Where we are

YOUR HOME IN ROME
The apartment is located In Via Tiberio Imperatore n.15 00145 Rome , it is easy to find :

FROM TRAIN STATION ROMA TERMINI
Take metro Line B (blue colour) in the direction of Laurentina to Basilica of S. Paolo station. (six stations after; trains from 5,30 A .M. to 11,30 P.M. or saturday to 12,30 P.M. every 4,5 – 6 minutes ,see www.metroroma.it);
Or direct bus n.714 stop at Via Cristoforo Colombo near white building (Telephon Company named 3 ).

FROM AIRPORT LEONARDO DA VINCI
Train is every thirty minutes from Fiumicino Airport to Roma Termini train station and take metro line B from Roma Termini (trainstation) to Basilica S.Paolo station.

FROM AIRPORT ROME CIAMPINO
Take bus to Train Station Roma Termini (www.terravision.it) and metro Line B (blue color) in the direction of Laurentina to Basilica of S.Paolo (six statios after); from statio Roma Termini you take also direct bus n.714 and stop at Via Cristoforo Colombo near white building (Telephon Company named 3)

WITH MOTOR VEHICLE
From the ring of highway araund Rome take exit Roma Eur (hayway)to the superway called Cristoforo Colombo.(www.tuttocitta.it)

FROM HOME
It is very easy to visit:
Roman Forum
Metro line B from Basilica S.Paolo station to Circo Massimo (3 stop) direction Rebibbia, from 5.30 a.m. to 23,30.

The Imperial Forums were built by Caesar, Augustus, Trajan, Nerva and Vespasian. All that remains of the largest, Trajan's Forum, is Trajan's Column which depicts episodes of the war waged by Trajan. It is an unrivalled masterpiece. The Roman Forum was the religious, political and commercial centre of ancient Rome. The Palatine Hill, first settlement of Rome, was chosen by Domitian as the site for the Imperial Palace. The building included three main areas: the Domus Flavia, the Domus Augustana and the Stadium. The House of Livia belonged to Augustus. You can visit: Colosseo, Foro Romano and Palatino

Pantheon

Bus n.30 from C.Colombo street (bus stop across street Colombo on left) to Argentina direct (direction Clodio).


It's an ancient building founded by Agrippa in 27 BC and rebuilt by Hadrian (117-125) converted into a church (Santa Maria ad Martyres) in the 7C. The interior is a masterpiece of harmony and majesty. The side chapels contain the tombs of the Kings of Italy and that of Raphael. You can visit: S.Maria ad Martyres, S.Maria sopra Minerva

St.Angel Castle

Metro line B from Basilica S.Paolo to Termini, 6 stop direction Rebibbia and metro Line A from Termini to Ottaviano, 6 stop direction Battistini.

Was built in AD 135 as a mausoleum for the Emperor Hadrian and his family. In 1527 Pope Clement VII took refuge in the castle and installed an apartment which was later embellished by Paul III. You can visit: Castel S.Angelo Museum

Campidoglio

Bus n.30 from C.Colombo street (bus stop across street Colombo on left) to Venice square direct (direction Clodio)


On the hill which symbolised the power of ancient Rome there now stand the Church of Santa Maria d'Aracoeli, Piazza del Campidoglio and its palaces, and pleasant gardens. You can visit: Musei Capitolini, Santa Maria in Aracoeli

Fontana di Trevi

Metro line B from Basilica S.Paolo to Termini, 6 stop direction Rebibbia and metro Line A from Termini to Barberini. 2 stop direction Battistini.


The fountain, in Late-Baroque Style, was commissioned from Nicola Salvi in 1762 by Pope Clement XIII. The central figure, the Ocean, rides in a chariot drawn by two sea-horses and two tritons. You can visit: Doria Pamphilj Gallery, S.Marcello al Corso Church

Piazza di Spagna

Metro line B from Basilica S.Paolo to Termini, 6 stop direction Rebibbia and metro Line A from Termini to Spagna, 3 stop direction Battistini.


This square is dominated by the majestic Spanish Steps built in the 18C by the architects De Sanctis and Specchi. At the top of the stairs, Holy Trinity on the Hill is the French church built in the 16C. You can visit: Ss.Trinità dei Monti Church

Piazza Navona

Bus n.30 from C.Colombo street (bus stop across street Colombo on left) to Senato direct (direction Clodio)

The square was built on the site of Domitian's stadium. It's adorned at the centre with Bernini's Baroque masterpiece, the Fountain of the Four Rivers completed in 1651. On the left is the church of S.Agnese in Agone, with a baroque facade by Borromini. You can visit: The Roman Museum , S.Agnese in Agone Church

Piazza del Popolo

Metro line B from Basilica S.Paolo to Termini, 6 stop direction Rebibbia and metro Line A from Termini to Flaminio, 4 stop direction Battistini.

The square was designed by Giuseppe Valadier (1762-1839). The Renaissance Church of Santa Maria del Popolo was remodelled in the Baroque period. It contains 15C frescoes by Pinturicchio and two paintings by Caravaggio. You can visit: Borghese Gallery, S.Maria del Popolo Church From Guida a Roma (www.romecity.it)

Basilica San Pietro and  Vatican Museum

Metro line B from Basilica S.Paolo to Termini, 6 stop direction Rebibbia and metro Line A from Termini to Ottaviano, 6 stop direction Battistini.

 

According to tradition the St. Peter's Basilica (Saint Peter) is built on the tomb of the apostle Peter, crucified and sentenced around 60 AC, on the place that the pontificate Anacleto wanted to signal with the building of a "trophy".It was only with the empire of Constantine and the recognition of the Christian religion as official cult of the Roman Empire that the foundations of the paleochristian basilica of St. Peter were realized.
The works, started in 315 AC, were finished about eleven years later, when Pope Silvestro II consecrated the church with a solemnly ceremony. After more than a millennium of history the building, in which were also hosted some frescoes of Giotto, had reached a degree of heavy degradation when Pope Nicola V decided a radical restoration entrusted to Leon Battista Alberti and Bernardo Rossellino. After the death of the Pontificate, however, Pope Giulio II decided to interrupt the works, changing the project into the building of a new cathedral.
In 1506 AC the work was entrusted to Bramante who started by destroying the pre-existing basilica and then built the base of the one that would have been the biggest cathedral of Christianity. In the more than a hundred years necessary to achieve the works of the Basilica, there were some changes in the direction of the "Fabric of St. Peter"; the most famous artists of the time took the direction of the works; from Raffaello Sanzio, who around 1514 AC chose to transform the plan of the edifice realized by Bramante into a Latin cross, to Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane and Michelangelo, who, under the Pontificate of Paolo III, in addition to decide to go back to the original Greek cross project, also designed the dome of which he personally followed the realization up to his death in 1564 AC.
In the more or less thirty years which followed, the "Fabric of St. Peter" was under the direction first of Vignola and then of the Architects Giacomo Della Porta and Domenico Fontana who have the merit to have brought to achievement, around 1588 AC, the project of Michelangelo of the cupola.
The Basilica of St. Peter reached its actual aspect thanks to the intervention of Carlo Maderno, who came back to the basilica plan with Latin cross, and realized the scenographic aspect of the façade characterized by the front stairs, the outcropped columns in the masonry, the windows with the loggia of the benedictions at the centre and above the thirteen statues of Jesus, Giovanni Battista and the apostles.
The works of the basilica ended under the Pontificate of Urbano VIII in 1626 AC, but only between 1655 and 1667 AC, on the desire of Alessandro VII, Bernini projected and realized the big portico with columns of the square and put at the centre the obelisk of the I century AC coming from Eliopoli.
The Basilica of St. Peter, nowadays able to welcome 20000 believers, is more than 130 metres high and around 190 metres long, the ceilings of the bays reach almost 44 metres high and the cupola is more or less 120 metres high inside and 136 on the external lantern; the inside, characterized by the large decorations with mosaics, are also the precious box for some of the most famous art works of the work, such as for example the Baldacchino by Bernini and the statue of the Pietà by Michelangelo.
From Romaviva.com (www.romaviva.com/Vaticano/basilica-di-san-pietro_eng.htm)

Opus Sectile di Porta Marina (Museo Alto Medioevo)

Bus n.714 from bus stop in C.Colombo street  to Mrconi square direct, 3 stop(direction Eur).

You  can  see  in  Rome  at  the Museum  of   Alto  Medioevo  a  unique  and  exceptional   coating polichrome marble inlaid with a large domus tardoimperiale (382-388 a.c.) of Ostia Antica . This is an exceptional discovery made in the’ 50s  and only now , after 56 years of careful, painstaking restoration , back to light in his magnificent completeness, finding a unique and highly  visual impact. A wide variety of precious marble and plychome form images representing animals (lion) and decorations plants of immense technical sophitication and style. Testimony of an hight technology machining marble called “opus sectile” destroyed  by an unknown event, has come to us for accidental causes. It remains mysterious fuction of the large classroom so richly decorated.
From Forum.Roma.it

Ostia Antica

Train Piramide-Ostia Lido leave at metro station of Basilica S.Paolo (direction Ostia Lido) and get out at the stop Ostia Antica.

The beautifully preserved ruins of Ostia lie twenty miles from Rome, in the meadows between the Tiber River and the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was founded, probably in the 4th century BC, as a military colony to guard the river mouth against seaborne invasions. Later, during the centuries when virtually all imports reached the Capital via the Tiber, Ostia gained prominence as the domestic landing for cargo boats. By the 2nd century AD, it had become a flourishing commercial center inhabited by upwards of 100,000 people, whose apartment buildings, taverns, and grocery shops are still intact.
Although Ostia now sprawls over 10,000 acres, around a main street that runs for more than a mile, it is still easy to imagine the local shepherds who for centuries sheltered their animals amongst its ruins, for they are an integral part of the tranquil Roman countryside. No modern houses, roads or telephone wires are visible on the horizon. The streets are so quiet one hears only the crickets in the trees and perhaps the echoes of ancient children playing stickball. As you walk along Ostia's main street, the Decumanus Maximus, your feet settle into deep ruts left by carrucas, the four-wheeled carts used to ferry merchandise and baggage between Rome and Ostia. A fleet of two-wheeled cisia provided public transportation for commuters.
Once inside the Roman Gate, you visit the Baths of Neptune. Here, in a beautifully preserved mosaic measuring 55 feet by 36 feet, the sea god is seen riding a chariot drawn by four pawing horses. From here, you would be wise to go directly to the modern outdoor cafe, where you can buy a guide book that will greatly enrich your tour.
Ostia's amphitheater is next door to the bar. Erected in 12 BC, it is a quiet, wonderfully preserved series of steep semicircular stone bleachers that hold 3500 spectators. The tiny stage is still intact, and although the permanent scenery that rose three stories behind it is no longer standing, you can easily imagine what it must have looked like during the premiere of Ovid's Medea, a play that has since been lost.

Behind the theater is the Forum of the Corporations, so called because its great rectangular portico housed the offices of sixty-four maritime companies. This was where you would come if you needed to ship something to Rome, be it wheat from Spain, sugar from India, or African beasts for the Colosseum games. To find the most suitable shipper, you would examine the mosaic names and pictures still visible on the ground in front of each office. If you were pleased with the deal, you would then offer a sacrifice at the Temple of Ceres, which rises over the middle of the Forum.
A few yards away, you can climb the high podium of the Collegiate Temple. Despite its name, this was actually a social club for men of the poorer classes, who used it to hold the kind of sumptuous banquet the rich could afford to have every day. These dinners usually began at 3 p.m. and often lasted until dawn. No wonder the guests ate lying down! At another collegiate seat you'll find a triclinium, the semicircular couch upon which three men would have stretched, resting on their left elbows while they used their right hands to eat. The meals began with hors d'oeuvres, followed by seven courses. Then they started all over again, this time with entertainment and much more wine. Banquets were dedicated to the club's patron god or to newly deceased members, who needed food to sustain them on their journey to the afterlife.
Women were not invited. They would more likely have been next door, carrying their linens to the laundry-dye shop. Washing was done in the small terracotta tubs you'll see sunken into the brick counters. This work was performed by slaves, whose shaved heads distinguished them.

Logically enough, the laundry shop is next to the public baths. Walk through the main gate, where Ostians would have been met by a servant ready to help them change their clothes. In the meeting room, they would spend an hour or so chatting with friends or reading the newspaper. Then they would choose a combination of hot, cold, warm or steam baths. You can follow a winding underground passage, where servants lit boilers and emptied tubs without disturbing the clients. Above this you'll see the laconium, whose steam was provided by lead pipes still visible in the walls. Most Ostian buildings were heated this way, by hot air piped up from underground boilers.

Outside was the gymnastics field, where bathers practiced sports or calisthenics, or walked beneath covered porticoes. After a meal that might have included truffles, oysters, paté de fois, roast meats, "false fish" made of vegetables, or even a primitive kind of pasta, bathers could have a relaxing nap, use the library, attend a lecture, concert, play or circus performance. Little wonder that these ancient health clubs came to be the Ostians' favorite meeting place. At the height of the Roman Empire's glory, in the late 2nd century AD, men and women spent a good part of the day at these public establishments, mixing freely in the huge communal tubs that could accommodate up to 300 bathers at once.
Beyond the baths is a cluster of three and four-story apartment buildings. Many of them still have the groundfloor shops and dark, stuffy mezzanines where merchants and the lower classes lived. Climb the marble stairs to see the comfortable multi-room apartments that were inhabited by middle-class families. These dwellings would have had kitchens, with hot running water channeled through lead pipes in the wall.
Like this one, most Ostian apartment buildings had inner courtyards where second-floor balconies overlooked a communal cistern and swimming pool. Some properties were rented out by landlords, but the better ones were actually like ancient condos, with all the tenants sharing facilities and expenses. One important facility shared by all was the communal forica, or latrine. Each building had at least one for its tenants. The most astonishing example is a large airy room, where a marble bench with twenty holes runs the length of all four walls. Sit on the holes and suddenly it will be graphically clear just how much time the ancient Romans spent in public.
Ostia has a wonderful and blessedly small Forum. Sit on the marble fountain and picture what it would have looked like. Senators would be striding up and down the Capital stairs. At the Temple of Rome and Augustus, soldiers would be offering sacrifices to the gods. In the porticoes, which allowed citizens to congregate in good or bad weather, designers would be staging fashion shows and artists would be displaying their work.
Beneath the arches of another spacious portico, you'll encounter an ancient counterpart to the modern cafe. Near the door is a marble counter where customers could stop for a quick drink or a cold lunch, exactly as they do in modern Rome. On the wall, a fresco of salami, wine and vegetables depicts what might have been displayed on the marble shelves beneath. A large clay jar sunk into the floor held oil for frying, which would have been done in the tiny oven room next door. In warm weather, patrons sat around a small pool on a sunny patio. Only in public places like this would they have sat at a table to eat.

After about four hours of strolling through butcher shops, patrician homes, fish markets, inns, the Christian basilica, schools, and more, you'll come to the Marine Gate, which once stood by the harbor and is now more than a mile from the sea. Although you might be exhausted, muster the strength to see the Synagogue. Built by Jews who worked the barges plying the Tiber, it lay outside the city's protective walls, even beyond the cemetery.
By Kristin Jarrat (www.initaly.com)
Borghese Gallery

Galleria Borghese

Metro line B from Basilica S.Paolo to Termini, 6 stop direction Rebibbia and metro Line A from Termini to Barberini, 2 stop direction Battistin, by foot to Via Veneto and Viale Museo Borghese.From Termini you also take bus n. 910  direct to Galleria Borghese.

Bernini Apollo and Daphne	Correggio Danäe	Titian Sacred and Profane Love	Antonello da Messina Portrait of a Man	Bernini David	Raphael The Deposition
Bernini Pluto and Proserpina	Domenichino Diana	Bernini Truth unveiled by Time	Canova Pauline Bonaparte	Cranach Venus and Cupid	Dosso Dossi Circe or Melissa
Rubens The Deposition	Savoldo Tobias and the Angel	Caravaggio Madonna of the Palafrenieri	Lorenzo Lotto Madonna and Child with Saints	Caravaggio David with the Head of Goliath	Jacopo Bassano The Last Supper

The original sculptures and paintings in the Borghese Gallery date back to Cardinal Scipione's collection, the son of Ortensia Borghese - Paolo V's sister - and of Francesco Caffarelli, though subsequent events over the next three centuries entailing both losses and acquisition have left their mark.
Cardinal Scipion was drawn to any works of ancient, Renaissance and contemporary art which might re-evoke a new golden age. He was not particularly interested in medieval art, but passionately sought to acquire antique sculpture. But Cardinal Scipione was so ambitious that he promoted the creation of new sculptures and especially marble groups to rival antique works.
The statue of Pauline Bonaparte, executed by Canova between 1805 and 1808, has been in the villa since 1838. In 1807, Camillo Borghese sold Napoleon 154 statues, 160 busts, 170 bas-reliefs, 30 columns and various vases, which constitue the Borghese Collection in the Louvre. But already by the 1830s these gaps seem to have been filled by new finds from recent excavations and works recuperated from the cellars and various other Borghese residences.
Cardinal Scipione's collection of paintings was remarkable and was poetically described as early as 1613 by Scipione Francucci. In 1607, the Pope gave the Cardinal 107 paintings which had been confiscated from the painter Giuseppe Cesari, called the Cavalier d'Arpino. In the following year, Raphael's Deposition was secretely removed from the Baglioni Chapel in the church of S.Francesco in Perugia and transported to Rome. It was given to the Cardinal Scipione through a papal motu proprio.
In 1682, part of Olimpia Aldobrandini's inheritance entered the Borghese collection; it included works from the collections of Cardinal Salviati and Lucrezia d'Este.
In 1827 Prince Camillo bought Correggios' celebrated Danäe in Paris.
From Galleria Borghese.it (www.galleriaborghese.it)
General informations
To visit Galleria Borghese, the ticket reservation is needed.
Museum adress:Piazzale del Museo Borghese 5, 00197 ROMA
 
TICKETERIA 
CALL CENTER
 Tel.00390632810
Fax 0039 06 32651329

Hadrian’s Villa

Metro line B from Basilica S.Paolo to Ponte Mammolo station  (direction Rebibbia) and bus Co.Tral to Hadian’s Villa
Hadrian’s Villa near Tivoli (Rome) was built by Emperor Hadrian, starting from 117 A.D., as an imperial palace far away from the city of Rome. It is the most extensive ancient roman villa, covering an area of at least 80 hectares, more or less as Pompeii.

   In 1999 Villa Hadriana was appointed one of the Human Heritage Monuments by Unesco; as many other archaeological sites it is very famous, but still very little known in its essence, notwithstanding more than 500 years of excavations. A more scientific and modern approach to its study is a recent novelty.

   Villa Hadriana lived until late antiquity, was sacked by the Barbarians of Totila, and during the Middle Ages became a quarry of building materials for the city of Tivoli and its bishop; her identity was lost, being renamed Tivoli Vecchio (Old Tivoli). At the end of the XV century, Biondo Flavio identified again the site as the Villa of the Emperor Hadrian described by the Historia Augusta; at the same time, Pope Alexander VI Borgia promoted the first excavations in the Odeon theater, discovering several statues of seated Musae, now in the Prado Museum of Madrid, Spain. Later on, Pope Pius II Piccolomini visited the Villa and described it in his Commentarii, making the site very famous from then on.
   Starting from the XVII Century, Villa Hadriana was continuously excavated and explored, in search of treasures - mainly sculptures and mosaics - which enriched the private collections of Cardinals and Popes and, subsequently, of roman and european noblemen, especially the English.

   The first extensive excavations date back to the middle of the XVI century, and were ordered by Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este (the son of Lucretia Borgia) who was at the time the powerful Governor of Tivoli. He enrolled the great architect and antiquarian Pirro Ligorio, who redesigned for him the Villa d’Este at Tivoli, transforming the old bishop’s residence in a renaissance ’luogo di delizie’ (place of delight), a palace set in a garden with spectacular fountains, for which he spent more than a million of golden scudi, an enormous wealth even at that time.

   Pirro Ligorio excavated in many sites of Villa Hadriana, looking for statues and precious marbles which he later used in the decoration of the Villa d’Este. He has left three precious Codes where he describes his explorations and discoveries, talking about the statues and the subterranean roads, together with roman legends and myths. Ligorio’s Codes became one of the most important antiquarian texts of the Renaissance, desired in all european courts, and the fame and beauty of Villa Adriana became worldwide reknown. So did the legends about its treasures, and the excavations multiplied.
   In the XVII century there were many small private excavations, and also the Bulgarini family - which still owns the area of the Accademia - was very active. Cardinal Bulgarini discovered the so-called Barberini Candelabra, now in the Vatican Museums of Rome. In the XVIII century Simplicio Bulgarini gave permission to carry on excavations to Cardinal Alessandro Furietti, who after few days found the famous statues of Centaurs by Aristeas and Papias and of the Red Faun, now in the Capitoline Museum of Rome.

   During the XVIII century, a good part of Villa Hadriana became the property of Count Giuseppe Fede, who planted the wonderful cypressus trees still extant today. He excavated and found several statues, but unfortunately his collection was dispersed soon after his death. At that time, Villa Hadriana became one of the sites that ’could not be missed’ in the Grand Tour of many english noblemen. They were willing to spend any sum of money to buy statues or other objects found in the Villa, which later were exhibited as treasures in their palaces. The english antiquarian and art dealer Gavin Hamilton worked in the Villa together with Domenico De Angelis: their excavation at the Pantanello found an enormous amount of sculptures.
At the end of the XIX century, Villa Hadriana finally became the property of the Italian kingdom, and thus begun new restorations and excavations.

   At Villa Hadriana never was carried out a stratigraphical scientific excavation, most of them were simply treasure hunting. In recent times there have been only small explorations and cleanings. Nothing is known about the finds, there is no information about the last phases of its life and decay, even if there are signs of late antique alterations. We do not know the exact finding-spot of the greater part of its sculptures and mosaics; other finds have been lost, and there is an enormous amount of research to do just in studying and tracing back the statues.
By Marina De Franceschini (www.villa-adriana.net)