Rome
According to the myth, the city of Rome was founded by
the legendary Rómulo and Remo, and is the capital
of Italy and the Lazio region. The city has passed historical
periods, reason why their districts are a mixture of old,
medieval, Renaissance and modern buildings. In its origin,
it was constructed around seven mythical hills: Aventino,
Capitolino, Esquilino, Caelino, Palataino, Quirinal and
Vimina.
The Palatino, place on which according to the legend Rómulo
founded Rome in the eighth century BC, constitutes the
heart of old Rome, with the Roman Forum and the Coliseum
like maximum exponents of the imperial architecture. During
years, this hill was the place of sovereigns and Popes.
At the time of the Byzantine domination, places dedicated
to the Christian cult began to rise. In the eleventh an
twelfth centuries, the city was fortified. All the zone
is a tourist attraction thanks to the layout of the Sacred
route, that passes next to places like the temple of Vesta
or the Roman Curia. The Coliseum, of the first century
BC, is the classic symbol of this imperial Rome. Its architecture
is a visible tribute to the Greek art, evident in some
of its elements like the columns of the facade.
Next to the Coliseum appears the Arc of Constantine, constructed
to celebrate the victory against Maxentius. The Roman
Forum, between the Capitol and the Palatine, was the center
of the social, commercial and administrative activity
of old Rome.
The Capitolina hill was the seat of the power and the
religious center of the city. At the present time, their
contours are delimited by the Vittorio Emanuele monument
and the church of Santa Maria Aracoeli, located in one
of their two tops, the one known as Arx citadel. Inside
are numerous works of Roman Art of the thirteenth to eighteenth
centuries. The monument to Vittorio Emanuele, constructed
between 1885 and 1891 with white marble of Brescia, is
a symbol of the unification of Italy. It is located in
the Venice square, the epicentre of the city and a crossing
of streets that extend towards the four cardinal points:
via del Corso; corso Vittorio Enmanuele; via dei Fori
Imperiali, and the Nazionale route.
In the Venice square we found the palace of the same name,
part fortress and part palace, and the famous church of
San Marcos. In this basilica, one of oldest of the city,
stands the magnificent mosaic of apse, of year 833, the
porch, and the ceiling, covered by a gold layer. With
time, the forum turned out too small to welcome the development
of the flourishing empire, reason why new spaces within
the walls were created. The Imperial Forums constitute
the greater archaeological deposit of the world. Perhaps
hugest of all is the one of Trajan. Here are two small
jewels: the church of Santa Maria of the Loreto, that
conserves the statue of Santa Susana, an influential work
of the baroque era, and the sanctuary of the Holy Name
of Mary, of the eighteenth century. The Pantheon, temple
dedicated to all the Gods, has an only point of light,
a circular hole that create surprising visual effects,
and shelter the rests of the painter Raphael.
To the south of the temple are the rests of the spas of
Agrippa, in the route Arco Della Ciambella. To the South-eastern
appears Santa Maria Minerva, one of the few gothic churches
of Rome that with time has suffered diverse modifications
like the rich inner ornamentation, in charge of authors
like Michelangelo, Bernini and Filippo Lippi. Between
the multitude of Roman squares it emphasizes the one of
Navona, the most animated along with Spain square, famous
for its magnificent stairways.
Piazza Navona was designed in baroque style and lodges
true works of art: the facade of the church of Saint Agnes
in Agone, of Borromini, and the fountains of the Four
Rivers, of Bernini and the Moor. Closely together of the
piazza is the church of Santa Maria Della Pace with the
frescos of Raphael of the Four Sibyls. Between Navona
and the piazza de la Rotonda we found the Madama palace,
of the sixteenth century, constructed by the Medici and
present seat of the Senate.
In front of the palace is located the baroque church of
San Luigi dei Francesi, in which we found three paintings
of Caravaggio in the Contarelli capella. In the South
end of Navona are the Pasquino square and the palaces
of Braschi, where travelling exhibitions are celebrated
on the history of Rome, and Massimo, that belongs to one
of the oldest families of Rome.
To the south of the palace Della Cancelería, in
the via del Pellegrino, we found the animated piazza Campo
di Fiori. Used in the past by the Popes like execution
field, it’s most lay of all the Roman squares since
it never lodged no building dedicated to the religious
cult. Throughout via del Corso some palaces like the Piccolla
Farnesian can be admired, that lodges a museum with old
sculptures. The Sacred area, formed by four temples (3
squares and 1 circular) of the third and fourth centuries
BC that marks the limits of the old Jewish ghetto. The
Pope Paul IV forced the Jewish community, that until that
moment lived in the district of Trastevere, to be transferred
to the other side of the river. There we can found the
museum of Jewish Culture and a synagogue, although at
the present time only one fifth part of the population
of this zone belongs to this religion.
In the Quirinal hill, the highest of the seven, we found
the most famous of the Roman fountains, the Fontana di
Trevi. Designed by Nicola Salvi, it symbolizes the goddesses
of the Salubrity and the Abundance, flanked by the figure
of Neptune. In this hill, we found other places of interest:
the palace of the Quirinale, whose gardens only open to
the public the 2 of July -to celebrate the day of the
Republic-, churches like the one of San Carlos alle Quattro
Fontane and numerous palaces like the Barberini, that
lodges the National Gallery of Ancient Art.
On the other side of the Tíber, arise the districts
of Borgo, known like "Cittá Leonina",
and the Trastevere. The district of Borgo is formed by
labyrinthine medieval streets and the vía della
Conciliazione divides it at the present time in two zones.
In one of them, the Borgo Santo Spirito, we must stop
to admire the church of Santo Spirito in Sassia, the old
hospice in whose interior there are interesting rooms
with frescos and the museum of Sanitary Art. But without
a doubt the district has in Castel Sant’Angelo its
main point of tourist interest. It was turned, 16 years
after his construction, in the mausoleum of Adriano and
later dedicated to jail and refuge of Popes.
The district of Trastevere comprised during long time
the Etruscan empire, reason why it has characteristics
and a style different from the rest of Rome. It has a
peculiar island in the middle of the Tiber that unites
both flanks by two bridges: the Fabrizio and the Cestio.
This district is famous by his animated market, where
all Sundays objects of second hand are sold.
In the suburbs of Rome are located the spas of Caracalla,
majestic ruins of a thermal complex scattered between
the Venice square, the route Appia Antica and the catacombs
of Domitilla, the greater burial space of paleocristhian
Rome along with those of San Callisto, an important Christian
cemetery.
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