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

Barely a few blocks away is one of 

the neighborhood's happier scenes, 

the Turtle Fountain (Fontana delle Tartarughe) 

at Piazza Mattei.

These jolly fellows have adorned this fountain since its construction in the late 1500's. It is presumed a Florentine artist did the work, as their lithe bodies are unusual in Roman statuary. The turtles were added later by Pope Alexander VII, (1655-1667) to replace some of the original dolphins there, as the water pressure was too low for a nice jetting of the water. The fountain was recently restored, and the marble basins' color suddenly emerged. 

The piazza is called "Mattei", because that extended family owned several palazzi surrounding it. The courtyard of this one was designed in the late 1400's in the manner then in style in Florence. Note the slight contrast with the  courtyard of the family's adjacent palace, (done a century later).

The facade of the 
Palazzo Mattei di Giove 
is also in a simple Florentine style.
But the internal courtyards are
 anything but austere. 

Nice, you might think, 
but what's the excitement 
about this palazzo?
 The reuse and embellishment 
of frontal slabs from 
sarcophaghi or the 
portrait busts from
 a small tomb was not 
that unusual in Rome.

Here's what you see
when entering the courtyard.

Then you turn around and look UP. 

This is starting to look interesting!

This year there are repairs going on, 

which blocks the full visual impact of the courtyard. 

 

If you come at noon, bring your sunglasses, for  the side walls can be dazzling then.

These are very tastefully and artistically displayed, however, Rome still has so many fine statues that 
these are said not to be "especially valuable". That is because most of these are combination or restoration pieces, or are merely copies. 

Even so, I'd be VERY happy to have any of these in the hallways of my condo building!

Here is a view of the very nearby St. Catherine of Alexandria, called 

S. Caterina de' Funari after the rope makers who worked in the dampish ruins 

of the Crypta Portico of Balbi nearby. The church was entirely rebuilt in the 1560's. The bell tower is actually straight, but it is a reworking of a medieval bell tower. Immediately to the right of the church is a long neglected building, 

that is finally being repaired.  

A little further is one of the several buildings in the area 
that proudly have removed their external stucco and 
stonework to show the reuse of ancient Roman columns 
in their construction. There is also a small public water fountain around the corner, which has been very useful to me at times.

Less than a block further is the lovely Palazzo Albertoni Spinola, 
16th C. When looking up on the web about this palazzo, 
I discovered it on a realtor's website!

http://www.thepalazzettoalbertonispinola.com/#!historical-notes/cb3i

If I read things correctly, it is at least 3,800 sq. feet and as for the listing price, well, if one has to ask, one couldn't possibly afford it!

Across the piazza is the very fine church, Santa Maria in Campitelli.

The interior was rather cleverly designed to make the nave look longer than it is. I have to go there when there is daylight and no services going on to better capture that.

The dome is rather fine, too, and again, it needs daylight to show to its best advantage. Several of the chapels are almost invisible in the gloom of the early evening.

The current version of the church
is from the early 1700's.

http://www.santamariainportico.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=385

 

Here's the dome from the side of the Portico dell' Ottavia.

Here's a daytime view of the Theatre of Marcellus, the three reconstructed columns from a temple to Apollo Sosanius,
with the Portico dell' Ottavia is not visible behind the building
behind these columns. 

(The Theatre of Marcellus was dedicated in 11BC. It was more than 98 feet -- 
30 meters -- high and could hold more than 12,000 spectators.)

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/romanurbs/sosianus.html

for a nice piece on this temple. I have several photos from other pieces of the temple of Apollo Sosanius that are in a museum, but this blog entry is far too long already!

Peeking over the roof tops is the dome of Santa Maria in Campitelli. 
I wasn't kidding, these wonderful places
are almost a stone's throw from each other.

A slightly different angle from the above shot
reveals the dome of the Great Synagogue.

Here's a view of the Synagogue
 from its side facing the Tiber.

Last but not least is an evening view (from a couple years ago) of the Theatre of Marcellus, with the Synagogue in the right background.

Buona sera, miei amici! I hope you all are well 
and I shall write again soon.