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 | Rome Off the Beaten Path | Tips 61 - 70 of 837 |  |
Theatre in Roma - This particular theatre is the Salon Margherita, Via Due Macelli, 75 (near Piazza Spagna). It really should be posted as a "deal." With a 30 Euro ticket we received an excellent front row seat for a Vegas style variety show production - juice or soda soft drinks as soon as we took our seats (gratis) - then, pasta was served during intermission (gratis) and there was a lovely open bar where you could buy drinks.
Check brochures "Vieni a Teatro News" on counters of many bars in Rome or any of the Theatres - Teatro Olimpico (Piazza Gentile da Fabriano 17), Teatro Vittorio Gassman Quirino, Brancaccio Teatro (Via Merulana 244), Teatro Valle, Teatro Ambra Jovinelli (Via Guglielmo Pepe 43/47), Teatro Petrolini (Via Rubattino, 5), Teatro delle Muse (Via Forli, 43), Teatro Ghione (Via delle Fornaci, 37), Teatro Eliseo ( Via Nazionale, 183), Teatro Prati (Via della Scipione, 98), Teatro Rossini (Piazza Santa Chiara, 14 Pantheon), Teatro Vittoria, Teatro della Cometa (Via del Teatro Marcello, 4). In Italian language. Phone: 6/67 91439 |
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Enchanting - whether Tosca, Pop or Blues - music under the stars - Castel Sant Angelo in the background - river boats drifting by - a more romantic setting could hardly be created. Last night (Friday, July 21st) the Rome Blues Club, Big Mama, collaborated to bring us the rousing blues band Big Bill Morganfield and it was an exhilarating performance with great sounds, a cheering audience, and many encores. You have a choice of seating - cafe/restaurant tables, concert row seating in front of the stage or lounging on the upper decks. Concerts continue throught the summer - check the Rome cultural Portal website below for schedules. |
This very large church in many aspects opens the Baroque period in Rome. The facade in no way prepares one for the extravagance of the interior.
Photo 1 The Jesuits believed that the richness of the decoration was an appropriate means to celebrate the greatness of God, thus the altar dedicated to St Ignatius (late XVIIth century) is most elaborate. The riches displayed in this altar are unsurpassed in all of Rome - gilded gold, brilliant blue lapis lazuli and many other gems.
Photo 2 The large canvas above this gold altar is, in fact, a very complicated mechanism that rolls up from the bottom on special Jesuit occasions to dramatically reveal the figure of St Ignatius.
Photo 3 The interior is a tumult of virtuosity in painting, marble scuplture, in architecture. Statues sprawl into frescoed figures at points in the roof, and frescoed figures emerge in marble at others.
It would be a mistake for the spectator to imagine that anything has been done here for the sole purpose of induging excess which might be the perception in the current age; everything is the expression of devoted faith, executed in the forms that the art of the time offered. Consider it a non-issue with the Jesuits who would not be disposed to address, much less apologize for the extravagant expressions of devotion bestowed by their predecessors.
Photo 4 The nice façade by Giacomo Della Porta shows a statue of St. Ignatius with a striking contrast between the total placidity of the face of the Saint and the rather violent action he is performing. The dome was designed by Iacopo Barozzi known as il Vignola, but it was built under the direction of Giacomo della Porta and completed in 1584. |
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Walking on Via Giulia toward the Tiber from Rome center just after we pass under the extraordinary vine covered bridge (another off the beaten path tip) built by the family Farnese, we find the Fontana del Mascherone (the Big Mask - do we wonder why it is so named?). Everyone agrees that this is one of the more bizaare monuments of Rome - and it does have a twin (not an identical twin - but a twin no less) in Spoletto (photo 2).
Another of the Farnese family gifts to Rome, no one seems to know who sculpted it - or at least no one in history cared to own up to the questionable artistry. It is said that the Farnese's had wine flowing from the fountain during their more notable soirees. |
The mouth of truth as it is aptly known is located in Piazza della Bocca della Verita, outside the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. This beautiful, unadorned church was built in the 6th century on the site of the city's ancient food market. It contains many examples of Cosmati work, in particular the mosaic pavement, the raised choir, the bishop's throne and the canopy over the main altar. Set into the wall of the portico of this church is the mysterious Bocca. Although it may onve have been a drain cover dating to the 4th Century BC, Medieval tradition had it the formidable jaws would snap shut over the hands of those who told lies--a useful trick to test the faithfulness of spouses.
Today the church is under massive restoration and the Bocca draws hundreds of tourists seeking that token hand in mouth photo op. We were almost run over by a crowd of Japanese tourists. They come by the bus loads and the only thing snapping are the shutters of many a camera. It's a lot of fun. Don't miss it. Leave a Comment |
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This is the strangest thing I have ever seen. It is a dedication to death. And yes, those are all real bones from the monks who lived there and believed in this order. The dirt was transported from Jerusalem. Even the lightbulb holders were made from bones!
It is called the Cemetery of the Capuchins-3rd Chapel and located at Via Veneto 27. Leave a Comment |
Although in Rome you may be for culture, art, stones... well, in case you have some need of open spaces and air, using the same metro ticket (1 euro), you can reach the beach by train (Ostiense line) in less than an hour from Rome center. Not the beaches I'm used to, but enough for a pleasant walk in winter (this picture is Jan 1st, 2004, I have to say, after 3 days continously raining). An easy point to leave the train is Lido Centro. Maybe when returning, you want to have a cultural stop at the near Ostia Antica station.... Leave a Comment |
The crypt of the capuchins is found in the Church of the Immaculate, on Via Veneto, 27. There is a small fee. There are 6 crypts lined up on one side of a narrow hall. The crypts are decorated with the bones of deceased friars. There are thousands of bones arranged along the walls and ceilings. The picture shown is from the Crypt of the Skulls. Another crypt is named Crypt of the Pelvises. Then there is the Crypt of the Leg Bones and Thigh Bones, and Crypt of the Three Skeletons. Hours are: 9-12 and 3-6, closed on Thursdays. No pictures allowed. (This picture is from a postcard) Leave a Comment |
Via Giulia is a beautiful street, almost one kilometre long, that leads from the city centre straight down to the Vatican. It was laid out in the 16th century by the famous architect Bramante on the orders of Pope Julius II, from whom the street gets its name. It is actually the longest street in Rome that is built in a straight line; to do so Bramante had to demolish many buildings that had been built along the previous (and much more crooked) street Via Magistralis. Its purpose was to accommodate the large numbers of pilgrims coming to Rome so that they could more easily reach the Vatican. Many beautiful buildings can be seen along this street; the most interesting part is the southeastern end, where you can find the Fontana del Mascherone, the church of Santa Maria in Orazione e Morte, the backside of the Palazzo Farnese (the inner courtyard is also visible from the back doorway), and the Farnese bridge with its hanging ivy.
Photo by sushimifune. |
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Begun by Giuseppe Valadier in 1802, this was the home of Mussolini in the twenties. It became a part of the public park system in 1978. It deteriorated extensively due to vandalism.
In the second half of the XVIIIth century Giovanni Raimondo Torlonia, son of a French merchant, founded his bank, and became one of the wealthiest Roman families. Riches brought nobility and the need for appropriate villas and adornments. In 1802 they commissioned Luigi Valadier. Numerous structures emerged including a Swiss Chalet that was to become a medievel building and the Tempio Saturno. Numerous works of classic art, in great part scultoree, were acquired in order to furnish the Villa. One small part of these is still visible inside of the Museum of the Casino of the Principles (the main Villa structure). Painstaking restoration is underway in the interior.
When I was there today (July 26, 2006) the entire property showed the renovation and restoration efforts in progress. Now beautifully restored (May 2007) the building holds period sculpture, furnishings, and paintings as well as an anti air-gas shelter and an anti air-raid bunker!
"Limonata" is a quaint cafè found in the park, 20 meters from the Villa.
Photo 2 - In 1842 Prince Alessandro Torlonia embellished the gardens with two brand new obelisks, cut in a marble quarry near Lago Maggiore in northern Italy and brought to Rome by ship, in a sort of repetition of the transportation of the Egyptian obelisks carried by the Roman emperors.
Photo 3 - Another structure being rennovated on the grounds.
Photo 4 - Remains of the original Tempio Saturno.
Phtoo 5 - View from main Villa Torlonia toward street.
Beneath the park there are Jewish catacombs, made up of two cemeteries dating back to the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The walls are decorated with ornate Hebraic paintings and symbols.
Location: via Nomentana 70, via Siracusa, via L.Spallanzani |
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