OFF THE BEATEN TRACKS IN ROME

Rome is a city full of great history and art, but also of places having their small history. Also, some works of great artists are often hidden and unknowm.
Here below we have listed some of those.

Michelangelo Buonarroti Works

Moses

The most famous works of Michelangelo in Rome are the Basiilica of St. Peter and its dome, the Sistin Chapel and the statue Pietà ithat is located in St. Peter. But there are several other works that we can admire around the city

1. Piazza del Campidoglio
2. Porta Pia
3. Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli 
4. Statue of Moses and all the composition od the grave for Pope Julius II, located in the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli

Monte dei Cocci - Monte Testaccio

The area of  theTestaccio, neighborhood was, at the time of ancient Rome, the area of the river port, where the goods that were necessary for a citi havin one and half million inhabitants were arriving.

The broken amphorae

Among those goods there were olive oil and wine. They were transported using clay (testaceus in Latin language) vessels, amphorae. The pieces (cocci in italian language) of the broken amphorae were stacked, so forming an artificial hill, having a height of approximately 40 meters. Hence the names Monte dei Cocci and Monte Testaccio. The neighborhood is one of the most popular in Rome, home of the best fans of the football team A.S. Roma, that hade its stadium here in the Thirties. It is full of restaurants, cafè and discos. Discos are moslty located around the hill. 
In one of the cafe-restauraunts that is located on the side of the hill along Via Galvani, it is possible to see the stacked pieces of amphorae through a glass wall on the back of the dining room.

Pyramid of Caestius

The Pyramid of Caius Castius is one of the most famous landmarks of the city for Romans. People living close to it are saying that they live "a Piramide". But not all the people form other countries know about it and its funny story. 

Its height is 37 meters and it is made of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble.

It is the burial place of a rich man, Caius Caestius, died approximately 18--12 BC, that, in his last will, wroted that he wanted to be buried in a pyramid like a pharao, asking to his heirs to build it.

Bet he was not so confident that the heirs were going to respect his last wishes.. So he stated that the pyramid had to be completed in no more than 330 days, otherwise the heirs would have lost their onheritance. Obviously the pyramid, wit such a strong motivation, was completed in less than 330 days. And incription at the bottom of the pyramid is mentioning that fact.

Milvian Bridge

Milvian Bridge

Milvian bridge is for sure worth a visit. It is one of the most ancient Roman bridges. The first construction occurred in 206 BC but then it was completely reconstructed in 109 BC. The central portion is still mostly the original one, while the two sides have been reconstructed. 

Apart from that, it was the site of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge among the armies of Constantine and Maxentius. That battle has been one of the turning points of the history. Had Maxentius won, probably the Christian religion would now be considered a form of worship developed in the Middle East in the initial period of the empire and which, after enjoying some popularity, had subsequently disappeared. But Constantine won and the effects are still alive. 

Four Sovereign Entities

To my knowledge there is no city in the world that is home to two different sovereign entities.

Well, Rome is the home of four!

• Italian Republic
• Vatican City State
• Holy See
• Sovereign Military Order of Malta

It may sound strange that Vatican and Holy See are different entities, but that is the truth. Actually, the Vatican City is a dominion of the Holy See. Does it sound complicate? Yes it is, but we are in the Eternal City!

Obelisks

Lateran Obelisk

Still wondering why Caius Caestius wanted to be buried in a pyramid? Once you go around Rome and look at the obelisks that are standing all over the city you will realize that Romans were absolutely crazy about everything that was arriving from Egypt. Among all other things, ancient Romans brought to Rome, and to other cities of the empire, several Egyptian obelisks, leaving very few in Egypt. And they did also copies. But we, in Rome, have continued to build obelisks even on recent times, the last one celebrating the new millennium.

Do you want to know more curiosities, to discover something off the beaten tracks, to get ouur recommendations for your stay in Rome?
What you have to do is to reserve your room at Villa Borghese Guest House or in one of our other properties.

7 PHOTOS OF ROME - ALMA MATER

The cloister inside the faculty of Engineering and the water well, symbol of the

The posts of this series are dedicated to the way I see my city, Rome, and to the way I live it, All the photos of this series have been taken by me or by people that were with me. Sometime the quality is not so good, I hope readers will excuse me for that.

Colle Oppio, San Pietro in Vincoli, Engineering

ROMAN WALKS - 1 - NORTH OF THE CENTER

As well as every city, and even more, Rome is a city that must be discovered walking. There are so many places to be seen, such a long history and so much art that, jumping from one of the main spots to the other does not allow to understand it fully.
We have already prepared and presented some walking tour and we have presented those in the series One week in Rome.

ONE WEEK IN ROME - PART 12

FROM THE FICTIONAL DIARY OF A BRITISH TRAVELER

Back to part 11

Sitting and drinkinga coffee at the corner with Via del Corso, I looked at Piazza Venezia.
The square is dominated by the white Vittoriano, the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of Italy. It' is one of the landmarks of Rome but most of the Romans do not like it, being sometging completely out of the normal style of the city. Many people call it the Typewriter. Color is different but the shape, indeed, is similar.

ONE WEEK IN ROME - PART 11

FROM THE FICTIONAL DIARY OF A BRITISH TRAVELER

Go back to part 10 if you missed it.

During my stay in Rome, I heard that many Romans complain about the poor efficiency of public transportation?
Is that a problem for a traveler? Indeed yes, if one is visiting Rome with a tourist mentality, so focusing on the main spots. Once one enters into the point of view of a real traveler, it becomes an opportunity because, when walking, there is the possibility to see a lot of things that otherwise would remain unknown.
With the help of the staff of San Lorenzo Guest House I planned my next march (after the training I had during the week I beleive to be ready for the Olympics)

Santa Maria Maggiore

The final destination was the Caius Cestius pyramid and I got there through a long tour.
Walking along the Aurelian Walls, where you can see houses in the walls (it's Villa Gentili-Dominici, the biggest villa inside the center of Rome) and then along the Termini station I reached Piazza dei Cinquecento, in front of the station. Then I walked to reach the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the four main basilicas in Rome along with St. Peter, St. John Lateran and St. Paul.

Moses by Michelangelo

According to the tradition, it has been built on the place where it snowed in August during the IV century AD. From Santa Maria Maggiore I walked to Colle Oppio, keeping aside od the Beths of Trajan, to reach the Basilica of San Pietro in vincoli to admire the Moses by Michelangelo Buonarroti. It's woth to enter to the faculty of Engineering, junt aside of  the church, to see the kloster and the well in the middle of it.
Going down though the Scalinata dei Borgia (Borgia's Stairs), I reached Via Cavour and the Via dei Fori Imperiali. What could I say about this street that connects the Colosseum with Piazza Venezia? Simply you walk across the history because the Forums were the center of the political life in ancient Rome.

Via dei Fori Imperiali

Piazza Venezia is the crucial point of the traffic in the center of Rome . I was told that, at the beginning of Via del Corso, there is a retractable footboard, but it is currently not working, from where a traffic policeman attempts to keep evereything in order. He must be a real artist.

But now is time for a break.

THE FAN

Link to part 10

ONE WEEK IN ROME - PART 4

Porta Pia

 FROM THE FICTIONAL DIARY OF A BRITISH TRAVELER

The day after I was ready for a full immersion in Rome. And especially I was ready to walk, because that was what I understood the day before during the sightseeing tour. Rome is so full of things to see, almost at every corner, that the only way to go into depth is to walk. It is not a case that all the historical center of Rome is in the UNESCO World Heritage List with something like 25000 places of interest.
My new friend Janet was busy on the morning, as she was in Rome mostly for business purposes.
We were appointed in front of the Borghese Gallery in the early afternoon. Although she did not have a reserved ticket, she hoped to find one on sale. Therefore I decided to arrive there walking.
I followed the direction I was given in San Lorenzo Guest House for my itinerary.
So I walked first to Viale Castro Pretorio, taking the name by the Castrum Pretorium, the barracks of the Praetrorian Guard, that was the elite corp of the ancient Roman army, providing personal security to the Emperor. It has to be said that was not alway the case, sometimes the Praetorian Guard was at the center of rebellions againt the reigning emperor.
The area of the Castrum is now moltly occupied by the National Library. Anyhow the walls, that were incorporated into the Aurelian Walss, are clearly visible.
Short after I reached Porta Pia. Among Italians ,Porta Pia is probably the most well known gate of Rome from an historical point of view, because it is where, in 1870, took a short battle against the papal army after which the Italian army entered Rome, bringing an end to the temporal power of the Pope. A monument dedicated to the bersaglieri, the infantry cosp that took part to the battle is located in front of Porta Pia. But Porta Pia is also an important architectonical piece, being one of the last works of Michelangelo Buonarroti. 

The British Embassy

Just behind it, one can see the Embassy of the United Kingdom, a contemporary architecture work by Sir Basil Spence.The previousl building had been destroyed in 1946 by a terrorist attack related to the coflict in Palestine that was rising just in those years. Actually that is not the best part of the british history.
I walked along Via XX Settembre, a street that is named after the day of the battle of Porta Pia, passed the cross with Via Pastrengo, a curious street where circulation as in UK on the left side, and then turned to left to get to Via Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, just after admiring the fountain at the cross, the Fontana dell'Acqua Felice. then I stopped inside the Galleria Esedra, to taste one cannolo alla siciliana of the famous pastry shop Dagnino, to drink a coffe and to write the notes of my first hour of walk.


THE FAN

Link to part 3