years to complete and he
died before it was finished.
Temple, showing Heliodorus
felled by a horseman as he tries Key to Floorplan
to rob the Temple in Jerusalem. 1 Hall of Constantine
It alludes to Pope Julius II’s 2 Room of Heliodorus
victory over foreign armies in 3 Room of the Segnatura
Italy. The Mass of Bolsena on the
left wall refers to a miracle that 4 Room of The Fire in the Borgo
occurred in 1263, in which a
priest who doubted the doc­ Room of The Fire in
trine of the Holy Host was said
to have seen blood issue from it the Borgo
at the moment of sacrifice. This was originally the dining
room, but when the decoration
was completed under Pope
Room of the Segnatura
Leo X it became a music room.
Completed between 1508 and All the frescoes exalt the
1511, the frescoes here are the reigning pope by depicting
most harmonious in the series. events in the lives of his 9th­
Detail from Raphael’s The Mass of The scheme followed by Raphael, century namesakes, Leo III and IV.
Bolsena (1512) dictated by Pope Julius II, The main frescoes were designed
reflected the Humanist belief by Raphael, but finished by his
that there could be perfect assistants between 1514 and
Hall of Constantine
harmony between Classical 1517. The most famous, The Fire
The frescoes in this room were culture and Christianity in the in the Borgo, shows a miracle of
started in 1517 and completed search for truth. The most 847, when Pope Leo IV put out
in 1525, five years after Raphael’s famous work, The School of a fire by making the sign of the
death, and are largely the work Athens, centres on the debate cross. Raphael draws a parallel
of the artist’s pupils. The theme about truth between the between this and the legend­
of the decoration is the triumph Greek philo sophers Plato ary flight of Aeneas from Troy,
of Christianity over paganism, and Aristotle. Raphael depicted recounted by Virgil. Aeneas
and the four major frescoes some of his contemporaries appears in the foreground,
show scenes from the life of as philoso phers, including carrying his father Anchises
Constantine, the first Christian Leonardo da Vinci, Bramante on his back.
emperor. These include the and Michel angelo.
Vision of the Cross and the
emperor’s victory over his
rival, Maxentius, at The Battle
of the Milvian Bridge, for which
Raphael had provided a
preparatory sketch.
Room of Heliodorus
Raphael decorated this private
antechamber between 1512 and
1514. The main frescoes all
contain thinly veiled references
to the protec tive powers of the
papacy. The room’s name refers
to the fresco on the right, The
Expulsion of Heliodorus from the The School of Athens (1511) showing philosophers and scholars




430-431_EW_Italy.indd 431 4/4/17 5:36 PM

432  ROME AND LAZIO

4 Villa Farnesina 6 Botanical
Via della Lungara 230. Map 2 D5. Gardens
Tel 06 68 02 72 68. @ 23, 280. Largo Cristina di Svezia 24. Map 2 D5.
Open 9am–2pm Mon–Sat and Tel 06 49 91 71 07. @ 23, 280. Open
every 2nd Sun of the month. 9:30am–6:30pm (Oct–Mar: 5:30pm)
& 8 10am Sat (English). ^ Mon–Sat. Closed public hols. & 8
The fabulously wealthy Sienese Sequoias, palm trees, orchids
banker Agostino Chigi commis­ and bromeliads are among
sioned this villa in 1508 from his the 7,000 plants from all over
fellow Sienese Baldassare Peruzzi. the world represented in the
Chigi’s main home was across the Botanical Gardens (Orto
Tiber, and the villa was designed Botanico). Indigenous and
purely for lavish banquets. exotic species are grouped
Artists, poets, cardinals, princes to illustrate their botanical fam­
and the pope himself were ilies and their adaptation to
entertained here in magnificent different climates and eco­
style. Chigi also used the villa for Queen Christina of Sweden’s bedroom in systems. There are also some
sojourns with the courtesan the Palazzo Corsini curious plants like the ginkgo
Imperia, who allegedly ins pired that have survived almost
one of the Three Graces painted 5 Palazzo Corsini unchanged from earlier eras.
by Raphael in the Loggia of and Galleria
Cupid and Psyche. Nazionale d’Arte
The simple, harmonious
design of the Farnesina, with a Antica
central block and projecting Via della Lungara 10. Map 2 D5.
wings, made it one of the first Tel 06 68 80 23 23. @ 23, 280.
true villas of the Renaissance. Open 8:30am–7:30pm Wed–Mon.
Peruzzi decorated some of the Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec, 31 Dec. & 8
interiors himself, such as the 7 ^ = ∑ galleriacorsini.
Sala della Prospettiva upstairs, in beniculturali.it
which the illu sionistic frescoes
create the impression of looking Built for Cardinal Domenico
out over 16th­century Rome Riario in 1510–12, the Palazzo
through a marble colonnade. Corsini has welcomed
Other frescoes, by Sebastiano Bramante, the young Michel­ Palm trees in the Botanical
del Piombo and Raphael and angelo, Erasmus and the Gardens, Trastevere
his pupils, illustrate Classical mother of Napoleon among
myths, while the vault of the its guests. Queen Christina of 7 Santa Maria in
main hall, the Sala di Galatea, Sweden died here in 1689.
is adorned with astrological The palazzo was rebuilt by Trastevere
scenes showing the position Ferdinando Fuga, who planned Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere.
of the stars at the time of the façade to be viewed from Map 5 C1. Tel 06 581 48 02. @ H, 23,
Chigi’s birth. After his death an angle, as Via della Lungara is 280. Open 7:30am–9pm daily. 7 =
the business collapsed, and too narrow for a full­frontal view.
in 1577 the villa was sold off When the palazzo was bought Santa Maria in Trastevere was
to the Farnese family. by the State in 1893, the Corsini probably the first Christian place
family donated their collection of worship in Rome, founded
of paintings, which formed the by Pope Callixtus I in the
core of the national art collection, 3rd century, when emperors
and was soon augmented. were still pagan and Christianity
The collection is now split a minority cult. According to
between Palazzo Barberini and legend, it was built on the site
Palazzo Corsini. Although the where a fountain of oil had
best works are in the Barberini, miraculously sprung up on
there are paintings by Van Dyck, the day that Christ was born.
Rubens, Murillo and, notably, The basilica became the focus
an androgynous St John the of devotion to the Madonna
Baptist (c.1604) by Caravaggio and, although today’s church
and a Salome (1638) by Reni. and its remarkable mosaics date
The strangest work is a portrait largely from the 12th and 13th
of the rotund Queen Christina centuries, images of the Virgin
as the goddess Diana by continue to dominate. The
Raphael’s Three Graces in the Villa Farnesina J Van Egmont. façade mosaics probably date
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–76 and pp596–600


432-433_EW_Italy.indd 432 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : THE V A TIC AN AND TR ASTE VERE  433


Entirely rebuilt in the 1680s
by Cardinal Pallavicini, the
church is rich in 17th- and
18th-century sculptures. Not to
be missed in the Altieri chapel
(fourth left, along the nave) is
Bernini’s exquisite late work,
the Ecstasy of Beata Ludovica
Albertoni (1674).








Apse mosaic of the Coronation of the Virgin, Santa Maria in Trastevere
from the 12th century, and Cambio and the fresco of The
show Mary, Christ and ten lamp- Last Judgment by Pietro Cavallini
bearing women. Inside in the can be reached through the
apse is a stylized 12th-century adjoining convent; they date
Coronation of the Virgin and, from the 13th century, one of
below, a series of realistic scenes the few periods when Rome Bramante’s circular Tempietto at San
from the life of the Virgin by the had a distinctive artistic style. Pietro in Montorio
13th-century artist Pietro In front of the altar is a delicate
Cavallini. The oldest image of statue of St Cecilia by Stefano 0 San Pietro in
the Virgin is a 7th-century icon, Maderno, which is based on Montorio and the
the Madonna di Clemenza, sketches made of her perfectly Tempietto
which depicts her as a preserved relics when they were
Byzantine empress flanked by a briefly disinterred in 1599. Piazza di San Pietro in Montorio 2.
guard of angels. It sits above the Map 5 B1. Tel 06 581 39 40.
altar in the Cappella Altemps. @ 44, 75, 115. Open 8am–noon,
9 San Francesco 3–4pm daily.
a Ripa Tempietto: Tel 06 581 28 06.
8 Santa Cecilia Open 10am–6pm Tue–Sun.
in Trastevere Piazza San Francesco d’Assisi 88.
Map 5 C2. Tel 06 581 90 20. @ H, 23,
Piazza di Santa Cecilia. Map 6 D1. Tel 44, 75, 280. Open 7:30am–1pm, The Tempietto, a diminutive
masterpiece of Renaissance
06 589 92 89. @ H, 23, 44, 280. Open 2–7:30pm daily. 7 architecture completed by
10am–1pm, 4–7pm daily. Cavallini St Francis of Assisi lived here in Bramante in 1502, stands in
fresco Open 10am–12:30pm Mon–Sat. a hospice when he visited the courtyard of San Pietro in
Rome in 1219 and his stone Montorio. The name means “little
St Cecilia, aristocrat and patron pillow and crucifix are temple” and its circular shape
saint of music, was martyred here preserved in his cell. The church echoes early Christian martyria,
in AD 230. After an unsuccessful was built by a follower, a local chapels built on the site of a
attempt to suffocate her by nobleman called Rodolfo saint’s martyrdom. This was
locking her in the hot steam Anguillara, who is portrayed on erroneously thought to be the
bath of her house for three days, his tombstone wearing the spot in Nero’s Circus where St
she was beheaded. A church Franciscan habit. Peter was crucified. Bramante
was built, possibly in the ringed the chapel with Doric
4th century, on the site of her columns, a Classical frieze and
house (still to be seen beneath fine balustrade.
the church, along with the
remains of a tannery). Her body
was lost, but it turned up
again in the Catacombs of
San Callisto (see p446). In the
9th century it was reburied here
by Pope Paschal I, who rebuilt
the church. A fine apse mosaic
survives from this period.
The altar canopy by Arnolfo di Bernini’s Ecstasy of Beata Ludovica Albertoni, San Francesco a Ripa




432-433_EW_Italy.indd 433 4/4/17 5:36 PM

VLE. MANZONI
VIA
DI
S. Manzoni
V I A L A B I C A N A
PIAZZA
LUNGOT.
BOCCA D. GIOVANNI
PIERLEONI
VERITÀ V I A DEL CELIO VIA CLAUDIA IN LATERANO MERULANA VIA VIA EMANUELE FILIBERTO
VIA DI S. GREGORIO
PARCO
PIAZZA
LUNGOTEVERE AVE NT IN O RI P A DEI CERCHI PIAZZA DI PORTA VIA D. NAVICELLA VIA DELL'AMBA ARADAM GIOVANNI IN
CELIMONTANA
PIAZZA S.
VIA D I S. STEFANO ROTONDO
V DELLA
GRECA
LATERANO
T e v e r e
PARCO DI
SAVELLO
CAPENA
VILLA
VIA DEL CIRCO MASSIMO
PIAZZA D. PIAZZA DEI VIA D S. SABINA PIAZZA VIA DI S V. D.TERME DE CIANE . PRISCA Circo Massimo CELIMONTANA
CELIO PIAZZA DI P.TA
EMPORIO CAVALIERI DI TEMPIO METRONIA
DI DIANA
MALTA VIA S. ALESSIO VIALE AVENTINO PARCO DI V. D. TERME DI CARACALLA
PIAZZA VIA AVENTINA PORTA CAPENA V. DRUSO
ALBANIA
VIALE M. GELSOMINI VIA DI S. SABA REMURIA
PIAZZA DEI PIAZZALE NUMA
SERVILI POMPILIO
PIAZZA
VIA MARMORATA
PARCO D. V I A D I
RESISTENZA DELL’ V. D. PIRAMIDE CESTIA ALBERTI P ARCO
8 SETTEMBRE PLAZZA G. L. VIALE EGERI O P O R TA
VIA L. B.
BERNINI
PIAZZA DI L AT I N A
PORTA S. PAOLO VIALE GIO T T O GUIDO VIA DI PORTA S. SEBASTIANO
PIAZZALE VIA D. T E RM E DI CARACALLA
OSTIENSE
Stazione Piramide BACCEL LI
Porta San Paolo
PARCO
D. SCIPIONI
434-435_EW_Italy.indd 434 26/04/16 4:31 pm

ROME AND LAZIO  435

AVENTINE AND LATERAN

This is one of the greenest parts of the city, the Aventine Hill, a peaceful, leafy area,
taking in the Celian and Aventine Hills, as with the superb basilica of Santa Sabina,
well as the very congested area around San and lovely views across the river to Trastevere
Giovanni in Laterano. The Celian, now and St Peter’s. In the valley below, cars and
scattered with churches, was a fashionable Vespas skim around the Circus Maximus,
place to live in Imperial Rome. Some of the following the ancient charioteering track,
era’s splendour is still apparent in the ruins of while to the south lies Testaccio, a lively
the Baths of Caracalla. Behind the Baths rises working-class district.

Sights at a Glance
Churches Ancient Sites and Buildings
2 Santa Maria in Cosmedin 1 Temples of the Forum Boarium
3 Santa Maria in Domnica 8 Baths of Caracalla
4 Santo Stefano Rotondo Monuments and Tombs
5 Santi Quattro Coronati 9 Pyramid of Caius Cestius
6 San Clemente p439 0 Protestant Cemetery
7 San Giovanni in Laterano p440
q Santa Sabina
See Rome Street Finder
maps 6, 7, 8



VLE. MANZONI
VIA
DI
S. Manzoni
V I A L A B I C A N A
PIAZZA
LUNGOT.
BOCCA D. GIOVANNI
PIERLEONI
VERITÀ VIA DEL CELIO VIA CLAUDIA IN LATERANO MERULANA VIA VIA EMANUELE FILIBERTO
VIA DI S. GREGORIO
PARCO
PIAZZA
LUNGOTEVERE AVE NT IN O RI P A D EI C ERCHI PIAZZA DI PORTA VIA D. NAVICELLA VIA DELL'AMBA ARADAM GIOVANNI IN
CELIMONTANA
VIA D I S. STEFANO ROTONDO
PIAZZA S.
V DELLA
GRECA
LATERANO
T e v e r e
PARCO DI
SAVELLO
CAPENA
VILLA
VIA DEL CIRCO MASSIMO
PIAZZA D. PIAZZA DEI VIA D S. SABINA PIAZZA VIA DI S V. D.TERME DE CIANE . PRISCA Circo Massimo CELIMONTANA
CELIO PIAZZA DI P.TA
EMPORIO CAVALIERI DI TEMPIO METRONIA
DI DIANA
MALTA VIA S. ALESSIO VIALE AVENTINO PARCO DI V. D. TERME DI CARACALLA
PIAZZA VIA AVENTINA PORTA CAPENA V. DRUSO
ALBANIA
VIALE M. GELSOMINI VIA DI S. SABA REMURIA
PIAZZA DEI PIAZZALE NUMA
SERVILI POMPILIO
PIAZZA
VIA MARMORATA
PARCO D. V I A D I
RESISTENZA DELL’ V. D. PIRAMIDE CESTIA ALBERTI P ARCO
8 SETTEMBRE PLAZZA G. L. VIALE EGERI O P O R TA
VIA L. B.
BERNINI
PIAZZA DI L AT I N A
PORTA S. PAOLO VIALE GIO T T O GUIDO VIA DI PORTA S. SEBASTIANO
PIAZZALE VIA D. T E RM E DI CARACALLA
OSTIENSE
Stazione Piramide BACCEL LI
Porta San Paolo
PARCO
D. SCIPIONI
0 metres 250
0 yards 250
The majestic interior of the cathedral of San Giovanni in Laterano For keys to symbols see back flap
434-435_EW_Italy.indd 435 26/04/16 4:31 pm

436  ROME AND LAZIO

Street-by-Street: Piazza della Bocca della Verità

The site of Rome’s first port and its busy cattle market,
this is an odd little corner of the city, stretching from the
heavily trafficked road running along the Tiber to the
southern spur of the Capitoline Hill, a place of execution
from ancient times until the Middle Ages. Although best
known for the Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth) in Santa
Maria in Cosmedin, which is supposed to snap shut on
the hands of liars, there are many other sites in the area,
notably two temples from the Republican era. In the
6th century the area became home to a Greek community
who founded the The Casa dei Crescenzi, studded
with ancient fragments, incorporates
churches of San Giorgio the ruins of a 10th-century tower
in Velabro and Santa built by the powerful Crescenzi
Maria in Cosmedin. family to guard the river Tiber.
Sant’Omobono stands
on an archaeological
1. Temples of the site where finds date
back to the 6th century.
Forum Boarium
These two buildings are
the best preserved of
Rome’s Republican
temples. V I A D E I F I E N I L I




L U N G O T
E V I A D I S A N G I O VA N N I D E CO L L ATO
V
E
R
E
D
E
I

T P
I
E
Ponte Rotto, as this forlorn ruined V E
R
arch in the Tiber is called, simply E R L
means “broken bridge”. Built in the E E O P I A Z Z A D E L L A
2nd century BC, its original name N B O C C A D E L L A
was the Pons Aemilius. I
P O N T E P A L A T I N O V E R I T À
The Fontana dei Tritoni,
built by Carlo Bizzaccheri in
1715, shows the strong
influence of Bernini.
2. Santa Maria in Cosmedin
The Bocca della Verità, a V I A D E I C E R C H I
medieval drain cover, is
set into the portico.
Key V I A D E L L A G R E C A
Suggested route
San Giovanni Decollato
belonged to a confraternity
0 metres 75
that encouraged condemned
0 yards 75 prisoners to repent.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


436-437_EW_Italy.indd 436 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.9)
Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : A VENTINE AND LA TER AN  437


1 Temples of the
Forum Boarium
Piazza della Bocca della Verità. Map 6
E1. @ 23, 44, 81, 160, 170, 280, 628,
715, 716. Open 1st & 3rd Sun of month
for guided tours only (06 3996 7700).
These wonderfully well-
Locator Map preserved Republican-era
Santa Maria della Consolazione See Rome Street Finder map 6 temples are at their best in
was named after an image of the moonlight, standing in their
Virgin placed here in 1385 to give grassy enclave beside the Tiber
consolation to the sheltered by umbrella pines.
condemned. During the day, they look
less romantic, stranded in a
sea of traffic. They date
from the 2nd century BC,
and were saved from ruin
by being consecrated as
Christian churches in the
Middle Ages by the Greek
community then living in
the area. The rectangular
San Teodoro is a temple, formerly known as
circular church on the the Temple of Fortuna Virilis,
edge of the Palatine with was probably dedicated to
exceptional 6th-century Portunus, the god of rivers and
V I A D E I F I E N I L I
apse mosaics. ports. Set on a podium it has
four Ionic travertine columns
San Giorgio in Velabro, fluted at the front and 12 half-
a 7th-century basilica, was columns embedded in the tufa
O damaged in an explosion in wall of the cella – the room that
R 1994, and has now been restored.
O housed the image of the god. In
D the 9th century the Temple was
O Arco degli Argentari converted into the church of
E
T Santa Maria Egiziaca, after

N a 5th-century prostitute who
A re formed and became a hermit.
S
The smaller circular Temple,
I
D made of solid marble and sur-

A roun ded by 20 fluted columns,
I was dedicated to Hercules but
V
was long thought to be a Temple
of Vesta because of its similarity
to the one in the Forum.
V I A D E I C E R C H I

The 4th-century Arch of Janus,
a four-faced marble-plated
arch at the edge of the
Forum Boarium market, was
V I A D E L L A G R E C A
an ideal place for merchants
and customers to do
business in the shade. The Ionic façade of the Republican-era
Temple of Portunus



436-437_EW_Italy.indd 437 4/4/17 5:36 PM

438  ROME AND LAZIO



















Apse mosaic from the 9th century of the Virgin and Child in Santa Maria in Domnica
2 Santa Maria in Medieval tradition had it that inner area is enclosed by two
Cosmedin the jaws would snap shut on concentric corridors. A third, outer
liars – a useful way of testing corridor was demolished on the
Piazza della Bocca della Verità. Map 6 the faithfulness of spouses. orders of Leon Battista Alberti in
E1. Tel 06 678 77 59. @ 23, 44, 81, 160, 1453. In the 1500s Niccolò
170, 280, 628, 715, 716. Open 9:30am– Pomarancio, Antonio Tempesta
6pm daily (5pm in winter). 5 7 = 3 Santa Maria in and others covered the walls
Domnica with 34 frescoes detailing the
This beautiful church was built martyrdoms of saints.
in the 6th century on the site of Piazza della Navicella 12. Map 7 A2.
the ancient city’s food market. Tel 06 772 02 685. @ 81, 117, 673.
The Romanesque bell tower q Colosseo. Open 9am–noon, 3:30–
and portico were added during 7pm daily (until 6pm in winter). 7
the 12th century. In the 19th
century a Baroque façade was Santa Maria in Domnica was
removed and the church probably founded in the 7th
restored to its original simplicity. century, and renovated in the
It contains many fine examples 9th century. By this time the
of Cosmati work, in particular Romans had lost the art of mak­
the mosaic pavement, the raised ing mosaics, so Pope Paschal I
choir, the bishop’s throne, and imported mosaicists from Byzan­
the canopy over the main altar. tium. They created an exquisite Cloister of Santi Quattro Coronati
Set into the wall of the apse mosaic showing the Virgin,
portico is the Bocca della Verità Child and angels in a garden of 5 Santi Quattro
(Mouth of Truth), a grotesque paradise. Paschal I is kneeling Coronati
marble face, thought to have at the Virgin’s feet wearing a
been an ancient drain cover. square halo, indi cat ing that he Via dei Santi Quattro Coronati 20. Map
was alive when it was made. 7 B1. Tel 06 70 47 54 27. @ 85, 117,
In 1513 Andrea Sansovino 810. v 3. Basilica, Cloister & Chapel of
added a portico decorated with St Sylvester: Open 10–11:45am,
4–5:45pm daily (Sun: pm only). 7
lions’ heads, a punning homage
to Pope Leo X. This fortified convent was built
in the 4th century to house the
4 Santo Stefano relics of four Persian stone­
masons, martyred after they
Rotondo refused to make a statue of
the pagan god Aesculapius.
Via di Santo Stefano Rotondo 7.
Map 7 B2. Tel 06 42 11 99. @ 81, It was rebuilt after invading
117, 673. Open 9:30am–12:30pm, Normans set fire to it in 1084.
3–6pm (2–5pm in winter) Tue–Sat; Highlights are a delightful
9:30am–noon Sun. ^ garden cloister and the
Chapel of St Sylvester, where
Santo Stefano Rotondo was 12th­century frescoes recount
built between 468 and 483 on the legend of Emperor
The nave of Santa Maria in Cosmedin with a circular plan with four chapels Constantine’s conversion
its Cosmati floor in a cruciform shape. Its circular to Christianity.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


438-439_EW_Italy.indd 438 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : A VENTINE AND LA TER AN  439

6 San Clemente VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

In 1857 Father Mullooly, the Irish Dominican prior of Practical Information
San Clemente, began excavations beneath the existing Via di Labicana 95. Map 7 B1.
12th-century basilica. Directly underneath he and his Tel 06 774 00 21. Open
9am–12:30pm, 3–6pm Mon–Sat
successors discovered a 4th-century church, and below (from noon Sun & public hols).
that a number of ancient Roman buildings. Both basilicas Last adm: 20 mins before closing.
are dedicated to St Clement, the fourth pope. On the & to excavations. 5 ^ =
lowest level is a temple devoted to the cult of Mithras, Transport
a mystical all-male religion imported from Persia which @ 85, 87, 117, 186, 810.
q Colosseo. v 3.
rivalled Christianity for popularity.
Cappella di Santa Caterina
Restored frescoes by the
15th-century artist Masolino
da Panicale show scenes from
the life of St Catherine
of Alexandria.
Entrance
Apse Mosaic
The 12th-century Triumph
of the Cross includes
finely detailed animals
and acanthus leaves.
Paschal Candlestick
This splendid 12th-
century spiralling
candlestick, striped
12th-century with glittering
basilica multi-
coloured
mosaic, is
the work of
the Cosmati.
18th-century
façade
Schola
Piscina Cantorum


4th-century basilica












Temple of
Mithras
Life of San Clemente Triclinium
Faded frescoed episodes from An altar to the god
the life of the fourth pope Mithras, showing him
decorate the lower church. slaying a bull, stands in the
This one tells the story of a dank triclinium, a room used
boy found alive in his tomb for ritual banquets by
under the sea. cult members.




438-439_EW_Italy.indd 439 4/4/17 5:36 PM

440  ROME AND LAZIO

7 San Giovanni in Laterano VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

San Giovanni, the cathedral of Rome, was founded by Emperor Practical Information
Constantine in the early 4th century. It has been rebuilt several Piazza di San Giovanni in
times, notably in 1646, when Borromini restyled the interior, Laterano. Map 7 C2.
Tel 06 69 88 64 93. Cathedral:
but retains its original basilica form. Before the papacy moved Open 7am– 6:30pm daily.
to Avignon in 1309, the adjoining Cloisters: Open 9am–6pm daily.
Lateran Palace was the official papal Museum: Open 10am–5:30pm
residence. The present structure daily. Baptistry: Open 7am–
12:30pm, 4–6:30pm daily.
dates from 1589, but older parts
survive, like the Scala Santa Transport
@ 16, 81, 85, 87, 650. v 3.
(Holy Staircase), which Christ is q San Giovanni.
said to have climbed at his trial.

North façade
Baptistry
Though much restored, East Façade
the octagonal baptistry The main entrance, on
contains some beautiful the east façade (1735), is
5th-century mosaics. adorned with statues of
Christ and the Apostles.
Museum Apse
entrance











Lateran
Palace




Papal Altar
The Gothic baldacchino,
which rises over the papal On Maundy
altar, is decorated with Thursday the pope,
14th-century frescoes. as Bishop of Rome,
gives a blessing from
the loggia of the
The Corsini Main city’s main cathedral.
Chapel was built entrance
in the 1730s for Pope
Clement XII Corsini,
who lies buried in a
porphyry tomb from
the Pantheon.
Boniface VIII Fresco
Possibly by Giotto, this
fragment shows the
Cloisters pope announcing the
Built by the Vassalletto family in about 1220, the Holy Year of 1300,
cloisters are remarkable for their twisted columns which attracted around
and inlaid marble mosaics. two million pilgrims.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp 596–600


440-441_EW_Italy.indd 440 26/04/16 5:19 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.9)
Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : A VENTINE AND LA TER AN  441


0 Protestant
Cemetery
Cimitero Acattolico, Via di Caio Cestio.
Map 6 D4. Tel 06 574 19 00. @ 23,
280. v 3. Open 9am–5pm Mon–Sat,
9am–1pm Sun. Last adm: 30 mins
before closing. Donation.
Non-Catholics have been buried
in this cemetery behind the
Aurelian Wall since 1738. In the
oldest part (on the left as you
enter) is the grave of the poet
John Keats, who died in 1821 in
Part of one of the gymnasia in the Baths of Caracalla a house on Piazza di Spagna (see
p412). He wrote his own epitaph:
8 Baths of Caracalla scavenged by the Farnese family “Here lies one whose name was
in the 16th century to adorn the writ in water”. Close by rest the
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 52. Map
7 A3. Tel 06 39 96 77 00. @ 160, 628. rooms of Palazzo Farnese (see ashes of Percy Bysshe Shelley,
v 3. Open 9am–1 hour before p405). There are, however, statues who drowned in 1822.
sunset Tue–Sun, 9am–2pm Mon. and mosaics from the Baths in
Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec. & 9 = the Museo Archeologico Nazio-
nale in Naples (see pp494–5) and
Rearing up at the foot of the in the Vatican’s Gregorian Profane
Aventine Hill are the monolithic Museum (see p426).
red-brick ruins of the Baths of So dramatic is the setting
Caracalla. Begun by Emperor that it is the regular venue
Septimius Severus in AD 206, for the open-air opera season
and completed by his son in summer.
Caracalla in AD 217, they
remained in use until the 6th 9 Pyramid of Caius
century, when the Goths
sabotaged the city’s aqueducts. Cestius
Going for a bath was one of Piazzale Ostiense. Map 6 E4. @ 23,
the social events of the day in 280. v 3. q Piramide. 8 only on 1st
ancient Rome. Large com- & 3rd Sat of month; call 06 574 31 93.
plexes such as Caracalla, with
a capacity for 1,600 bathers, Caius Cestius was a wealthy but
were not simply places to have unimportant 1st-century BC The interior of Santa Sabina
a natter and get washed, but praetor, or senior magistrate.
also areas which offered an At the time, inspired by the q Santa Sabina
impressive array of facilities: Cleopatra scandals, there was a Piazza Pietro d’Illiria 1. Map 6 D2.
art galleries, gymnasia, gardens, craze for all things Egyptian, and Tel 06 57 94 01. @ 23, 44, 170, 781.
libraries, conference rooms, Caius decided to commission Open 8:15am–12:30pm, 3:30–6pm
lecture rooms and shops himself a pyramid as a tomb. daily. 7
On Maundy selling food and drink. Set into the Aurelian Wall near
Thursday the pope, A Roman bath was a long Porta San Paolo, it is built of brick High on the Aventine stands an
as Bishop of Rome, and complicated business, and faced with white marble; early Christian basilica, founded
gives a blessing from beginning with a form of according to an inscription, it took by Peter of Illyria in AD 425 and
the loggia of the Turkish bath, followed by a just 330 days to build in 12 BC. later given to the Dominican
city’s main cathedral. spell in the caldarium, a large order. It was restored to its
hot room with pools of water original simplicity in the early
to moisten the atmosphere. 20th century. Light filters
Then came the lukewarm through 9th-century windows
tepidarium, followed by a visit onto a nave framed by pale
to the large central meeting Corinthian columns. Above the
place known as the frigidarium, main door is a blue and gold
and finally a plunge into the 5th-century mosaic inscription
natatio, an open-air swimming to Peter. In the side portico
pool. For the rich, this was outside is a 5th-century panelled
followed by a rub-down with door carved with biblical scenes,
scented woollen cloth. notably one of the oldest
Most of the rich marble The Pyramid of Caius Cestius on Piazzale images of the Crucifixion (top
decorations of the baths were Ostiense left-hand corner).




440-441_EW_Italy.indd 441 26/04/16 5:19 pm

442  ROME AND LAZIO

Further Afield Sights at a Glance

It is well worth making the effort to see some of Rome’s outlying Churches and Temples
sights. Highlights are the Villa Giulia, home to a magnificent 5 Sant’Agnese fuori le Mura
6 Santa Costanza
Etruscan museum, and the Museo Borghese on the splendid 0 San Paolo fuori le Mura
Villa Borghese estate, with its extraordinary collection of Museums and Galleries
virtuoso statues by Bernini. Other sights range from ancient 2 Museo e Galleria Borghese
churches and catacombs to the more modern suburb of EUR, 3 Villa Giulia
a strange architectural medley begun by Mussolini in the 1930s. 4 MAXXI
Parks and Gardens
VIA SALA R I A Trieste VIA TIBURTINA 1 Villa Borghese
Ancient Roads and Sites
Primavalle
VIA FLAMINIA
Piazzale VIA NOMENTANA 7 Via Appia Antica
Flaminio Roma Tiburtina 8 Catacombs
A24
City Districts
Roma Termini
ROME 9 EUR
Tevere
Centocelle
Key
VIA CASILINA
Roma Tuscolana Central Rome
Roma Trastevere Roma Ostiense VIA APPIA Suburbs
VIA TUSCOLANA
Gianicolense VIA OSTIENSE Garbatella Cinecittà Motorway
VIA CRISTOFORO CO LOMBO Minor road
Major road
Basilica St. Paolo
VIA PORTUENSE City walls
Trullo EUR Magliana VIA ARDEATI N A VIA APPIA ANTICA 0 kilometres 3
A91 EUR 0 miles 3
1 Villa Borghese open to the public, but after casine (summerhouses) were
a visitor was shocked by the added. In 1901, the park and
Map 3 B1. @ 52, 53, 88, 116, 490. v
3, 19. Park Open dawn–dusk daily. collection of erotic paintings, villa were acquired by the State,
Paul V decided to keep the and in 1911 the area was
The villa and its park were park private. chosen as the site for the
designed in 1605 for Cardinal In 1773 work began on International Exhibition.
Scipione Borghese, the sybaritic redesigning the park in the Pavilions were built by many
nephew of Pope Paul V. An wilder, Romantic style made of the world’s nations, the most
extravagant patron of the arts, fashionable by landscape artists impressive of which is the
he amassed one of Europe’s like Claude Lorrain and Poussin. British School at Rome by
finest collections of paintings, Over the next few years mock­ Edwin Lutyens. In the
statues and antiquities, many of Classical temples, fountains and northeastern corner of the park
which are still displayed in the lie the Museo Zoologico and a
villa which he built especially to small redeveloped zoo, known
house his antique sculptures. as the Bioparco, where the
The park was one of the first emphasis is on conservation.
of its kind in Rome, its formal Today the estates of the Villa
gardens divided by avenues Borghese, Villa Giulia and the
and graced with statues. Pincio gardens form one vast
It contained 400 newly planted park, with the Giardino del
trees and garden sculpture by Lago, at its centre, named after
Bernini’s father, Pietro, along an artificial boating lake. Its
with many ingenious fountains, main entrance is marked
“secret” flower gardens, enclo­ by an 18th­century copy of the
sures of exotic animals and Arch of Septimius Severus,
birds, and even a grotto with while on the lake’s island is a
artificial rain. There was also a fake Ionic temple to the Greek
speaking robot and a trick chair, god of health, Aesculapius,
which trapped anyone who sat Temple of Aesculapius, an 18th-century designed by the 18th­century
in it. At first the grounds were folly, at the Villa Borghese architect Antonis Aspurucci.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


442-443_EW_Italy.indd 442 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : FUR THER AFIELD  443


A circular Temple of Diana Borghese, husband to
folly lies between the Porta Napoleon’s sister Pauline,
Pinciana, at the top of Via unfortunately sold many of the
Veneto, and Piazza di Siena, family paintings to his brother-
a grassy amphitheatre that in-law, and swapped 200 of
hosts Rome’s international Scipione’s Classical statues for
horse show in May. Its umbrella an estate in Piedmont. These
pines inspired the composer statues are still in the Louvre
Ottorino Respighi to write and, as a consequence, the
The Pines of Rome (1924). remaining antique Classical
The open-air opera season collection is less interesting
is also held in the park. than it might once have been.
To the northwest of the park However, the hedonistic
is the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte cardinal was an enthusiastic
Moderna, and the Orangery patron of the arts and the
is now home to the Carlo sculptures he commissioned
Bilotti Museum. from artists such as the young
Bernini now rank among their
most famous works.
The eight rooms of the Detail of Rape of Proserpina by Bernini
ground floor of the Villa (1622), Museo Borghese
Borghese are set around a
central hall, the Salone. The own. In the next alcove is the
most famous statue is one of Villa Borghese’s most infamous
Bernini’s finest works, Apollo and work – a sculpture, executed in
Daphne (1624) in room 3, which 1805 by Canova, of Pauline
shows the nymph Daphne with Borghese as Venus Victrix (Venus
bay leaves sprouting from her the Conqueror). The semi-naked
outstretched fingers, roots Pauline reclining on a chaise-
growing from her toes and longue shocked those who
rough bark enfolding her saw it and Pauline’s husband
smooth body, as she begins to kept the statue locked away,
metamorphose into a laurel even denying Canova access
tree to escape being abducted to it. The next room holds a
by the god Apollo. Abduction is selection of antiquities, notably
also the theme of The Rape of a Roman copy of a plump
Proserpina, again by Bernini, in Bacchus by the 4th-century BC
room 4. Depicting Pluto, the Greek sculptor
god of the Underworld, Praxiteles, and
Sacred and Profane Love by Titian (1514), carrying Proserpina, daughter fragments of a
in the Galleria Borghese of Ceres, off to be his 3rd-century AD
mosaic found on
2 Museo e Galleria bride, the sculpture is a one of the Borghese
virtuoso piece in which
Borghese Bernini contrasts the estates in Torrenova,
taut musculature of showing gladiators
Villa Borghese, Piazzale Scipione
Borghese 5. Tel 06 328 10. @ 52, 53, Pluto with the soft battling with
116, 910. v 3, 19. Open 9am–7pm yielding flesh of wild animals.
Tue–Sun (reservations required). Proserpina, whose The Galleria
Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec. & (free 1st thigh dimples in his Borghese, on the
Sun of month). ^ 9 - = 7 iron grip. upper floor, houses
∑ galleriaborghese.beniculturali.it The third famous some magnificent
Bernini piece, which Baroque and Renais-
Cardinal Scipione Borghese’s dates from 1623, is sance paintings.
villa was designed in 1605 as David in room 2. The Works on display
a typical Roman country house, artist captures the include
with its wings projecting into tensed, grimacing Raphael’s
the surrounding gardens. youth the masterpiece,
It was built by Flaminio Ponzio, moment before Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne the Deposition,
Pope Paul V’s architect, and was he releases the (1624) various works by
used by Scipione for entertaining stone that slew Caravaggio, the
guests and for displaying his Goliath. It is said that Pope graceful Danäe by the 16th-
impressive collection of paintings Urban VIII held a mirror up to century artist Correggio, as
and sculpture. Between 1801 Bernini so that the sculptor well as works by Pinturicchio,
and 1809 Prince Camillo could model David’s face on his Barocci, Rubens and Titian.




442-443_EW_Italy.indd 443 4/4/17 5:36 PM

444  ROME AND LAZIO

3 Villa Giulia VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

This villa was built in 1550 as a country retreat for Pope Julius III. Practical Information
Designed by Vignola and Ammannati, with contributions by Piazzale di Villa Giulia 9.
Michelangelo and Vasari, it was intended for entertaining Tel 06 322 65 71.
Open 8:30am–7:30pm Tue–Sun
guests of the Vatican, such as Queen Christina of Sweden, (last adm: 6:30pm).
rather than as a permanent home. The gardens were planted Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec. 8 with
with 36,000 trees and peppered with pavilions and fountains. 7 days’ notice. 9 ^ -
Villa Giulia also used to house an 7 =
outstanding collection of Transport
sculptures: 160 boats filled with @ 52. v 3, 19.
statues and ornaments were sent
to the Vatican after the death of Rooms 31–36 contain finds from
Pope Julius III in 1555. the Ager Faliscus, an area between
the Tiber and Lake Bracciano.
Since 1889 the villa has been
home to the Museo Nazionale
Etrusco, an impressive collection
of pre-Roman antiquities from 34
central Italy. 33
Rooms 14–21, the 32
Antiquarium Ficoroni Cist
collection, Engraved and beautifully illustrated, 31
display this 4th-century-BC bronze marriage
domestic coffer held mirrors and other body 30
and votive 14 care implements.
objects and 15 Rooms 22–24 exhibit finds
ceramics, from the Castellani collection,
including the Cima- 16 including early 6th-century
Pesciotti collection. 17 ceramics and bronzes. 29 Spiralled Faliscan
Crater
18 28 27 Painted in the free
style of the 4th
19 23 24 century BC, this
20 22 26 25 spiral-handled vase
21 was used to hold
wines or oil. The
Falisci were an Italic
Ninfeo tribe influenced by
Husband and Wife (Nympheum) 35 the Etruscans.
Sarcophagus 36
This 6th-century-BC
tomb from Cerveteri 37
shows a deceased couple
banqueting in the afterlife. 38
Their tender expression
bears witness to the skill of 13 a & b 39
Etruscan artists.
40
12
11
Rooms 1–13b are arranged by
site, starting with Vulci (most 10
importantly, articles from the 9
Warrior’s Tomb) and including 5
finds from Cerveteri.
6
4
7
3 1
Key to Floorplan 8
Rooms 37–40 2
Lower ground floor
exhibit finds from
Ground floor Veio including the
First floor stunning Etruscan statue, Entrance
Non-exhibition space Apollo of Veii.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600
444-445_EW_Italy.indd 444 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.9)
Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

ROME : FUR THER AFIELD  445


The original was moved to the
Vatican Museums in 1790.
The sanctity of Constantia is
somewhat debatable. Described
by the historian Marcellinus as
a fury incarnate, constantly goad-
ing her equally unpleasant
husband, Hannibalianus, to
violence, her canonization was
probably the result of some
confusion with a saintly nun
of the same name.
7 Via Appia Antica
MAXXI, the National Museum of 21st Century Arts, designed by Zaha Hadid @ 118, 218.
4 MAXXI (National in a stole of gold and a violet The first part of the Via Appia
Museum of 21st robe. Tradition has it that she was built in 312 BC by Appius
Century Arts) appeared like this eight days Claudius Caecus. In 190 BC,
after her death holding a white
when it was extended to the
Villa Guido Reni 4A. Tel 06 320 19 54. lamb. On 21 January, two lambs ports of Taranto and Brindisi, the
@ 53, 217, 910. v 2. Open 11am– are blessed in the church and a road became Rome’s link with
7pm Tue–Sun (to 10pm Sat). vestment called a pallium is its empire in the East. It was the
Closed 1 May, 25 Dec. 7 0 - = woven from their wool, to be route taken by the funeral
& (free up to age 14). 9 given to a new archbishop. processions of the dictator Sulla
∑ fondazionemaxxi.it (78 BC) and Emperor Augustus
(AD 14), and it was along this
Along with the nearby Parco road that St Paul was led as a
della Musica (see p449), MAXXI, prisoner to Rome in AD 56.
the National Museum of 21st The church of Domine Quo
Century Arts, has put Rome Vadis marks the spot where
on the contemporary arts St Peter is said to have met
map. Completed in 2009, it is Christ when fleeing Rome. The
located in a stunning building road is lined with ruined family
designed by architect Zaha Apse mosaic in Sant’Agnese, showing the tombs, decaying monuments
Hadid. The museum showcases saint flanked by popes and collective burial places
emerging Italian and inter- (columbaria). Beneath the fields
national artists. An impressive on either side lies a maze of
amount of space is also given 6 Santa Costanza catacombs, including those of
over to architecture. San Callisto and San Sebastiano.
Via Nomentana 349. Tel 06 862 054
56. @ 60, 82, 90. Open 9am–noon,
5 Sant’Agnese fuori 3–6pm daily (Sun pm only). Closed
le Mura late Oct–late Nov. & 7 8
This circular church was built
Via Nomentana 349. Tel 06 862 054 56.
@ 60, 82, 90. Open 8am–7pm daily. in the early 4th century as a
Closed late Oct–late Nov. & to mausoleum for Emperor
catacombs. 7 8 Constantine’s daughters,
Constantia and Helena.
Sant’Agnese fuori le Mura was The dome and its drum are
built in the 4th century above supported by an arcade that
the crypt of the 13-year-old rests on 12 magnificent pairs of
martyr St Agnes, and although granite columns. The encircling
much altered it retains the ambulatory has a barrel-vaulted
form of the original basilica. ceiling decorated with the
According to legend it was world’s earliest surviving
founded by Constantine’s Christian mosaics, which date
daughter Constantia, who was from the 4th century.
cured from leprosy after In a niche on the far side of
sleeping beside Agnes’s tomb. the church is a replica of
In the 7th-century apse Constantia’s ornate porphyry
mosaic, St Agnes appears as a sarcophagus, carved with Cypresses lining the Roman road,
bejewelled Byzantine empress cherubs crushing grapes. Via Appia




444-445_EW_Italy.indd 445 4/4/17 5:36 PM

446  ROME AND LAZIO

8 Catacombs Rome with all the buildings
which then stood within the
Via Appia Antica 126. @ 118, 218. San
Callisto: Tel 06 513 01 580. Open 9am– Aurelian walls. The south of
noon, 2–5pm Thu–Tue. Closed 1 Jan, the suburb features a lake and
late Jan–late Feb, Easter Sun, 25 Dec. shady park, and the huge
& 5 8 = ^ domed Palazzo dello Sport,
built for the 1960 Olympics.
In burying their dead in
underground cemeteries
outside the city walls, the early 0 San Paolo fuori
Christians were simply obeying le Mura
the laws of the time. They were
not forced to use them because Via Ostiense 186. @ 23, 128, 170, 670,
of persecution, as later popular 761, 766, 769. q San Paolo. Tel 06
myth has suggested. Many 4543 4185. Open 7am–6:30pm daily.
saints were buried here, and the Cloister: Open 8am–6:15pm daily.
5 7 =
catacombs later became shrines
and places of pilgrimage.
Today several catacombs are EUR’s Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro, the Today’s church is a faithful if
open to the public. The vast “Square Colosseum” soulless reconstruction of the
Catacombs of San Callisto, great 4th-century basilica
hewn from volcanic tufa, because of the outbreak of war. destroyed by fire in 1823. Only
contain niches, or loculi, which The architecture was intended a few fragments of the earlier
held two or three bodies, as well to glorify Fascism, and as a church survived, most notably
as the burial places of several result the bombastic style of the the cloister (1241), with its pairs
early popes. Close by, walls in buildings can look overblown of colourful inlaid columns,
the Catacombs of San and rhetorical to modern eyes. considered one of the most
Sebastiano are covered in Of all the buildings the best beautiful in Rome.
graffiti invoking St Peter and known is probably the Palazzo Elsewhere, the church’s
St Paul, whose remains may della Civiltà del Lavoro (the triumphal arch is decorated on
once have been moved here. Palace of the Civilization of one side with heavily restored
Work), an unmistakable 5th-century mosaics, and on the
landmark for people arriving other with mosaics by Pietro
from Fiumicino airport. Cavallini originally on the
The scheme was eventually façade. The equally fine mosaics
completed in the 1950s. (1220) in the apse represent the
Despite the area’s dubious figures of Christ with St Peter,
architecture, EUR has been a St Andrew, St Paul and St Luke.
planning success, and people The single most outstanding
are still keen to live here. As well work of art is the fine marble
as residential housing, the vast canopy over the high altar, the
marble halls along the wide work of Arnolfo di Cambio (1285),
boulevards are also home to a with the possible assistance of
number of government offices Pietro Cavallini. Below the altar is
and museums. Best among the the confessio where it is alleged St
latter is the Museo della Civiltà Paul was once buried. To its
Engraving of Christian ceremony in Romana, famous for its casts right is an impressive Paschal
Catacombs of San Callisto (AD 50) of the reliefs from the Column candlestick dating from the
of Trajan, and for a large-scale 12th century by Nicolò di
model depicting Angelo and Pietro
9 EUR 4th-century Vassalletto.
@ 170, 671, 714. q EUR Fermi, EUR
Palasport. Museo della Civiltà Romana,
Piazza G Agnelli 10. Tel 06 06 08. Museo
della Civiltà Romana: currently closed
for restoration – call for details. &
The Esposizione Universale di
Roma (EUR), a suburb to the
south of the city, was originally
built for an international
exhibition, a kind of “Work
Olympics”, that was planned
for 1942, but never took place 19th-century mosaic on façade of San Paolo fuori le Mura
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600


446-447_EW_Italy.indd 446 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm

SHOPPING IN ROME  447

Shopping in Rome
Food and Drink
Rome has always been a thriving centre for design and If you are tempted to take home
shopping. In ancient times, the finest craftsmen were drawn some irresistible Italian delicacies,
to the city, and artifacts and products of all kinds, including such as pecorino romano cheese,
gold, furs and wine, were imported from far-flung corners of Parma ham, extra virgin olive oil,
dried porcini mushrooms, sun-
the empire to satisfy the needs of the wealthy local population. dried tomatoes, olives and
Shopping in Rome today in many ways reflects this diverse grappa, as well as superb wines
tradition. Italian designers have a well-deserved reputation from Lazio and elsewhere then
for their luxuriously chic style in fashion, knitwear and leather the traditional food stores,
goods (especially shoes and handbags), as well as in interior alimentari, are a great place to
design, fabrics, ceramics and glass. The artisan tradition is start. Try the well-stocked
Fratelli Fabbi, near Piazza di
strong, and the love of good design filters through into the Spagna, with its exceptional
smallest items. Rome is not a city for bargains (although it is selection of delicious cold
often better value than Florence or Milan), but the joys of meats and cheeses from every
window shopping here will offer plenty of compensation. corner of Italy, as well as quality
wines and champagnes. A few
a street crammed with small doors down on the same street
Fashion specialist outlets, such as is Focacci, with its wonderful
Italy is one of the leading Le Tre Ghinee, which sells array of Italian delicacies. The
lights in high fashion, or alta ceramics and glass objects. historic but expensive Volpetti
moda. Many famous designers If you are more interested in in Testaccio is synonymous
may be based in Milan, but contemporary design, visit the with great service and
Rome is home to a cluster of Palazzo delle Esposizioni uncompromising quality.
sophisticated and internationally Arion, where a wide range of Aside from specializing in
distinguished fashion houses. objects by famous designers unusual cheeses, olive oils,
The most notable among them are available. vinegars and a fabulous
are probably Fendi, Laura The Feltrinelli International selection of food hampers,
Biagiotti, Prada and Valentino, bookshop has an excellent Volpetti also stocks a variety of
whose studio dominates range of foreign-language Italian lard and caviar – you can
Piazza Mignanelli. fiction, as well as non-fiction even try before you buy.
But even for those unable to covering various subjects, In Pinciano, Casa dei Latticini
splash out on genuine designer including Italian art and Micocci sells a comprehensive
gear, much fun can be gained architecture, cookery, travel and range of cheeses from even the
from a stroll down the streets history. It also stocks some most remote regions of Italy,
that radiate out from the superb photographic, art and while in Trastevere, the family-run
Piazza di Spagna: some of the cinema posters. For cut-price Antica Caciara Trasteverina has
window displays here are deals on books try the a vast assortment of local and
truly spectacular. second-hand stalls in Via delle regional dairy products, which
Rome is not a good place to Terme di Diocleziano and include sheep’s ricotta and the
buy everyday wear, since there in Largo della Fontanella Piedmontese toma del fen. More
is a distinct lack of mid-price di Borghese. local, reasonably priced cheeses
shops that bridge the gap Near the Pantheon, the are available at Cisternino.
between the dazzlingly priced Florentine Il Papiro sells a great If cakes and chocolate feature
alta moda designer exclusives range of illustrious paper-based on your list, then there is plenty
and the ultra-cheap goods sold products, including diaries, of opportunity to satisfy those
in markets. However, at notebooks, envelopes and cravings too. Il Mondo di Laura,
Discount dell’Alta Moda you beautiful seal-and-wax sets that in the Jewish ghetto, sells
can find end-of-season designer make ideal gifts. delicious homemade cookies,
labels at 50 per cent less than Religious artifacts are readily biscuits and cakes. The dark
the boutique prices. available in bookshops near chocolate “Pepita” cookie is
the main basilicas, such as spectacular. Moriondo e Gariglio
the Libreria Belardetti near specializes in chocolate delights
Books and Gifts
St Peter’s. Other shops made to traditional Piedmontese
Rome offers huge scope for gift specialize in religious items for recipes. To find all the above and
buying, both in the well- both the clergy and the a lot more under just one roof,
established tourist stores in the layperson. Facing the Vatican head to Eataly, a temple to
historic centre and in smaller gates, in Via di Porta Angelica, Italian food. Occupying an entire
shops located in less frequented there are several shops, section of Ostiense train station,
parts of the city that might not including Al Pellegrino Eataly is filled with the finest
feature in your holiday itinerary. Cattolico, that sell mementos Italian food products available
The central Via del Pellegrino is to visiting pilgrims. on the market.




446-447_EW_Italy.indd 447 4/4/17 5:36 PM

448  ROME AND LAZIO

Markets Tor di Nona, opposite Castel central piazza for many
Rome’s open-air markets are Sant’Angelo, during those centuries. Every morning,
quintessential examples of the lean years. Anything and except Sunday, the piazza is
bubbling exuberance and everything seems to be for sale, transformed by an array of stalls
earthiness for which Romans are piled high on stalls in carefully selling fruit and vegetables,
renowned. They are wonderfully arranged disorder – clothes, meat, poultry and fish. One or
vivid experiences too, since shoes, bags, linen, luggage, two stalls also specialize in
Italian stallholders have raised camping equipment, towels, legumes, rice and dried fruits
the display of even the humblest pots, pans, kitchen utensils, and nuts.
vegetable to an art form. plants, pets, cassettes and CDs, Throughout the year Rome
The city is dotted with small old LPs and 78s. also plays host to many street
local food markets, and there If you are looking for a fairs. If they coincide with your
are several fascinating well- traditional food market in the visit, these are fun to go to,
established markets near the heart of the old city, Rome’s because they normally sell a
centre. These include Campo most picturesque market is also good variety of local produce,
de’ Fiori for foodstuffs, the its most historical. Its name, handicrafts and clothes.
Mercato delle Stampe for old Campo de’ Fiori (see p405), Seasonal fairs also occur,
prints, books and magazines, which translates as “field of especially around Christmas;
and the Nuovo Mercato flowers”, sometimes misleads among them is Mercatino di
Esquilino for international foods. people into expecting a flower Natale in Piazza Navona, where
Trastevere’s famous flea market. In fact, the name is said you can stock up on toys and
market, Porta Portese, was to derive from Campus Florae crib figures.
established shortly after the end (“Flora’s Square”) – Flora being Be sure to keep your wits
of World War II and is said to the lover of the great Roman about you at markets: pick-
have grown out of the thriving general Pompey. A market has pockets work with lightning
black market that operated at been held in this beautiful speed in the bustling crowds.
DIRECTORY
Fashion Libreria Belardetti Casa dei Latticini Map 2 E4 & 9 C4.
Via della Conciliazione 4A. Micocci Open 7am–1:30pm
Discount Map 1 C3. Via Collina 14. Map 4 D2. Mon–Sat.
dell’Alta Moda Tel 06 686 55 02. Tel 06 474 17 84. Mercatino di Natale
Via di Gesù e Il Mondo di Laura Cisternino Piazza Navona.
Maria 14 & 16A. Via del Portico d’Ottavia 6. Vicolo del Gallo 18–19. Map 9 C4.
Map 2 F2. Map 2 F5. Map 9 C4. Open end Nov–early
Tel 06 322 50 06.
Tel 06 68 80 61 29. Tel 06 687 28 75. Jan: daily.
Fendi Palazzo delle Eataly Mercato delle
Largo Goldoni 419. Esposizioni Arion Piazzale XII Ottobre. Stampe
Map 10 E3. Via Milano 15–17. Map 3 Map 6 F5. Largo della Fontanella
Tel 06 33 45 01. B4. Tel 06 48 91 33 61. Tel 06 90 27 92 01. di Borghese.
Map 2 F3 & 10 D1.
Il Papiro Focacci
Laura Biagiotti Via della Croce 43. Open 9am–1pm
Via Mario de’ Fiori 26. Via del Pantheon 50 Map 2 F2. Mon–Sat.
(leading to Via degli
Map 10 F1. Orfani). Map 10 D2. Tel 06 679 12 28. Nuovo Mercato
Tel 06 679 12 05. Tel 06 679 55 97. Fratelli Fabbi Esquilino
Prada Al Pellegrino Via della Croce 27. Via Principe Amedeo.
Map 4 E4.
Via Condotti 88. Cattolico Map 2 F2. Open 9am–2pm
Map 3 A2. Via di Porta Angelica 83. Tel 06 679 06 12. Mon–Fri.
Tel 06 679 08 97. Map 1 C2. Moriondo e Gariglio Porta Portese
Tel 06 68 80 23 51. Via del Piè di Marmo 21.
Valentino Map 10 E3. Via Portuense
Piazza di Spagna 38. Le Tre Ghinee Tel 06 699 08 56. & Via Ippolito Nievo.
Via del Pellegrino 90.
Map 5 C3.
Map 3 A2. Map 2 E4. Open 6:30am–2pm Sun.
Tel 06 945 157 10. Tel 06 687 27 39. Volpetti
Via Marmorata 47.
Books and Gifts Food and Drink Map 6 D2.
Tel 06 574 23 52.
Feltrinelli Antica Caciara Markets
International Trasteverina
Via VE Orlando 84–6. Via San Francesco a Ripa Campo de’ Fiori
Map 3 C3. 140A/B. Map 5 C1. Piazza Campo
Tel 06 482 78 78. Tel 06 581 28 15. de’ Fiori.

448-449_EW_Italy.indd 448 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Practical template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.5)
Date 5th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm