All posts by : Adm_Vivicos

Villa Farnesina is a Renaissance building located in Trastevere, Rome that today houses the Lincei Academy.

Built from 1502 to 1512 by the young architect Baldassarre Tommaso Peruzzi for Agostino Chigi, Villa Farnesina, at the time known as Villa Chigi, fully captures the Renaissance period.

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The history of Villa Farnesina

When Chigi died in 1520, the Villa became the home of many pieces of art. In 1580 it was bought by cardinal Alessandro Farnese and that’s when its name was changed to Villa Farnesina. Later on, it became the property of the Borbone family and was restored multiple times until the opening of the Lungotevere in 1884 destroyed some of its gardens.

In 1927 it became the property of the Italian government and went on to be fully restored multiple times until it became the Lincei Academy.

The Raffaello’s frescoes

The most fascinating aspect of Villa Farnesina is definitely its decorations; the Villa is full of magnificent frescoes by painter Raffaello Sanzio, commissioned by Agostino Chigi.

One of the most magnificent ones is located in the “Loggia di Amore e Psiche”, on the ground floor of the Villa. Raffaello chose to paint a story on the walls of this salon that was meant to receive and surprise guests. With his frescoes, he told the fascinating and lovely story of “Amore e Psiche”.

Raffaello was not alone in this though… his students (Giulio Romano, Raffaellino del Colle, Giovan Francesco Penni) helped him paint and decorate this beautiful room.

Located between Via Sistina and Via Gregoriana, Palazzo Zuccari, despite the modifications and extensions that have taken place over the past centuries, still reflects the talent and creative flair of its creator, the painter Federico Zuccari, who designed it as his home and studio in the last decade of the 16th century on the remains of the ancient gardens of Lucullus.

You all know the steps leading from the Spanish Steps to Trinità dei Monti, but perhaps not everyone knows that at the top of those steps, between Via Sistina and Via Gregoriana, stands Palazzo Zuccari. This building is most famous for the decorations on one of its facades, but there is much more inside.

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The history of Palazzo Zuccari

Let’s start with a bit of history: Palazzo Zuccari was built in 1590 by Federico Zuccari as his home and studio, with the idea of creating a sumptuous home that would reflect his creative personality. Originally, the palace consisted of three separate areas: the studio, the garden and the private residence, but over the following centuries, it underwent numerous extensions and renovations.

After Zuccari’s death, the palazzo was sold and extended in height with the construction of two floors. In 1702 it was leased to the Queen of Poland, who modified the main facade overlooking Trinità dei Monti by building a portico with six columns. The palace became a cultural center of the 18th century in Rome and it continued to be a home for artists in the following years, hosting people like Winckelmann. In 1756, part of the complex was given to the Brothers of the Christian Schools who made it into a school. This was until 1904 when Palazzo Zuccari was bought by Henriette Hertz who made a further change, constructing a three-story building instead of the garden. It is thanks to her that after her death the Hertziana Library was built inside the palace.

Why it is also called the House of Monsters?

The most characteristic feature of Palazzo Zuccari, and the one that immediately catches the eye, is the large doorway and windows on the facade on Via Gregoriana, which is why the palace has been renamed the House of Monsters. These somewhat unusual decorations were commissioned by Zuccari himself, who had them built to impress his guests. At the time they were the entrance to the garden and were meant to intimidate the visitor and create a pleasant effect of astonishment in contrast with the paradisiacal beauty of the garden and the interior of the house. Did he succeed? At the time I imagine it had a certain effect and fortunately it is one of the few parts of the building that have remained the same to this day!

The aqueducts of Rome are the aqueducts that have supplied or still supply the city of Rome with water since Roman times, a total of 16: 11 ancient and 5 modern.

Today we will talk about the famous Virgin Aqueduct. It probably takes its name from the purity and freshness of its water, although an evocative legend has it traced back to the maiden who pointed out the place of the springs to the soldiers in charge of the search.

The Aqua Virgo was the sixth of the eleven ancient Roman aqueducts. Restored in the Renaissance and renamed Aqua Virgo, it is still functional today. Don’t miss the chance to visit it with one of our Rome Tours.

Like the Aqua Iulia, it was built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a faithful friend, collaborator, general and son-in-law of Augustus, and was inaugurated on 9 June 19 BC. Its main function was to supply the Baths of Agrippa in the Campus Martius.

The history of Aqua Virgo aqueduct

Aqua Virgo originated from springs in the Agro Lucullano, near the 8th mile of the via Collatina, in the present-day locality of Salone, and ended in Campo Marzio after a mainly underground route of over 20 kilometres. Starting therefore from an area south-east of Rome, it entered the city from the north, after making a wide arc. It followed the via Collatina to the locality of Portonaccio, where it crossed the via Tiburtina. The aqueduct crossed the Fosso della Marranella on arches at its confluence with the Aniene. A large elevated section, 320 metres long, built in tuff reticulated work, is visible here. Then the Aqua Virgo headed towards the Nomentana and the Salaria then, bending southwards, it crossed the Villa Ada and Parioli areas, passing under the nymphaeum of Villa Giulia, and entered the city near the Muro Torto.

A piscina limaria (decantation tank) was located near the Pincio slopes, where the ancient conduit is accessible via a scenic spiral staircase built during the Renaissance.  At Via due Macelli the path becomes open and continues on arches. Impressive remains can be seen inside the ‘Rinascente’ at Via del Tritone and at Via del Nazareno.

FARES:

Adult: € 4,00 ; Reduced: € 3,00

If you are in Rome in the area of Vatican City for a Vatican Tour, you surely can’t miss the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone in Piazza Navona.

The church of Sant’Agnese in Agone has stood since the 8th century AD on the western side of Piazza Navona, the ancient Stadium of Domitian. The building was built on the site where, according to tradition, the young Christian girl Agnes suffered martyrdom during Diocletian’s persecutions.

The history of the Church

The current construction was started by Girolamo and Carlo Rainaldi in 1652, under Pope Innocent X, and completed by Francesco Borromini (1653-57), who considerably modified it, resulting in the concave façade with a single order of pillars and columns, surmounted by the high dome; the twin bell towers, designed by Borromini, were made by Antonio Del Grande and Giovanni Maria Baratta. The patron, Innocent X Pamphilj, and other members of the family are buried inside a crypt to the left of the high altar.

The interiors of Sant’Agnese in Agone

The interior, designed by Rainaldi, retains the Greek cross plan and is remarkable for the splendour of its gold and marble. The dome, supported by eight columns, was frescoed by Ciro Ferri, while the pendentives are the work of Baciccia. The basement, created from an ancient medieval oratory, houses on the altar The Miracle of St Agnes’ Hair, a marble relief by Alessandro Algardi.

Moving to the adjacent Piazza di Tor Sanguigna, it is possible to admire part of the original structures of the Stadium of Domitian.

The façade of the church, characterised by its receding central part and curved side parts, is in the middle of two bell towers, both culminating in a conical roof bearing crosses. The façade, devoid of decoration except for the garlands between the pilasters, has three portals, with the central one larger than the others.

The dome, by Giovanni Maria Baratta (drum) and Carlo Rainaldi (lantern), is decorated at the base by pairs of Corinthian pilasters alternating with rectangular windows.

The interior has a Greek cross plan, with the transversal arm longer than the longitudinal one, and proposes an octagon in the centre of the church with the entrance, the apse and two side chapels on the main axes. On the four sides diagonal to the axes, between pairs of Cottanello red marble columns, there are four niches in which four altars with precious marble frontals and reliefs are located. These and the basins, which surmount them, were realised according to the decorative project in which Alessandro Algardi also participated, but he was unable to finish the commission due to his death in 1654, so the work was continued by two of his pupils, Ercole Ferrata and Domenico Guidi.

The dome supported by eight red marble columns is decorated with wall paintings depicting several saints.

Rome has always had to come to terms with its own largeness, for better or for worse. At first a simple village, it became in the course of 2 millennia the shining Capital of an Empire and then a symbol of its own decadence. The Middle Ages, in fact, took it back in time, emptying it of its magnificence: epidemics, power crises, barbarian invasions, all contributed in equal measure to transforming and rendering unrecognisable the city that had once been the Metropolis par excellence of antiquity.

The Patron Popes in Rome during the Renaissance

If you are interested in discovering the history of the Patron Popes during the Renaissance in Rome, you should definitely join us for a Tour of Christian Rome.

Centre of Christianity – becoming the host city of Peter’s successor benefited the Urbe in no small measure during the Renaissance: the 16th century was to all intents and purposes the era of greatest change and urban reorganisation after the splendours of the Empire, thanks mainly to patron Popes such as Sixtus IV, Leo X and Julius II. To them, in particular, we owe some of Bramante’s, Raphael’s or Michelangelo’s masterpieces. The Last Judgement (1535-1541) frescoing the Sistine Chapel – commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere himself – is one of the most important examples of the social and cultural revival of a city that had become anonymous in the eyes of the world during the dark ages.

It was thus the splendour of the Vatican that animated the new centre of Rome, making St Peter’s the starting point of the capital’s new road network: Ponte Sant’Angelo, Via Giulia, Via dei Banchi Nuovi and Via dei Coronari together with the so-called Tridente became the basis of Rome’s modern urban topography in this period. Via dei Condotti – built by Paul III – was instead the basis for the development of the area around Trinità dei Monti and the reconstruction of the Campidoglio. While it was up to Sixtus V to connect the main nerve centres of the city and the great basilicas, among other things making the availability of roads far greater than the real needs of a population of around 100,000.

The urban scheme thus conceived did not change until the 18th century, although there were important interventions by Bernini or Maderno, who embellished Rome with large squares, finely decorated with colonnades, obelisks and fountains, such as the Barcaccia at the foot of Trinità dei Monti. Also from this period are the squares of the Baroque age, such as those of St. Peter and St. John Lateran, Colonna, Montecitorio and Piazza Navona, or those of St. Mary Major, Spagna or the Trevi Fountain, the latter recently restored.

Also in this period, the Rioni became 14 again: Borgo and Trastevere, which were separated by decision of Sixtus V.

A new urban development plan, however, would not be developed until 1873, when the engineer Viviani initiated the Umbertine and Benito Mussolini’s demolitions. Some districts were partly razed to the ground and new roads were opened.

The Tiber Island is a river island and the only urban island of the Tiber in the centre of Rome. In the Forma Urbis of the Severan age it is referred to as “inter duos pontes”: it is in fact connected to the two banks of the Tiber by Ponte Cestio and Ponte Fabricio.

Discover the Tiber Island with one of our Rome Tours.

The legends about Tiber Island

According to an ancient legend, the Tiber Island arose from the heaps of sheaves of wheat, belonging to the Tarquins, that the Romans threw into the river when they were driven out of Rome. The quantity was such that the sheaves, piled on top of each other, formed the embankment that was the first nucleus of the island. Such a late origin of the Tiber Island seems difficult to sustain: at the time of the great work on the Tiber, which took place at the end of the 19th century, it was possible to examine its nucleus, which turned out to be made of volcanic rock, on which a considerable mass caused by the floods was later superimposed.

The truth is that if the fundamental reason for the birth and development of Rome is due to its topographical location on the river, it is also true that thanks to the Tiber Island, which has always been a sort of natural bridge with its sandbanks emerging from the water and therefore a point of exchange at the crossroads of the two most important roads from the commercial point of view, the ‘via Salaria’ and the ‘via Campana’, a real emporium was born for the city that was being built behind it.

There is also another legend about the birth of the Tiber Island, perhaps even more famous than the first one: it tells of a ship that, in 291 BC, a serious epidemic having broken out in Rome, sailed to Epidaurus, a city sacred to Aesculapius, the most important healer god of Greece, with a commission of Roman scholars to ask the deity of medicine for help. But while the propitiatory rites were taking place, a huge snake came out of the temple and took refuge on the Roman ship.

Certain that Aesculapius had turned into a snake, the ship hurried back to Rome. When the ship reached the island, the snake descended into the river and swam to the Tiber Island, where it disappeared, thus indicating the location where the temple was to be built: construction started soon afterwards and was inaugurated in 289.

The location of the temple would coincide with the church of St Bartholomew: the medieval well, which still exists near the altar of the church, would correspond to the fountain with which the temple was certainly endowed. The temple was a real hospital: several inscriptions have survived testifying to miraculous healings, votive offerings and dedications to the deity. The sick were cured ‘especially with water’, as a 4th-century grammarian, Pompeius Festus, writes. In memory of the miraculous event, the island took the form of a trireme, with a prow, stern and even a mast, represented, originally, by an obelisk (two fragments of which are in the National Museum in Naples, while the third is in Munich) and later by a column with a cross. This column was called ‘the infamous column’ because a table was posted here (the custom lasted until after 1870) in which the ‘bandits who did not attend the Eucharistic mass on Easter Day’ were indicated.

The Tiber Island today

The island’s tradition as a place of healing did not end with the demise of the Temple of Aesculapius: in the 16th century, a hospital was built here run by the Congregation of St John of God, the ‘Fatebenefratelli’ a nickname derived from its founder, St John of God himself, a Portuguese friar who, dressed in his habit, in front of the hospital he had organised, used to address an unusual call to passers-by in the streets of Granada: “Do well, brothers!” It was an invitation to do charity, but also good for one’s soul. The Congregation also had the concession to open pharmacies and so they opened one next to the hospital.

The hospital complex is also called St John Calibita, from the church attached to the hospital, which has an old cloister with lunettes painted in the 18th century.