Trastevere

Walks

Piazza St. Maria in Trastevere

Piazza St. Maria in TrastevereThis square is the heart of this simpatico quarter of Rome, essentially unchanged since the 1600s. Only the fountain was altered by Carlo Fontana in 1692, the gray marble a trifle heavy looking.

To the left of the church St. Maria: Palazzo Moroni; used by the Benedictine monks when their palace became infested with mosquitoes every summer. In 1598 the Tiber burst its banks and Trastevere was inundated by 6 meters of water: 1,096 people died.

To the right of the church: No. 26 in the piazza: above the door "Fons Olei," celebrating the miraculous fountain of oil (see entry on Church St. Maria in Trastevere).

On the other side of the piazza in Vicolo St. Maria in Trastevere, 23, is charming Palazzo Leopardi.


St. Maria in Trastevere

Piazza St. Maria in Trastevere, fountain(Chiesa di Santa Maria in Trastevere). This Basilica was originally established when St. Callisto was Pope and named for him after his martyrdom which took place nearby (he was thrown headfirst from a window into a well - quite a shot).

It was soon dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the first Marian church in Rome. Keepers of taverns here, including "Taberna Meritorio" for Legionnaires, were not too thrilled with the idea of a Christian church, feeling it would dampen jollity, and they claimed ownership of the land. But Emperor Alexander Severus decided in favor of the Christians, saying, "better God should be worshipped in whatever form" there, than have taverns and boozy soldiers.

The unforgettably beautiful mosaic frieze high up on the facade portrays the presentation of gifts to the Virgin and Christ child, around whom are grouped 10 Virgins (though 6 look suspiciously like men). On the left, inside the portico, are medieval tombstones. At the base of the belfry is an 11 C mosaic of the Virgin and Child.

Many more mosaics are peppered around inside: a 12 C Byzantine one (rather rough with dark lines around face and form) at the top left of the apse, and the life of the Virgin and Christ by Piero Cavallini in comic strip form. Don't miss the pavement of Cosmati marble geometric. The Cosmatis were a family living in the 12-13 C who for generations chopped up ancient columns and Roman artifacts to make these beautiful floors and gave their name to the genre.

Two sarcophagi of Cardinals have noteworthy carving. Five Popes are supposedly buried under the altar. The ancient building to the right housed a Schola Cantorum (Liturgical singing school).

St. Maria in Trastevere

History

38 BC. This was the site of a "miracle spring" which spouted oil for one whole day. There was so much oil it flowed down to the Tiber. The current theory is that the so-called oil was actually black water from a break in the tubing of the aqueduct of Augustus, which was known to be polluted.

222 AD. Under Pope Callisto I a "meeting place" for the Christian community of Trastevere was built here, perhaps the first Christian church in Rome.

1140. The present church was built during the reign of Pope Innocent II, of Trastevere’s Papareschi family, with materials from the Baths of Caracalla.

12C. The facade mosaic was started. Restored in the 14C.

1702. The Portico was added (by Carlo Fontana); it now has fragments of antique carvings.


Piazza S. Maria in Trastevere


Arch of St. Callisto

(Arco di San Callisto). Proceed down Via St. Callisto to the right towards Via dell’Arco di St. Callisto (he was the Saint thrown down the well), and glance to the right to see the high arch over the road.

Turn left and immediately on the right are 3 medieval houses Nos. 42 with stairs and fresco; then 43 and 44. Aren't they gorgeous? Go to the end of the road and turn left on Piazza Santa Rufina. Note the medieval church tower now incorporated in the Convent of St. Rufina e Seconda on the far corner of Via della Lungaretta and Via St. Rufina. The church was built over the house where these two martyrs lived. Later in 1026 the palace of Pope John XIX was here

It's easy to tell a medieval church tower from a later one: look for tiers like a wedding cake with slim marble column lookouts holding up Romanesque arches marking the stories, and sometimes a bonus of porphyry discs or ancient plates rammed into the facade.

Via dell’Arco di San Callisto


Turn right on Via della Lungaretta. Walk to Viale Trastevere


St. Crisogono

This church's present aspect outside is from 1866, thus over-restoring a building by G.B Soria (1623). There is precious little left from the first restoration in 1122 except the belfry, and nothing of the first church which was built here in the 5C. Even before that there were other buildings under the already low present level (denoting great antiquity). 6 meters/yards below the present level, partly touching the church, are the remains of a building complex dating from the 2C AD.

On top of that an enormous hall with beautiful frescoes dating from the 3C. All of this has been covered up. Inside the church there are 22 ancient Ionic marble columns, 4 yellow alabaster and 2 large porphyry columns, with a Cosmatesque floor (12C).

In the apse behind the altar, Pietro Cavallini (13C), who also did the mosaics of St. Maria in Trastevere, created this one of St. Chrysogonus with Jesus and the Virgin. Under the church is an 8 C horseshoe-shaped room with 2 corridors, with vestiges of frescoes from this time.

Viale Trastevere corner of Piazza Sonnino


House of Dante

(Casa di Dante). Torre degli Anguillara, 12C (see: Medieval Towers). The Anguillara family was a feudal force for many centuries. The high tower, which helped guard Trastevere, was one of the few left from the Middle Ages. In those early days this tower had a palace adjoining it, and Dante is supposed to have "slept here". At any rate, there is a library dedicated to him. Though restored, with the tower cut in half, the building gives a medieval flavor.

Behind this block is a little square Piazza del Drago, (Dragon Square). Now take the tortuous Vicolo del Buco. On your left is a medieval house built into the rear end of Church of St. Salvatore della Corte.


St. Salvatore della Corte

(Chiesa di San Salvatore della Corte or Santa Maria della Luce). The facade of the church is now drowned in fake Baroque style. The Vigna Pia powder ammunition dump blew up, damaging the facade, and the 1914 repairs were not too faithful. Luckily the 12C belfry tower was not torn down, though it is difficult to see.
The apse and the transept shape are 12C, but not the decoration. Tales of a hidden fresco of Virgin and Child reappearing and working miracles destroyed this little jewel of the 12C and transformed it into a (then) up-market "new" place of worship.

St. Salvatore della Corte

History

3C AD. This was the site of a Roman hall, dedicated to St. Bonosa.

985-96. Documents prove there was a small church here in the reign of Pope John XV.

1121. Papal Bull of Callisto II mentioned this church as already functioning "for the soldiers" ("coorte" meaning "cohortes", the Roman squadrons). This bears out information about soldiers living in this area (see Church St. Maria in Trastevere). There is talk of a firemen's station just round the corner at Via della VII Corte (the Seventh Squadron). But some academics think the Latin word "curti" refers to a family: de Curtibus; others think it refers to the Jews ("curtus" meaning "cut").


Via della Lungaretta, 22A


2A Vicolo del Buco used to be an English Hospice. The last vestiges: on the wall is a small plaque in abbreviated Latin: "Collegium Angl. m num. 52 e 53"


Turn right on Via della Luce and walk down it, passing number 41, a medieval house and courtyard on your right. Turn second left on Via dei Tabacchi, and first left on Via Anicia for a medieval treat.


Confraternita of St. Giovanni dei Genovesi

Street corner in TrastevereA 15C cloister untouched since it was built (in 1482) is hidden behind a nondescript facade. Calm, beautiful, full of sweet smelling flowers. Why have we lost the knack of creating patches of heaven on earth?

The cloister was part of a hospital "for sick sailors or needy ones" (Trastevere was the traditional home of sailors), started with the largesse of a Genoa nobleman. It was rigorous in the care of patients, who were visited twice daily by the doctor. Sheets, all food, drink and medications (they ground up the herbal plants here) were provided. Cured patients took away their personal belongings; those who died without a will left their effects to the Confraternita.

In 1559, to be near their home-away-from-home, Genoan boats could anchor at nearby Ripa port.

From 1668-75 the head of the hospital was also Queen Christina of Sweden's physician.
When it ceased to be a hospital it remained a charitable institution.

Via Anicia


St. Giovanni Battista

The inside is flowery late Baroque (18C), but the proportions are generous.

The room to the left of the church entrance has a masterful "trompe l'oeil" painting of a damask curtain hanging on the wall.

In the inner sanctum through the far door all the treasures are kept: silver statues, rococò processional torches, and relics.

In the old days if you belonged to a Confraternita, you marched in religious processions which wound round your "Rione" (quarter) on "high days and holidays".

Via Anicia, 12. Open Tuesday and Thursday. Summer: 2-4 pm. Winter 3-6 pm


Out of the Confraternita turn right, then first left on Via dell'Orto. At the end of the road is the Istituto Romano di S. Michele in Via S. Michele.


Istituto Romano di San Michele

Complex originally built by Cardinal Odescalchi to train street children for jobs (1693), it has been prison, hospital and after World War II many artists invaded the place and made their studios there.

The courtyard of the orange trees is attractive, and if you ask for the bar you can get a coffee and see the oranges.
Often there are Art Shows, (sometimes in the juvenile prison, a very handsome large hall with three tiers of cells clinging to either wall), and Conferences in the main building.

Now the office of the Ministero dei Beni Culturali (Ministry of Culture).

Via San Michele

Turn right and continue straight to the Church of St. Cecilia. Past a medieval complex of buildings, on your right, now "Medieval Restaurants" with large copper chimneys rising like art works high into the sky.


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