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 | Rome Off the Beaten Path | Tips 1 - 10 of 834 |  |
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When in Rome with children between the age of 4 and 18, you may want to give them a unique experience of learning to operate an Italian vehicle on Italian streets.
Parco Scuola del Traffico is where children learn to drive mini cars and ride scooters.
Many public agencies and private corporations (Ministry of Infrastructures and Transportation, Automobile Club, Commander General of Carabinieri, etc.) sponsor this brainchild of the Society for Traffic Education. The school's main purpose is to educate the future drivers and motorcyclists by teaching them to respect traffic rules at a tender age.
Located in Parco del Ninfeo in EUR, the streets inside the school have the same layout as in real life (scale 1:2) with street signs, stoplights, crosswalks, roundabouts, a petrol station, billboards, etc.
In this safe environment, 4 and 6 year-old children learn to drive in mini electric cars, 6 to 12 year-old in mini motor cars, and 12 to 18 year-old on motor scooters.
Instructors keep watchful eyes on the children’s behaviors behind the wheels (or the scooter handles), stop them when they violate traffic rules, take points off and/or revoke their “licenses” when needed.
Each lesson last half an hour at the cost of € 8.50 for a mini car, € 9.50 for a motor scooter, plus € 3.50 for the license (bring your own picture if you wish to have it attached and stamped, but it’s not a requirement). You can also have two lessons back to back.
The school is located on Piazza Barcellona 10. It's open only in the evenings except Mondays, Tuesdays, and the whole month of August. On Sundays and legal holidays, it's open mornings and evenings. There is only one instructor who speaks passable English so you need to understand Italian enough to translate for the children.
Directions: Take Metro B toward Laurentina, get off at EUR Magliana. After exiting, turn left and walk to the fork on the road. Cross the street to Via Delle Tre Fontane. Walk along the park until you see the school sign next to a line of flagpoles. Leave a Comment Phone: +39 06 59.15.725Website: http://www.parcoscuola.it/ Other Contact: Fax: +39 06 59.22.399
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| | | | Christian Rome: Your Robe Or Your Head? | Tip Rating: | | | | |
There was an equal opportunity beheading in the IV century. The powers-that-be back then did not care whether you were a man or a woman, young or old, the only thing mattered was you would lose your head, literally, if they thought you intentionally annoyed them. That was exactly what happened with little Agnes.
At 12 or 13 years of age, Agnes was just a girl who went about her life like all other girls of her age. Then one day, she found herself in the court of Diocletian (Valerius Diocletianus). How she got there, no one knew, but as we learned later, there was somebody in Diocletian’s court who took a fancy to her, and she refused his advance. That was not good, but it became worse when Agnes took the opportunity (not now, Agnes!) to declare herself a Christian.
The declaration didn’t go over well with Diocletian who was actually a pretty decent person in the beginning of his reign, then became a persecutor of the Church when he started listening to Galerius. The Emperor ordered Agnes to strip off her clothes in front of the court. Little did he know, there were miracles in the world, and miraculously, Agnes’ hair grew immediately to cover her naked body.
Diocletian was really furious now -- not to mention embarrassed, and no one should embarrass an Emperor if she treasured her life -- and that’s how Agnes was decapitated in Stadio di Domitianus.
Her body was buried where the church of Sant’Agnese Fuori le Mura is now located, but her head has stayed where the tragic event happened. The Domitian became Piazza Navona. The site of her beheading became the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone. Her head rested in the room to the left, marked by the sign “Sacra Testa di Sant’Agnese”. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Christian Rome: Another Saint, Another Beheading | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The thing about being beheaded is the act doesn't always bring forth a swift death. St. Cecilia experienced that three times. Three strikes and her head still did not leave her neck, this was just as strange as when she did not die after being boiled for one day and one night over a roaring fire. The executioner gave up after the third strike and left her bleeding to death instead. Three days she was laying there in her own blood, and three days she meticulously made all the arrangements of her life. She gave away the last of her assets, she preached to the crowd who gathered around her, and she made the request to Pope Urban to turn her home into a church, which he did.
In 1599, during the restoration of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere Church, Cardinal Sfondrato examined the high altar and found the sarcophagi with the relics of the saints (Cecilia, Valeriano, Tiburzio, and Massimo) and the Popes (Urbano I and Lucio I) just as Pope Pasquale I Bonosus had transported thither.
The beautiful XVI century marble statute beneath the high altar was the creation of Carlo Maderna, depicting St. Cecilia just as she had received the blows from the executioner. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Christian Rome: "Bring Me The Head of John the Baptist" | Tip Rating: | | | | |
What would you do if the 14 year-old daughter of your new lover said that to you? Would you tell her no, that was outrageous? If that were your answer, you are a much better man than Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee.
At the time the request was made, Herod was married to Herodias, his half-brother’s wife who was also his niece. John the Baptist was his adviser who had publicly condemned this incestuous union and thus, annoyed Herodias a great deal.
Herodias asked Herod to put John in jail, which he did, then she decided that wasn't enough and came up with a better scheme.
She organized a birthday party for her husband and invited all his influential friends. During the feast, she presented her daughter Salome, a great dancer, as the star of the entertainment. Herod was completely charmed by Salome, he promised to give her anything her heart desired including half of his kingdom.
“Well, half a kingdom sounds very nice, great-uncle, um, I mean stepfather, but I would rather have the head of John the Baptist instead. On a silver platter, if you will?”
Herod was taken back for a moment. That was a large order indeed. He thought and thought, then decided to keep the promise. He despatched a soldier to the prison where John the Baptist was held without legal formalities. The soldier came back with a covered platter. The governor gave it to his great-niece/stepdaughter.
Without shudder, Salome accepted the dish and gave it to her mother. Herodias was gleeful. John the Baptist had became a corpse with neither a head nor a voice, thus, no one would be around to condemn her marriage to her uncle any longer.
In the mean time, the party went on; everybody ate, drank, and were merry.
Note: The head of St John the Baptist has been preserved since the XIII century in the church of San Silvestro in Capite, in a reliquary on the left of the entrance.
While you are in the church, don't miss the beautiful and moving Pietà. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Talking statues & Fountains: Abate Luigi: The Last Talking Statue | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The statue of Abate Luigi was built in the late Roman era and placed on the side of Palazzo Vidoni. It has been moved around quite a bit since then; it is now standing in Portico delle Cento Colonne, between Piazza Vidoni and Largo di Torre Argentina.
The base of the statue is engraved with this epigraph:
As an ancient Roman here I stand
With Marforio and Pasquino
'Tis the fame of satire I tend
Oh how I had offended, disgraced, and buried
But at last, life is safe and merry.
(Translation by Nathalie)
In actuality, life isn't safe and merry for Abate any more now than it was then: People often come around to steal his head (the head you see in the picture is not his). The cause of this repeated vandalism act is linked partly to his famous role of being a member of the "Congress of the Witty" (Congresso degli Arguti), or the so-called "talking statues" -- together with Pasquino, Marforio, Madama Lucrezia, Facchino, and Babbuino.
Abate Luigi is standing by Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, near the corner of Corso del Rinascimento. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Talking statues & Fountains: Fontana Del Babbuino: Another Talker | Tip Rating: | | | | |
During his papacy, Pope Pio IV Medici came up with the idea of semi-public fountains. He granted the right of water to any private citizen who promised to pay for the construction and maintenance of a public fountain. One of the grantees was Alessandro Grandi, who built a fountain in front of his palazzo on Via Paolina. The statue of a reposing satyr was placed over this rectangular Roman thermal basin.
The figure was the cause of much debate amongst the residents. For some, it symbolized San Girolamo; for others, a Latin divinity named Sanco Deo Fidio; many more insisted it was a huge monkey. The last group seemed to win the debate, for the name was eventually changed to the Fountain of the Baboon and the street name became Via del Babbuino in 1581.
It began with an affectionate name, then a voice, and soon after, the Babbuino became a member of the talking statues group, joining Marfoglio, Pasquino, Madama Lucrezia, Abate Luigi, and Facchino in the Congress of the Witty (Congresso degli Arguti).
The statue was moved several times to various locations. In 1957, under persistent pressure from residences, the city finally placed it permanently at the façade of Sant' Anastasio dei Greci church (on Via del Babbuino at Via dei Greci, between Piazza di Spagna and Piazza del Popolo). Leave a Comment
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| | | | Talking statues & Fountains: Marforio: The Second Talking Statue | Tip Rating: | | | | |
There are several interpretations for the name of this colossal statue of a river god. In one explanation, it was found in Foro Romano together with the inscription "Mare in Foro". In another, it was found in Mars Fori (Foro di Marte). In the last etymology, the name derived from the Marfoli family's property where it was found. In spite of the diverse origins, all historians agreed that Marforio dates back to the first century BC.
Pope Sisto V Peretti placed Marforio in Palazzo dei Conservatori in Campidoglio before Pope Innocenzo X Pamphilij moved it to the courtyard of Palazzo del Museo Capitolino.
Marforio was the second talking statue in the Congress of the Witty (Congresso degli Arguti). Through their "conversations", he and Pasquino often showed contempt at the rulers who control the people's destiny.
Here are their comments on Pope Clemente XI Albani, who came from the town of Urbino in Marche:
Marforio: Dimmi che fai, Pasquino? (What are you doing, Pasquino?)
Pasquino: Eh, guardo Roma che non vada ad Urbino. (I'm watching Rome so it wouldn't move to Urbino.)
They jabbed at Napoleon Bonaparte, as well:
Marforio: È vero che i francesi sono tutti ladri?
Pasquino: Tutti no, ma buona parte!
(Note: Out of respect to VT members from France, I am not going to translate that particular exchange!)
Marforio is located in the courtyard of Capitoline Museum. Leave a Comment
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on July 8, 2006
on August 8, 2005
