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Castello Sant’Angelo
When you cross the Tiber River on the imposing Angel’s Bridge which was built together with the Castle S. Angelo in 130 A.D. by the emperor Hadrian, who wanted to erect the most beautiful emperor grave. After Hadrian all the following emperors and princes have been burried in this mausoleum.
In 403 it has been strongly fortified and connected with the town wall, so that it became a real fortress. The transformation into a castle was in the 10th century and it has been connected with the Vatican by the Passetto in 1277. Since that time on it has always been in the hand of the popes. The bridge connecting the castle and city center is now mostly known for the baroque statues of angels by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The angels are portrayed holding objects from the passion of christ. They are joined by statues of Peter and Paul, which are not by Bernini and predate the angels by hundreds of years.
The castle has since been given back to the people of Rome and is a public museum. It hoasts a series of spectacular interiors and a magnificent view of Vatican City from the roof.
Trevi fountain
Halfway between via del Corso and Piazza Barberini on via del Tritone you ‘ll find a street on the south side called via Mortaro. It leads to via Poli which will take you in two blocks to the Trevi Fountain. A homely area, and generally overcrowded (with tourists like us), but a beautiful fountain, especially since they’ve renovated and cleaned it. A rarely visited fountain until the movie classics: Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) which opens with a view of this fountain and of course La Dolce Vita (1960) with Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni kissing in the fountain. These films made the fountain the romantic center of Rome: You’ve never lived until you’ve lived in Rome!
The fountain is not only celebrated for its excellent water but for the legend that, whoever drinks it or throws a coin in the fountain, will assure his return to Rome. We dont recommend drinking the water though, so: with your back to the fountain, a coin thrown by right hand over left shoulder (or is it left hand over right shoulder?) into the fountain will guarantee your return to Rome. (It’s often worked for us!) Go at night, when the fountain is lit, and you will fall in love with the magic of Rome’s many fountains!
The architect Salvi built this magnificent fountain in the time of Clement XII. It is making the front of a big palace and is adorned by statues and reliefs by several artists of Bernini’s school. From all the spots of the rock section at the bottom of the fountain there s water sprouting out.
La Bocca della Verità, (the mouth of truth)
This strange river god used to be a drain cover, but since the middle ages this frightening image served as a lie detector. It was believed that if you told a lie with your hand in the mouth of this god, it would be bitten of. Of course it had to be helped sometimes by a servant with a blade. The Bocca was placed in the front yard of the Sta. Maria in Cosmedin church in the 17th century.
The sculpture is thought to be part of a roman fountain or perhaps a “manhole” cover. Take bus 170 to Via del Teatro di Marcello (or any bus to Piazza Venezia).
address: Piazza Bocca della Verità openings: 9:30am - 6pm daily.
Galleria d’Arte Antica
The National Gallery of Ancient Art in Palazzo Barberini displays a rich patchwork of of mainly Italian art from the early Renaissance to late Baroque period. You can admire canvasses by Tintoretto, Titian, El Greco, Filippi Lippi (Madonna and child, 1437) and Raphael. The building itself is maybe the most impressive feature, famous architects like Bernini, Borromini and Maderno worked on it at different times.
Take buses: 492, 204, 58, 58b, 56, 52, 53, Metro A (Barberini). Admission fee: £ 8.000
address: Via Quattro Fontane, 13
openings: tue - sat 9am - 7pm, sun and holidays 9am - 1pm
tel: 4750184
Museo Nazionale Romano
The National Museum of Rome, which possesses one of the world’s most important archaeological collections, is housed in three different facilities: the Baths of Diocletian, which include the Octagonal Hall and the two Palazzis Massimo and Altemps. The complex restructuring and renovation effort is partially completed, but work is still under way. For this reason, only a portion of the Museum’s exhibitions can currently be visited. The historic headquarters of the Museum is the Baths complex built by Diocletian between the last years of the third century A.D. (the dedicatory inscription dated 306 A.D. is conserved in a fragmentary state in the Museum). The building of the Baths, the largest in the ancient world, included many rooms besides the traditional calidarium, tepidarium and frigidarium-which were designed to hold 3,000 people at the same time. Ther was a natatio or frigidarium for swimmers (large open air swimming pool) and various other rooms, meeting rooms, libraries, nympheums, dressing rooms, concert rooms and rooms for physical exercises etc.
Baths of Diocletian
Following the transfer of the materials to the Palazzo Massimo, massive restoration work was begun on the Baths complex (at present the rooms are open to the public on a partial, irregular basis). Rooms I-IX: exhibition of funerary materials (sarcophagi, etc.) and of artifact from the Baths themselves, or from other major public buildings, such as the decorations on the Temple of Aurelian. Rooms X-XII: temporary exhibits.
The so-called “Masterpiece Roooms” have been set aside for the Epigraphical Department, which consists of almost 10,000 inscriptions. Plans also call for the first floor of the “Michelangelo” cloister to house a section on the protohistory of the City of Rome.
Address: Viale E. De Nicola, 79
Take buses No. 3, 4, 9, 38, 57, 64, 65, 75, 17, 492, 910, Metro A e B (Termini)
Openings: From Tuesday to Saturday 9 a.m.- 2 p.m.; Sunday 9 a.m.- 1 p.m.; closed on Monday, fee £ 12.000 (for Palazzo Massimo too)
Octagonal Hall
The Octagonal Hall stands at the southwest corner of the central complex of the Baths of Diocletian, in which it may have served as a passage area. The most important of the works on exhibit are the Lyceum Apollo and the Aphrodite of Cyrene. The first, and IInd century A.D. copy of the original by Praxiteles, was found near the Baths of Trajan, by the Church of St. Peter in Chains, while the Aphrodite comes from Cyrene, in Libya, and represents a splendid copy from the middle of the IInd cent. A.D. of a late-Hellenistic original. All of the sculptures on display come from bath complexes, including the Anadyomene Aphrodite, the Heracles, the Lance-Bearer and the Cnidian Aphrodite.
Address: Via Romita
Take buses No. 492, 910, 17, 64, 57
Openings: 9 am - 1pm and 3 pm - 6pm, Entry free
Palazzo Massimo
Formerly the site of the preparatory school “Massimiliano Massimo", the building was constructed in 1883-87 by Camillo Pistrucci in imitation of the noble residences of the early Roman baroque period. Exhibited in the central hall are works that illustrate the political and ideological program of Augustus, including the statue of Augustus dressed as the Pontifex Maximus from the Via Labicana and the pictorial frieze of the noble sepulchre from the Esquiline hill. The first floor offers iconographic works from the Age of the Flavians to the late Empire, with examples of the decorations used on imperial villas and aristocratic residences.In the section featuring the physical activities related to gymnasiums and public baths, visitors can admire two copies of the Discus Thrower by Myron. The following section holds important sarcophagi, including an oval-shaped work from Acilia. The second floor offers in-depth documentation on mosaic and pictorial decorations from the Ist cent. B.C. to the late Imperial Age. On the basement level, a rich coin collection is displayed, including extremely rare pieces, such as the medaillon of Theodoric, the silver piasters of the Pontifical State with views of Rome snd the four ducats of Pope Paul II. The exhibition is completed by a section on luxury in the Roman world, featuring a rich selection of jems and jewels.
Address: Piazza dei Cinquecento, 68
Take buses: 3, 4, 9, 16, 27, 38, 57, 64, 65, 75, 17, 492, 910, 105, 310, 319, 517, 613, 714, Metro A e B (Termini stop)
Openings: daily 9am - 2pm, sun 9am - 1pm, closed on monday, admission fee £ 12.000 (for Baths of Diocletian too)
Palazzo Altemps
The Palazzo was commissioned by Girolamo Riario (1443-1488). In 1568 it passed into the hands of the Altemps family, which had it enlarged and built the courtyard. This feature of the building, without a doubt its most handsome, is credited to Martino Longhi the elder. Restoration work has been under way since 1984, and steps are being taken to arrange the exhibit. Apart from the Ludovisi Throne, which is kept in the Palazzo Massimo, the collection boasts works of great artistic value, such as the Gaul who kills himself together with his wife, a copy of an originalfrom Pergamon; the Ludovisi Ares, a copy traceable to Lysippus; the Castelporziano mosaic (IInd cent.), one of the most important known Roman mosaics; the Ludovisi Hermes, copy of a bronze original by the school of Myron; the Aphrodite of Cnidus, a copy of the reknowned Aphrodite by Praxiteles, and a colossal sarcophagus depicting a battle between Romans and Barbarians.
Address: Via di San Apollinare Closed for repairs . Viale De Nicola 79, Via Romita, Piazza dei
address: Cinquecento 68
openings: daily beside mon and sun afternoon
tel: 4880530
Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia
The Villa Giulia, a collection of courtyards, loggias and gardens, is home to the world’s primary collection of Etruscan treasures. The Museum is housed in the Villa of Pope Julius III or Villa Giulia, built from a design by Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola between 1551 and 1553. Best among the sculptures is the group of “Apollo and Herakles", other highlights are the “Sarcophagus of a married couple” from Ceveteri and the “Cistae” recovered from tombs around Praeneste. Take buses No. 19, 30, 52, 926. Admission fee: £ 8.000
address: Piazzale di Villa Giulia, 9
openings: weekdays 9 am - 2pm, sun 9 am - 1pm, mon closed
tel: 3201951 or 3201993
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