Italian Trip Diary -- Day #21 -- Rome

Tuesday, July 3, 2001, Rome:

For the last day of our trip, we began by walking down the Via Veneto to Piazza Barberini

'Fontana dei Tritone' by Bernini in Piazza Barberini.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

and then up the Via delle Quattro Fontane,

Row of Telemones (male Caryatids) on Via delle Quattro Fontane.  Photo by Blomme-McClure  

'Goddess Juno' fountain at the intersection of Via delle Quatro Fontane and Via del Quirinale.
There's a fountain on each of the four corners.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

and on up the Esquiline Hill to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (we missed the fourth major basilica, San Giovanni in Laterano, on this trip).  The basilica is the largest Marian church in Rome.  Based on the 1929 Lateran Treaty it is wholly owned by the Holy See and has the same status as a foreign embassy.  

East facade of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore with circular stairs leading up to protruding semi-circular apse is on the Piazza dell' Esquilino.  There is an Egyptian obelisk in the center of the piazza on the axis of the church.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

The Romanesque bell tower is the tallest in Rome.  The huge Baroque façade faces a large square, the Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore.  The façade consists of an elaborate central section with five bays in the base rising above a shallow podium surmounted by three bays in the upper story with a triangular pediment rising above the center bay.  The central composition is lively but it is somewhat deadened by wings on either side. 

Baroque west facade designed by Ferdinando Ferga and the 14th century Romanesque campanile
 of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

The interior contains a long nave with mosaics from the fifth century. the side aisles separated by Doric colonnades, at the end a semicircular apse covered in mosaics enclosing an elaborate baldaquin and altar.

Nave of Santa Maria Maggiore.  Thirty-six of the columns are marble and four are granite.
The nave ends with a triumphal arch with mosaics depicting the lives of Christ and the Virgin.
The coffered ceiling is thought to be gilded with gold brought back from the New World by Columbus.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

Off of the south transept is the square Sistine Chapel (aka Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament) designed by Domenico Fontana for Pope Sixtus V (the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican was created for Pope Sixtus VI) under a splendid dome. 

Dome of Sistine Chapel of Santa Maria Maggiore by Domenico Fontana.  It contains the tombs of Pope Sixtus V
and his patron, Pope Pius V.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

It is focused on a group of four angels holding a model of the chapel done in gilded bronze which is directly under a very high dome encrusted with gold and frescoes. 

Four gilded bronze angels hold the ciborium -- a model of the chapel -- by Sebastiano Torregiano.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

The chapel's proportions are exquisite and despite the sumptuous ornamentation it provides a lesson in the effective use of space.

From Santa Maria Maggiore we walked to the church of San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains) which houses the famous sculpture of Moses by Michelangelo. 

'Moses' by Michelangelo, marble, 1515.  It is part of the tomb of Pope Julius II.
Photo by Blomme-McClure (from a 1985 trip to Italy)

Unfortunately, by the time we found our way up the Esquiline Hill (one staircase was closed for construction) we got there just as the church was closing for siesta.  This was the one time where we ran into a problem with opening/closing times, but it is worthwhile to note that travelers should always check schedules when deciding on an itinerary.

Instead of Moses, we settled for tramazinni at a sidewalk café across from the park surrounding the Domus Aurea – the ruins of Nero’s “house of gold” on the hill above the Colosseum. 

The Colosseum from the park surrounding the Domus Aurea on Palatine Hill.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

After lunch we walked down through the park to the Colosseum and then took a taxi to San Pietro in Montorio on the Janiculum Hill above Trastevere.

Church of San Pietro in Montorio on the Janiculum Hill.
It is considered to be the site of St. Peter's crucifixion.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

We climbed past the Fontana dell'Acqua Paola

The Fontana dell'Acqua Paola designed by Giovanni Fontana and Flaminio Ponzio built in 1610-1612.
It marks the end of the Acqua Traiana aqueduct originally built be the emperor Trajan and restored by
Pope Sixtus V to provide fresh water to people living on the left bank of the Tiber River.
Photo by Blomme-McClure  

to the American Academy in Rome. 

The front court of the American Academy in Rome.  It is on the Janiculum Hill.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

Some years ago Carl had worked in New York for the American Academy and was able to get us into the complex for a quick tour of the facilities and a gallery containing the work of some of the residents. 

Interior courtyard of the American Academy in Rome.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

It is a beautiful, tranquil complex and the showing of projects the fellows had developed was fascinating.

From the American Academy we found a café where we stopped for drinks.  Then we walked through the park along the brow of the Janiculum, savoring the views of Rome and the Vatican through the pines of Rome,

The dome of St. Peter's Basilica from the Janiculum Hill.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

eventually descending into St. Peter’s Square. 

St. Peter's Basilica from the edge of Piazza San Pietro.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

It was a lovely way to spend our last afternoon in the peace and sunshine of the park high above the domes and spires of the city below.

For our last evening we dined at Ristorante Le Sans Souci (Via Sicilia 20, Rome, 06.42014510 or 06.42013557) just off the Via Veneto.  It is like a time capsule from the 1950’s 'la dolce vita' – grandly appointed with intimate banquettes where middle-aged roues snuggled with gorgeous 'starlets' – we expected Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg to stroll in at any moment -- still dripping from a dip in the Fontana di Trevi.  We had a delicious meal with excellent service.