Ah… Rome. Our last stop on this fantastic adventure!
Rome is a city of magnificent ancient ruins – but it’s also a city of intimate neighborhoods. Our wander will take us through this urban village of narrow lanes, panoramic piazzas, fanciful fountains, and some of Europe’s best people watching.
Campo de’ Fiori, with its ever-changing ambiance, is a perfect place to start. Depending on when you’re here, the square will be quite different. In the morning, this bohemian piazza hosts a fruit and vegetable market. In the evening, the cafes and restaurants that line the square predominate. Later at night, crowds of drunks make it a light-night frat party. We visited during two of these three periods (I mean… we are almost 60… 🙂 ). We loved this place.
With its neighborhood feel, it’s hard to believe you’re in a city of two-and-a-half million people – the modern capital of a major economic power, and the center of government for 60 million Italians. Rome has no skyscrapers, no business district, and no obvious downtown. It’s more a collection of urban villages like this. Romans jealously guard their laidback lifestyle, and nowhere is it clearer than right here in Campo de’ Fiori.
This piazza has been the neighborhood’s living room for centuries. In ancient times, it was a pleasant meadow – literally a “Campo de’ Fiori,” or “Field of Flowers.” Then the Romans built a massive entertainment complex, the Theater of Pompey, right next to it. In medieval times, Christian pilgrims passed through on their way to the Vatican, and a thriving market developed. As popes modernized the city in Renaissance and Baroque times with urban renewal projects, this square kept its local flavor. It’s the product of centuries of unplanned urban development. And today’s Romans live amid the eclectic heritage of their ancestors.
For example, take a look at the east end of the square – that’s the end behind the monk statue. See how the ramshackle apartments are built right into the older parts? The pinkish-beige brick building, on the upper story, actually has two white columns incorporated into it. See that? Those columns were once part of the wall of that Theater of Pompey. The complex covered several city blocks, stretching from here all the way to Largo Argentina. This theater is where Julius Caesar was stabbed to death.
I know you thought he was assassinated on the steps of the Senate. And you’re right. But the Senate was temporarily renting space right here.
Lording over the center of the square is the statue of Giordano Bruno, and his dramatic life story reflects the spirit of nonconformity that still thrives in this neighborhood. Bruno was a Dominican priest back in the 1500s. He was outspoken right from the start. He wrote satirical plays tweaking Church morals. He advanced the heretical notion that the earth revolved around the sun, decades before Galileo. He had to flee Italy in order to avoid a charge of heresy. Perpetually on the run, Bruno roamed Europe’s capitals, driven by his restless mind. In Geneva, he jointed the Calvinists, until they also exiled him for his unorthodox views. In London, he met with Queen Elizabeth, but she found him subversive. In Germany, even the Lutherans excommunicated Giodano Bruno. Finally, he ended up back in Rome.
In 1593, Bruno was arrested by the inquisition. He languished in prison for about six years, but refused to recant. So he was sentenced to death. He told his accusers, “Perhaps you who pronounce this sentence are more fearful than I who receive it.” On February 17th, in the year 1600, the civil authorities led him to the stake, here on Campo de’ Fiori. Bruno was offered a crucifix to hold, but he pushed it away. Then they lit the fire, and he was burned right here on this spot. As the pedestal’s inscription describes it: “And the flames rose up…”
Piazza Farnese: Though just a block from Campo de’ Fiori, the imposing palace and the square in front have a completely different feel. While the Campo is free and easy, the 16th-century Renaissance Piazza Farnese seems to stress order. The Palazzo was built by Pope Paul III of the Farnese family, perhaps best known as the man who hired Michelangelo to paint the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel. The Farnese family was nouveau riche and needed to make a statement. So they hired Michelangelo to design the top story. Check out the cornice. His cornice – that’s the roofline that juts out. Michelangelo also added another crucial touch: he made the window in the very center of the facade a little wider than the others. This gave the whole facade a pleasant symmetry, and focused attention on the balcony where the pope gave speeches. By the way, note the flags over the entrance, and the security presence – the palazzo now houses the French embassy.
This influential facade helped popularize a style that you’ll see all around Rome. There’s the main doorway with its big rustic stone blocks. There are pilasters – that is, half-columns embedded in to the facade, some round, some square. Windows are topped with triangular pediments or semi-arches. And the balustrade or the balcony is found in buildings both great and humble. Oh yeah – there are some nice cornices, too.
Turning our attention to the piazza itself, it’s adorned by twin fountains. The Farneses made the fountains using ancient granite tubs. They’d recently excavated these from the Baths of Caracalla. The Farneses had financed the archeological big, so they got first pick. These fountains are the first of a watery theme seen throughout Rome. Rome is famous for its fountains. They’re part of the Roman heritage. In times past, fountains were functional – they provided the neighborhood with its water supply. These particular fountains were fed by an ancient aqueduct, called the Acqua Vergine. It’s the same source that feeds the Trevi Fountain and other fountains we saw. And after 2,000 years, it’s still bringing the water of life into the city.
Pasquino: This statue is heavily eroded but much loved. It’s one of Rome’s oldest – it dates from the 3rd century BC. The statue depicts a scene from the Trojan War. King Menelaus is cradling the body of his dying son.
Around 1500, the statue was discovered near here. It was nicknamed Pasquino – no one’s quite sure why. He became the first of Rome’s so-called “talking statues.” For 500 years, this statue has functioned as a kind of community bulletin board. People posted their complaints about the authorities, often in the form of a satirical poem. In times past, it let the poor speak out anonymously against the rich and powerful without fear of recrimination. And, to this day, you’ll see Pasquino plastered with political posters, strike announcements, and grumbling graffiti.
Piazza Navona: This long, oblong square is dotted with fountains, busy with outdoor cafes, lined with palazzos and churches, and thronged with happy visitors. By its shape you might guess that this square started out as a racetrack, part of the training grounds built here by Emperor Domitian around AD 80. That was the same year the Colosseum opened: Rome was at its peak.
But much of what we see today came much later, in the 1600s. The whole place got a major urban renovation, though it kept the same footprint as the ancient race track. At the time, the popes were trying to put some major scandals behind them, and urban development like this was a peace offering to the public. Rome was energized and laying out more efficient street plans, grand palaces, and great public spaces like Piazza Navona.
The Palazzo Pamphilj is now the Brazilian embassy. The Pamphilj nobles were big patrons of the arts, and one of them became Pope Innocent X – the man who created the square as we see it today.
Three Baroque fountains decorate the piazza. This first one has a statue of a Moor, or African, wrestling with a dolphin. He’s surrounded by a ring of tritons blowing on their conch shells. Back in 17th-century Rome, Moors represented all that was exotic and mysterious.
The most famous fountain, though, is in the center: the Four Rivers Fountain by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the man who in the mid-1600s remade Rome in the Baroque style. It’s topped with an Egyptian-style obelisk – another of the themes we’ll see along this wander. Rome has 13 ancient obelisks, more than any other city in the world. The ancient Romans loved obelisks. They were big and exotic, and, by bringing them to Rome, it demonstrated how they’d been able to triumph over the great empire of Egypt. This particular one was erected around AD 80… not far from here at a temple to the cult of Isis. When Rome fell, this obelisk also fell. But later, Christian popes – Rome’s new rulers – also like the idea of proclaiming their power with these columns. So, starting in the 1580s, they re-erected them – now topped with Christian crosses.
The fountain is by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the man who remade Rome in the Baroque style. The water of the world gushes everywhere. It’s brought to mankind by four burly river gods who symbolize the four quarters of creation. Horses plunge through the rocks and the water of life sprouts exotic plants and animals from faraway lands.
Strolling around the fountain, we see first the god who’s leaning back and turning in, toward the pillar. He’s reaching back and touching the pillar with one hand. This is the mighty Danube. He represents the continent of Europe. Notice what’s in his right hand. He grabbing the coat of arms of the Pamphilj pope – he’s the one who paid for this fountain.
Next up is an old bearded guy holding an oar between his legs. This is the Ganges, representing Asia. We pass a palm tree. This is just one of the many details that made this fountain seem really exotic in its day.
Next up is the Nile, representing Africa. His head is covered with a cloth, since back then the Nile’s headwaters were unknown.
The final statue is the Rio de la Plata. In Uruguay, representing the Americas. He tumbles backward in shock.
Notice the god’s exotic facial features. Back in the 1600s, Europeans still didn’t have a clear idea of just how to depict an American Indian. Beneath the statue is a pile of silver coins. They represent the easy-to-harvest wealth of the New World.
Following the Plata river god’s gaze upward, we see he’s looking at the Church of Saint Agnes, which dominates the square. The church was the world of Francesco Borromini, Rome’s other great Baroque architect. It has Borromini’s signature motif – concave lines. Notice how the inward-curving facade helps reveal the dome. Borromini’s elaborate facade epitomizes the curved symmetry of the Baroque era. It’s also a fine example of Baroque deception: While the facade is mammoth, the actual church interior is quite small. It’s only as wide as the four middle columns at the entrance. Borromini was Bernini’s former student. But he grew to become Bernini’s great rival. Legend says that, when Bernini built this fountain, he got the final word. He designed the river god Plata to be looking up at Borromini’s church… and then tumbling backward, in horror. It certainly looks that way and makes for a great tour guide story, but in fact, the fountain was completed before Borromini even began the church.
The fountain on the far end has Neptune slaying a giant octopus.
Piazza Navona is Rome’s most interesting night scene, with street music, artists, fire-eaters, local Casanovas, ice cream, and outdoor cafes that are worthy of a splurge if you’ve got time to sit and enjoy Italy’s human river.
The Pantheon: Perhaps the most magnificent building surviving from ancient Rome is this temple to the “pantheon” (literally, all the gods).
The temple’s columns show the scale the ancient Romans built on. They’re 40 feet tall, made of granite, each of them carved from a single huge piece. The columns support a triangular-shaped, Greek-style pediment. The pediment says that Marcus Agrippa built the Pantheon. But in fact, it was bult (or “fecit”) by Emperor Hadrian around the year 120.
The temple faces a piazza, and it has since ancient times. Back then, this was an elegant square – a gathering place. it was surrounded by columns supporting shaded walkways. The ancient Romans introduced the whole piazza culture, and – as we can see – it thrives to this day. The square slants down to the Pantheon. In ancient times, this square was much lower. The Pantheon actually stood above street level, approached by a staircase. But centuries of sediment from the flooding Tiber River have raised the piazza to today’s height.
The fountain in the center of the square itself dates from the 18th century. But the obelisk in the middle is ancient. It originally decorated a sanctuary near here dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis. Rome had no problem worshipping the gods of other cultures. And, since much of Rome’s grain came from Egypt, they were more than happy to have a place here for their Egyptian businessmen. I’m not sure I got a picture of this, but the fountain stone steps disappear into the pavement – another case of modern sediment swallowing up older structures.
Jackie and I visited later on our visit and toured the inside. Watch for that post in future releases.
Piazza Capranica: This square is home to the big, plain Florentine-Renaissance-style Palazzo Capranica (directly opposite as we enter the square). Its stubby tower was once much taller, but when a stronger government arrived, the nobles were all ordered to shorten their towers. Like so many of Rome’s churches, the church on the square – Santa Maria in Aquiro – is older than its Baroque-era façade.
Piazza di Montecitorio: This square, home to Italy’s Parliament, is marked by an Egyptian obelisk from the sixth century BC. It adorned a temple in Egypt for half a millennium before Emperor Augustus brought it to Rome as a trophy proclaiming his victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Made of red Granite, the obelisk stands 70 feet tall – or well over 100 feet when you include the base.
In Egypt, obelisks were connected with the sun god Ra. Some say the pointed stones were meant to look like sun rays. By extension, they symbolized the heavenly energy granted by the gods to the pharaohs, who were gods on earth. Roman emperors loved that idea. To proclaim their divinity, they erected obelisks in public squares. Think of the engineering effort that brought this obelisk here. They had to quarry it, carve it out of a single piece of stone, and erect it in Egypt. Then – after the Romans came along – they had to take it down and roll it o logs to the water’s edge, and then load it onto a special barge. Then they’d sail it across the Mediterranean and up the Tiber, and finally bring it overland to this spot and hoist it up.
Augustus set this obelisk up by his solarium – that was a shrine dedicated to the god of the sun. It worked as a sundial and a calendar. It cast a shadow on a set of lines that marked the days of the year. This followed the brand new calendar instituted by Augustus’s step-dad, Julius Caesar. The obelisk was aligned so that on the day of Augustus’ birthday, the shadow would fall directly across the solarium altar.
After the fall of Rome, the obelisk was lost. It was rediscovered and re-erected right here in the 1700s. Just like the pharaohs and the emperors before them, popes also loved the idea of the heavens giving them divine powers as rulers here on earth. They topped these obelisks with crosses. This is the only one in Rome still capped with a pre-Christian ornament – a globe with a sun ray on top.
Today, this obelisk still functions as a sundial. Not that we could tell during our evening visit. 🙂
The impressive building is where the lower chamber of congress meets to govern the nation of Italy. There’s heavy security. If a major law has just been passed, this stately building is often the backdrop for reporters on the TV news. The palazzo has a long history of governance. The relief to the right of the door shows Lady Justice. Before Italy was unified back in the 19th century, this high court of the papal state met here. The building’s spacious facade is designed by our old friend Bernini. It bulges in the middle, to make this small square feel grander. At either end of the facade there are strips of jagged stones. This rustic “back-to-nature” style was popular in the Baroque age.
Piazza Colonna and Via del Corso: The square features a massive column that has stood here since the second century AD. The column’s shaft is exactly 100 feet tall – that is, one hundred ancient Roman feet. it’s about 97 of our feet.
The column stands on a 30-foot base, which itself stands on a platform. The shaft is 12 feet across. It’s a particularly imposing-looking column because it doesn’t taper at the top. The whole thing is carved from the finest white marble in the world. It comes from the quarries of Carrara in northern Italy, made famous because they were also Michelangelo’s favorite.
It’s not made from a single piece of marble. It’s 28 cylindrical blocks stacked atop each other like a stack of 10-ton checkers. The column is carved with a frieze that winds from the bottom to all the way to the top. It tells the story of Emperor Marcus Aurelius heroically battling the barbarians in around 170 AD. At the very bottom, one finds a scene that shows the crucial start of the campaign. The Roman Legions cross the Danube River to attack the barbarians (that would be in modern day Czech Republic). Men and horses march across an ingenious pontoon bridge. It’s supported by a row of boats that lets them cross the rushing current. The column is pure propoganda, trumpeting Marcus’s triumph. In reality, after Marcus died, the barbarians got the upper hand, and that began Rome’s long, three-century fall. After Rome’s Fall, the statue of the Roman Emperor Marcus on top was replaced by a Christian. It’s Paul, the great traveler missionary who wrote much of the New Testament and helped bring Christianity to Rome. Paul may have died here in Rome, and he’s one of the city’s patron saints. The column is actually hollow, and has a spiral staircase inside.
Trevi Fountain: The Trevi Fountain is the ultimate showcase for Rome’s love affair with water.
This liquid Baroque avalanche was conceived by Nicola Salvi in 1762. Salvi used the palace behind the fountain as a theatrical backdrop. Center-Stage is the enormous figure known simply as “Ocean.” He symbolizes water in every form. The statue stands in his shell-shaped chariot, surfing through his wet kingdom. Water gushes from 24 spouts. It tumbles over 30 different kinds of plants. Winged horses represent cresting waves. They’re led by Tritons who blow on their conch shells.
Rome took full advantage of the abundance of water brought into the city by its great aqueducts. Even in ancient times, there was a fountain here, where locals came to get their water. IT was dug lower than street level to give the fountains maximum gravitational oomph.
In the buildings around the fountain, Ionic columns have been built into the Benetton shop thats facing the fountain. These are a reminder that in ancient times this was where the neighborhood gathered, jugs on heads, to fetch their water. In the Renaissance and Baroque eras, the ancient aqueduct was renovated and reopened. The Trevi Fountain was built to celebrate that joyous event. After a thousand years of surviving on poor-quality well water, Romans could once again enjoy pure water brought from the distant hills east of the city (like their ancient cousins did.)
The square that faces the fountain has a lively atmosphere. The magic is enhanced by the fact that no streets directly approach it. You can hear the excitement as you draw near, and then – bam! – you’re there. What a scene – lucky Romeos clutch dates while unlucky ones clutch beers.
And then there’s the coins. Romantics toss a coin over their shoulder into the fountain. The legend says it’ll give you a wish and assure your return to Rome.
Over the years, more ridiculous legends have proliferated – two coins brings romance, three means marriage… it’s pretty silly. But hey – it’s Rome, and the world is yours. We certainly took our part in making our wishes and tossing a few coins…
The Immaculate Conception Column
Rome is the nation’s political capital. It’s Italy’s religious and cultural capital. But it’s not the business capital – that’s Milan. And so the two cities are constantly bickering. The northerners say the Romans are lazy, with cushy government jobs. They call it “Roma ladrona” – “Rome, the thief.” They think of it as dirty, inefficient, and corrupt. On the other hand, Romans dismiss the Milanesi as uptight workaholics. And they point out that, when the northerners go on holiday, where do they come? To Rome. That’s where they can enjoy some good food, the rich history, and the one thing that Romans have above all others – la dolce vita.
This statue of Mary tries to tie a lot of the different traditions from the many monuments from the different periods of Roman history… right up to the present.
The bronze statue of Mary includes all her traditional symbols. She wears a diadem of stars for her halo. She’s standing atop a crescent moon atop a globe of the earth, which is crushing a satanic serpent. To hammer home the idea that the Immaculate Conception doctrine had a longer tradition, the architect placed Mary atop a marble column that was itself ancient. At the base sits statues of venerable and sage prophets all in total agreement with the new doctrine. The grand backdrop for the column is the Propaganda Palace itself, with its Vatican flag.
Picture the festive scene here every December 8th – that’s the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception. The pope attends, the fire department brings out their ladder truck, and they place fresh flowers high on Mary’s statue. Even today, we can see wilted remains of a flower wreath in Mary’s hand. This is the traditional event that kicks off Rome’s Christmas season.
The Spanish Embassy is here as well. Rome has double the embassies as a normal capital. That’s because every nation needs to staff two embassies: one to Italy and one to the Vatican. This Spanish Embassy is for the Vatican. And because of this embassy, the square and its famous steps just ahead are called “Spanish”.
The Spanish Steps
The wide, curving staircase is one of Rome’s iconic sights. Its 138 steps lead sharply up from the Piazza di Spagna. Partway up, the steps fan out around a central terrace, forming a butterfly shape. The design culminates at the top in a one last obelisk framed between two Baroque church towers (see above).
At the foot of the steps is the aptly-named Sinking Boat Fountain. It was built by Bernini – or maybe his father, Bernini. Pietro rather than Gian Lorenzo.
The fountain is powered by that same ancient aqueduct we’ve seen earlier, the Aqua Vergine. Because the water pressure here is so low, the water can’t shoot high in the air. So Bernini (or his father) had to design the fountain to be low-key – a sinking boat filled with water.
The Piazza di Spagna and Spanish Steps are named for that Spanish Embassy we saw in our last post. It’s been here for about 300 years. The area has been the hangout of many Romantics over the years – Richard Wagner, Goethe, and others. For 19th-century British aristocrats, this was the culmination of their Grand Tour of the famous sights of Europe. They came to Rome to see the decaying ruins, to enjoy the warm climate, and to kick back and enjoy the laidback Roman lifestyle. Here at the Spanish Steps, the British poet John Keats pondered his mortality. He lived in the orange building on the right side of the steps, and it was there he died of tuberculosis at the ripe old age of 25. His fellow Romantic, the poet Lord Byron, lived just across the square at #66.