Walking Through Rome: A Guide to Interesting Sites in the Eternal City

By Margaret Varnell Clark

Rome covers 580 square miles, and even most residents havent seen all that it has to offer. When you visit it, dont try to conquer the city; instead, concentrate on savoring it in bits and pieces. Youll be amazed by whats behind the faades and in the unseen corners of many sites in the Eternal City.

Whether youre looking for a little-known work of Michelangelo tucked inside a parish church, or pre-Christian Roman households underneath grand cathedrals, Rome has it all. Walking through Rome goes beyond the basic travel guide, offering

detailed information on churches that have built, remodeled, and destroyed;
historical notes, a time line of Roman history, and other handy references; and
maps to help you enjoy your visit to the fullest.

Wander around Rome and discover its hidden treasures and secrets. Pick the sites that appeal to you the most and start enjoying your Roman adventuresfrom the Ancient Church of St. Mary at the Forum to Our Lady of Victory to St. Peters Square and any numerous places in between.

Margaret Varnell Clark, an award-winning journalist, takes you off the beaten path and provides historical information, interesting facts, and specifics so you can enjoy Walking through Rome.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9781475981322

Margaret Varnell Clark

Margaret Varnell Clark is an award-winning writer and editor. She has been a field correspondent for Advance for Respiratory Care News Magazines since 1990. She has also worked with Reuters Health and PBS television and is the author of Inspiration: Your Guide to Better Breathing; The Louisiana Irish; and Asthma: A Clinicians’ Guide.

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Copyright © 2013 by Margaret A. Varnell Clark, Writer, LLC.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-8130-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-8133-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-8132-2 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013905084

iUniverse rev. date: 03/21/2013

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

How to Use This Book

Introduction

•   Ancient Church of St. Mary at the Forum

•   Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem

•   Castle of the Holy Angel

•   Church of the Sacred Heart of Suffrage/Museum of the Souls in Purgatory

•   Mamertine Prison/ St. Joseph of the Carpenters

•   Most Holy Name of Jesus

•   Most Holy Trinity at Monte Pincio

•   Our Lady above (over) Minerva

•   Our Lady and the Martyrs /The Pantheon

•   Our Lady of the People

•   Our Lady of Victory

•   Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love

•   St. Agnes Outside the Walls and St. Costanza

•   St. Agnes at the Circus Agonalis

•   Church of St. Alphonsus Liguori/Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

•   St. Andrew’s at the Quirinal

•   St. Barbara of the Books

•   The Basilica of St. Bartholomew on the Island

•   St. Bernard’s at the Baths

•   St. Cecilia in Trastevere

•   St. Charles at the Four Fountains

•   Basilica of Saint Clement

•   San Crisogono

•   Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius

•   Basilica of St. John Lateranin Laterano

•   St. Lawrence Outside the Walls

•   St. Mary in Cosmedin

•   The Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major

•   Santa Maria in Trastevere

•   St. Patrick’s at the Villa Ludovisi

•   St. Paul Outside the Walls

•   St. Paul’s Within the Walls

•   St. Peter in Chains

•   The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter St. Peter’s Square Vatican City

•   St. Prassede

•   St. Sebastian Outside the Walls

•   Church of St. Susanna at the Baths of Diocletian

•   St. Sylvester at the Head

•   Church of San Teodoro at the Bottom of the Palatino

•   The Basilica of Sts. Vitalis, Valeris, Gervase and Protase

Other Sites of Interest

•   Archaeology and Art History Library

•   Bernini’s Elephant Obelisk

•   Coliseum

•   The Excubitorium of the Firemen

•   The Forty Hour Device

•   Forum

•   Italian Clocks/ Italian Time

•   Piazza of the Four Fountains

•   Pope Joan

•   The Protestant Cemetery

•   The Pyramid of Cestius

•   Spanish Steps

•   Trevi Fountain

Closing Thoughts

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendix F

Appendix G

Appendix H

Appendix I

Appendix J

Appendix K

Bibliography

For Vern and Mary C.

Acknowledgements

T here are several people I would like to thank for their support and help in preparing this book. Without their assistance it wouldn’t have happened. My editor Abigail Goben; Adam Wilson for his help deciphering architecture; Helen Wilson for making me cups of tea and pushing me on; Arch. Giuseppe Morganti, Project Director, Ministry of Heritage and Cultural, Directorate-General for the Landscape, Fine Arts, Architecture and Contemporary Art, Rome, Italy; Werner Schmid, Director of Conservation of Mural Paintings, Santa Maria Antiqua, Rome, Italy; Ben Haley, Communications Manager, World Monuments Fund, New York, NY; Dr. Margaret MacCurtain; and my publishers for all their encouragement. Thank You!!

How to Use This Book

T his book is intended as a companion guide. It is current through the spring of 2013. Addresses and phone numbers of the sites are included for your convenience. Because emails and websites are more ephemeral, they are usually not included. An updated list of emails and websites for the different locations can be found at the Walking through Rome webpage at http://www.BijouxPress.com . For a more detailed discussion on the practicalities of travelling in Rome (i.e., hotel recommendations, tourist information, day trips, etc.), I use Rick Steve’s guides. He does a great job!

The maps included in the Appendices are not to scale but are intended to assist you with developing an itinerary. Free, up-to-date maps are available from the Italian Tourist Office. Their phone number in New York is 212.245.5618. Their website is http://www.italia.it. For information about Rome click on the Discover Italy tab, then the Lazio tab (Rome is a city in Lazio). Their offices can also be found throughout Rome. Look for the large "TI’ signs.

All biblical references in this book utilize the New Interpreter’s Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha. Dates in this book are of the Common Era (CE) unless otherwise noted. Pre-Christian dates are identified as Before the Common Era (BCE).

Introduction

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S eptember in Rome is a time of transition. The heat of summer still hangs in the air, yet most of the tourists have gone home. Almost collectively the city seems to sigh and settle in for a lazy afternoon nap before the crispness of fall and the flurry of the holiday season sets in. September is a chance to breathe. September is quiet.

It was on just such a day in 2010 that I was able to indulge in one of my greatest passions: wandering. A long meandering walk, exploring a new neighborhood, and stopping in at a local place if I get hungry is the perfect day for me. I found myself walking through Trastevere. One of the oldest and poorest parts of Rome, it is a working class neighborhood that has retained its medieval flavor.

By midmorning the streets are empty, save for housewives hanging laundry out of windows and the occasional delivery van. I entered the 12th century basilica of San Crisogono through a side door. It was dark and cool. A man was dusting the pews near the main altar and whistling softly. He stopped for just a moment, tipped his hat to me, and then went back to his work. It was a pretty church dedicated to a Roman soldier that had been martyred during the persecution of Diocletian. Didn’t I read somewhere that this was probably the first parish church in Rome and that there was a crypt? I approached the man and asked him.

Sì, signora, c’è una cripta.

May I go in? I asked.

Oh Si, Si, this way, sorry, sorry.

I was surprised at the quickness of his step. He motioned for me to follow him. We walked to the left of the altar into an almost empty room that must have been part of the sacristy. He took a set of keys from a desk drawer, handed me a flashlight, and then said, in perfect English, That will be 4 Euros please. He unlocked a door, flipped a light switch, and waved me through. I descended a metal staircase to an 8th century church, lower to a 2nd century church, and lower still to a Roman hall. He did not follow. He simply closed the door behind me and left me to explore. Around me were frescoes of saints with colors still vivid though they were 1200 years old. There was St. Pantaleon curing a blind man, and Pope Silvestro taming a dragon. I walked on the Roman tile floor that was probably 2000 years old and developed a particular affection for a solitary column which protruded from the ground at the lowest level. Surely, at one point in time it had had companions. What could it have held up by itself? I spent hours wandering around the different levels. When I emerged the man was refilling the leaflets near the door of the basilica. I handed him the flashlight and he reached into his pocket and tried to give me some of my Euros back. Apparently, I had been renting the flashlight.

The midafternoon sun was blazing outside and admittedly, I was a little dazed by what I had just seen. I next came upon a small courtyard with a dilapidated church and a small overgrown cloister. I had to remind myself that I was still in the heart of Rome. The roof had collapsed in on the church and the front door handles were tied together with a rope. I peeped into the cloister. Two men were sitting to the left playing chess and drinking wine from paper cups. A grape arbor ran across the center of the overgrown enclave and an ancient man was sitting about ¾ths of the way down on a bench. He waved to me and then asked me to bring him a drink of water. The chess players looked up, and nodded toward a table in the corner with a pitcher and stack of paper cups. I brought him some water. He introduced himself and invited me to sit down. Over the course of the next hour, he told me his life story. He had grown up on a farm in Umbria and didn’t know much about Mussolini, still didn’t. But whatever he was about, it had to be more exciting than being on the farm. So he joined up. It turned out not to be the grand adventure he thought it would be though. He never left Italy. He did fall in love. Lost his sweetheart and in time found another. I am not quite sure how that all happened. My Italian isn’t that good. But, I don’t think it mattered. As I stood to leave, he picked a small bunch of grapes from the arbor and handed them to me. The chess players had long since abandoned their game and were quietly smoking. They thanked me as I left for listening to his stories. They had heard them all before.

It was getting late; I headed back towards my hotel and stopped in at a small family restaurant that was one of my favorites. The menu that night was Pollo all’ Arrabbiati (Angry Chicken). Marcella took a break from the kitchen and sat down at my table. We laughed and chatted. She asked me if I had met a man yet. I told her about my afternoon; it wasn’t quite what she had had in mind. We laughed some more, and she gave me her grandmother’s recipe for Angry Chicken. She swears by it.

It was a perfect day. I feel very privileged to have had the chance to wander around. That is what this book is about. It is a collection of some well-known and not so well-known secrets I have found while walking through Rome. And it is an invitation to you to have your own adventures.

Have fun.

M

Ancient Church of St. Mary at the Forum

Santa Maria Antiqua

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St. Maria Antiqua is currently being renovated.

This site is scheduled to open in 2013.

T he church of Santa Maria Antiqua is one of the most exciting entries in this book. On the south side of the Roman Forum, the church was built in the 6th century; however, an earthquake in 847 almost completely buried the structure. It was not rediscovered again until 1702. It is an excellent example of an early Christian church built into the remains of a pre-existing pagan building, and particularly interesting because it has not been renovated over the centuries.

The pagan building dates to the 1st century CE. The complex consisted of a central court with three doors that led into a square atrium on the north side; a covered ramp that led to the imperial palaces on the east side; a central chamber with smaller chambers on the south side; and to the west, a large brick building which was believed for many years to be a temple, though scholars are less sure now. The debate also continues as to the original purpose of the complex. Some scholars believe it belonged to the Emperor Domitian (81-96). Others think it was constructed by the Emperor Hadrian (117-138) as part of the Athenaeum (University). Still other scholars believe that the buildings resemble a library, and most lean to this latter interpretation.

The first records of the structure as a Christian church are in the De locis sanctis martyrum of 635, which called it Santa Maria Antiqua. When the building was transformed into a church, the east and west sides of the courtyard were closed in to form aisles and the central hall became the nave. The outer court to the north became the atrium. When the earthquake hit in 847, the building was severely damaged. Pope Leo IV ordered the building abandoned and had a new church built on the opposite side of the Forum. The new church can also be visited; it is now known as Santa Francesca Romana. Over the years, landslides and the crumbling structure buried the main body of the church. A chapel was built into the old atrium in the 14th century, though it was not widely used. Santa Maria Antiqua was rediscovered in 1702 by people looking for building material in the Roman Forum. The apse was excavated somewhat and became a popular tourist site. However, the owner of the property decided to rebury it after only 3 months. Major excavations did not take place until the 1900s when archaeologist Giacomo Boni decided to take on the project.

It has been a difficult church to visit, with appointments having to be made well in advance. However, in the spring of 2013, the fully excavated church will be open to the public for the first time in more than 12 centuries.

Visitors enter the structure through the atrium which has frescos that date to the time of Hadrian and some classical sculptures. Going through the glass door, one will be standing in the narthex of the original church. The herringbone pattern pavement is called opus spicatum and dates to the 1st century CE. Directly ahead is the nave which has frescos of biblical scenes. Beyond that is the Bema. This portion has seats along the walls and biblical frescos. Today, a Bema is more often associated with a Jewish synagogue, but in ancient Rome they were used by secular authorities as a place of judgment or courtroom. They had a raised seat for the judge, which could also be used as a lectern, and seats along the walls. Early Christians also incorporated them into early churches and it is believed they were used as teaching or lecture rooms. There are several references to Bemas in the New Testament, including: Matthew 27:19; John 19:13; Acts 25:10; and Romans 14:10.

Continuing on, the next small room is the presbytery which is paved with opus Alexandrinum. This is particularly exciting as some references state that this type of flooring, which is a highly geometric and somewhat Byzantine in design, had not been introduced to Italy until the 11th century. There are also numerous frescoes in the presbytery, all of which date to the 8th century. There are two 8th century chapels on either side of the presbytery filled with frescoes. The Chapel of Theodotus is on the left and the Chapel of the Holy Physicians is on the right. Scholars and archeologists have done an exceptional job documenting the 2690 square feet of frescoes found throughout and an onsite guide is planned for visitors when the church is opened to the public. The earliest painting they have dated so far is located on the wall to the right of the apse in the back of the presbytery. Known as a Maria Regina, it dates to the 6th century and shows the Virgin Mary enthroned, wearing a garment with pearls in the style of a Byzantine empress. It may be the earliest surviving depiction of Mary as Queen of Heaven. The Chapel of the Holy Physicians has several frescoes of medical saints which were painted during the early 8th century. Among those pictured are St. John of Edessa, St. Celsus, St. Abbacycus, St. Cosmas, St. Damian, and at least one unidentifiable female saint. Historians believe that people came to the chapel to pray and be healed by the saint’s interventions. This is a tradition that is common in the Eastern Church and was gaining in popularity in Rome during the era of the Byzantine Papacy (537-752).

The most striking image of Christ is in the second level of the apse fresco. He is shown seated with his right hand raised in a blessing. There is a tetramorph of the four evangelists on either side of him. A symbolism of the tetramorph relates to the visions of the Old Testament Prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:10) as well as the Book of Revelation (Revelation 4:7) in the New Testament. It is a winged 4-headed creature that has the animal heads of the 4 evangelists. Specifically, St. Matthew is represented by a winged man, St. Luke by an Ox, St. Mark by a Lion, and John the Evangelist by an Eagle. The wings represent the divinity of the Evangelists. While this creature is a little creepy looking, it was a very popular symbol in early Christianity. It is commonly seen surrounding an image of Christ in Glory on the spherical ceiling inside the apse of churches. Similar, though, later frescoes of Christ flanked by the evangelists can be seen in the churches of Santa Pudenziana, San Clemente, and Santa Maria in Trastevere.

Pope Paul I is also shown in this apse fresco. He is depicted with a square nimbus, which tells us that he was still alive when the fresco was painted and dates it to between 757 and 767.

Address

Santa Maria Antiqua

1 Largo Romolo e Remo

(Forum Romanum archaeological site)

Opening in the Spring 2013

Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem

Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme

B uilt around 325 by St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, the Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme is one of the seven pilgrim churches of Rome. The church was built next to Helena’s palace, the Palazzo Sessoriano. The story is told that Helena had soil from Jerusalem brought to Rome for its foundation, hence the dedication of the basilica to the city of Jerusalem . The church was built to house the Passion Relics and the basilica has a large collection of relics from the Holy Land supposedly brought back by St. Helena.

The basilica has been remodeled several times. There is an interesting story about a brick which was discovered by workmen on February 1, 1492 while restoring a mosaic. The brick was inscribed with the words Titulus Crucis (Title of the Cross). Behind it was a fragment of wood which had the word Nazarene inscribed in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. Legend suggests that this was a relic of the cross on which Christ was crucified. St. Helena is said to have been given the relic while on a trip to Jerusalem. She divided the piece of wood into three parts, giving one to the Emperor Constantine to be kept in Constantinople, keeping one in Jerusalem, and sending the last to the basilica in Rome. The relic was supposedly hidden in the wall around 455 to protect it from the attacking Visigoths. Other relics kept in the church include two thorns from Christ’s crown of thorns; an incomplete nail from the crucifixion; the bone from the finger of St. Thomas that he placed in the wounds of the Risen Christ; and small pieces of the Scourging Pillar to which Christ was tied as he was beaten. A larger piece of the pillar is kept in the Church of St. Prassade.

In 983, a monastery was added to the church by Pope Benedict VII. Inside the western door, there is a 17 verse epitaph for Pope Benedict VII (974-983) which tells of his founding of the monastery. The poem says he gathered monks who would both sing praises to God night and day and do charitable works for poor people.

Substantial renovations to the church were undertaken by Pope Lucius II in the 12th century, which included a basic floor plan of nave, aisles, a transept, and an apse. In addition to redesigning the interior of the church, Lucius II also had a portico and an 8-story Romanesque bell tower added in the 12th century. The front of the church has a baroque façade which was built under the direction of Pope Benedict XIV (1740-1758). The interior decoration is also baroque and dates from the 18th century. Benedict XIV also had new streets developed which connected this basilica with St. John in Lantern and St. Mary Major.

In the nave of the church there are 8 pink