Second posting, 23 March 2014

Dear Friends and Family,

It would be rotten of me to tell the Chicago contingent about the perfectly wonderful weather we've had here in Rome the past two weeks. Yesterday was the first time I felt the need to carry my umbrella with, and it only rained today. I've taken over 2,300 DIGITAL photos and can barely keep up with them myself. The first posting covered only the first HOUR I went "walkies", so I am behind!

Here's a continuation of that walk, on March 7th. You'll see a bit more from where I left off, the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, then the Portico of Octavia, a few scenes from the area around there -- a fountain, a few courtyards, a church or two, and the Theatre of Marcellus.

Here's where I abandoned you two weeks ago the lovely church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Here are sources for more info and the google map coordinates:

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-santa-maria-in-cosmedin

Coordinates:

41.888137° N, 12.481617° E

The church is above an ancient Roman temple

 to Hercules the Invincible, and there is a shrine to the 

eastern god Mithras almost beneath the church. 

This large Easter-time candle stick is from the 
restorations in the 12th century. There were many other interventions and redoings, the latest of these returned the church to what is believed to be its medieval layout.

ALL the columns are different, 
re-used from previous pagan temples and other buildings.

Many of the capitols on the re-used
columns still have their pagan figures of
gods and mythical creatures.

The side aisle toward the entrance. 

 

 A last look back at the church. 
The piazza and fountain are on the right, but the view is blocked. 

This is the only map I'll show you with this posting. The Colosseum is near the lower right corner. The Forum reaches from the left of the Colosseum to the Capitoline Hill, with a white blob atop it,
(the monument to Victor Emanuel). 

The yellow line near the bottom is where S. Maria in Cosmedin is. The yellow circle is the neighborhood I will be showing you photos from. It is not large, but it is packed with buildings and histories, and once housed a large population.

These three photos are from 2004, to show that ten years is a
mere moment in Roma. The decay of the wall is not a sign of poverty, unless one counts endless layers of Roman and Italian bureaucratic interference and overlapping authorities as a form of impoverishment.

This is the front of what had been the monumental entrance 

to the Portico of Octavia.

The Emperor Augustus built this between 27 and 23 BC, 

in honor of his sister. It was rebuilt after a fire in 203 AD by the Emperor Septimus Severius, as mentioned in the inscription below the 

triangular pediment on the front. 

But what was this for? 

For a hint of its original glory, go to 

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Porticus_Octaviae.html

It was a very large portico, some 387 feet wide 

(118 meters) and a bit longer. What remains now was an entrance to it.

It enclosed the temples of Jupiter Stator (the Stayer) 

and Juno the Queen.

 It described in great detail by Pliny.

Its surfaces were adorned with foreign marbles,

 and there were many well known statues on 

display throughout. 

http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi28a.htm 

will take you to several delightful and informative pages on a favorite source of mine about the Portico and its neighborhood.

The photo below, from 2014, shows the Portico is at long last undergoing some repairs. No one was kidding when they started the expression "Rome wasn't built in a day . . ."

Do you think this looks bad? You should have seen it about 250 years ago, when Piranesi drew the below view of the portico,
in its then use as a fish market. 

(It was very near the Tiber. The market continued until the late 1800's.  

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/64.521.2

The below view is from a bit further back, to show you the buildings 

to the right of the portico. To the left of the red "do not enter" traffic sign are two memorial plaques; wreaths are usually placed there.

 

A memorial on the spot where
1,000 Jews
were rounded up for deportation on
16 October, 1943.
 Only 16 ever returned to their homes.

The commemorative plaques. 

Every year on the date, a Catholic group organizes a procession 

from a holding area for the deportees to here, and there is also an 

inter-faith ceremony and prayers. The local press has noted that joining the procession and prayers are dozens of present-day immigrants.

http://www.santegidio.org/pageID/3/itemID/5745/langID/en/16_October_1943__16_October_2012_Memory_of_deportation_of_the_jews_of_Rome.html

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Rome.html

Roma - Piazza della Verita' / Foro Boario

Dear Friends,

we are finally back in Roma, after postponing our autumn 2013 trip. I will try to keep these posts a little shorter, and perhaps a bit more frequent. I'm including a few photos I snapped on my first walkies, while Emil was taking a nap.

Here's an overview map of Roma, with two detail maps following. 

(These will almost always be Google maps.)

General overview of Rome. Area of this blog is in red circle.

The red oval more than covers the small area I'm showing you today, the Foro Boario, from the Latin "Forum Boarium", or cattle market of earlier Rome. 

I will try to have at least one reference point in any maps. Three of the most usual reference points on the closer in maps will be:  purple arrow - monument to Vittorio Emmanuel, at Piazza Venezia; blue arrow - Colosseum; green arrow - main train station (Termini).

Below is the detail map (and satellite view) of the red oval area above. Inside this little area, there are enough places of historical, religious and artistic interest to fill a book, including about 
15 religious institutions and churches. This is a higher density than usual, but this area is very near the ancient Forum and has been important throughout Rome's long history.

Before I put you all to sleep, below is the first picture. The stump of an ancient bridge is now called the "Ponte Rotto" (broken bridge). On the map, the yellow-orange arrow points to it. In the middle is the Tiber Island, a vital early point for Rome, as it made crossing the Tiber much easier to bridge. This island has always been associated with healing (there was a temple to the ancient god Asclepius here), and there is still a hospital, and also a lovely church, Sant Bartolomeo.  

In the background is the dome of the Jewish Synagogue, (arrow near upper left of this map. Sorry about two arrows turning out the same color.) The Synagogue was added around the turn of the 1900's. There has been a Jewish community in Rome for 2,000 years. Again, this is another topic that has many books written on it already, but I'm holding off saying more for now.

photo of Ponte Rotto, Tiber Island, and 

Synagogue rising in the right background.

In the middle of the Foro Boario is this small, 

early temple, to "Portunus"

(4th or 3rd Century B.C.; restored in 1st C. B.C.),  

restored most recently in the past three years. 

Portunus was a youthful god, associated with seaports and water crossings. 

See the World Monument Fund site 

for more info.

http://www.wmf.org/project/temple-portunus in English.

This small temple survived due to its 

becoming a small church. 

Here's a view of it, from the other short end, 

as engraved by Piranesi in the mid 1700's. 

(source:  http://sights.seindal.dk/img/orig/10014.jpg)

Here's this week's view, 

after two and a half centuries,

and a major cleaning/restoration -- 

probably the first since the 1920's. 

The interior is not open to the public, 

and a high fence keeps snap-shooters off it.

Note the small round temple in the right background, half hidden by trees.

Below is a view of the round temple, 

now identified as being dedicated to Heracles, 

from about a hundred feet the other side of the temple of Portunus.  

This fountain is called after its location, 

"La Fontana della Bocca Verita", 

and was ordered by Pope Clement XI, 

(reigned 1700-1721).

The round temple is to "Hercules Victor", 

although it was long believed to be to Vesta, 

the goddess of sacred fires, 

and was first built in the 2nd C. BC.

The above view is an engraving by Vasi, 

mid 1700's.  There's much more info at

 http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi56.html

The below shot is from the side of the temple of Hercules Victor, looking towards Santa Maria in Cosmedin. The entire piazza has the name of "Bocca della Verita'" 

from the the "Mouth of Truth" 

on the front porch of the church.

Below is a close up of some of the capitals. 

The leftmost has been completely recreated, based on the remains; 

the middle one is missing its top 

so a plain block is there; 

and the last one is typical of the general condition of these capitals.

The monks at S. Maria in Cosmedin 

have a "cash cow" 

on their front porch. It is their 

large, ancient, decorative sewer cover, 

set upright against a wall. 

Tourists line up by the hundreds 

at a time to pay for their 

"15 seconds of fame" photo opportunity performing the 

test of their truthfulness by sticking their hand 

in the "mouth" of the sewer cover's face.

NO ONE has ever failed this test.

I am too cheap to wait in line for a proper photo 

of the "Mouth of Truth", 

so here's a similar (and I think nicer looking) one a few blocks away 

outside the church of Santa Sabina.

Below is a view of the inside of 

Santa Maria in Cosmedin. 

The columns are from various ancient 

(PAGAN) temples. Nearly all of the folks 

waiting patiently in line for their 

"moment of truth" photo don't have 

the time to explore this wonderful old church.

However, I said I would keep this short, 

and so shall close here for the moment.

Again, I hope you all are well.

Ciao, Carol