"pesce di aprile" -- or "April Fool!"

Greetings on the feast of All Fools, from a fool for Roma!

(the literal translation 
in Italian is
 "April Fish", 

so here are two 
chocolate fishes in 
the window of Emil's favorite confectioner in the Trastevere neighborhood.)

We hope you all are well. We have been enjoying toddling around Roma. Last Thursday I wanted to see the church of San Pietro in Montorio, up on the Gianicolo Hill. My patience wore out too quickly while waiting for a bus to take me up the hill, so I hoofed it. It is not impossible, but it is a good hike. I thought I saw a couple of shortcuts on my trusty map, but the last of these was closed off for eventual repairs. So I hoofed even further. 

Here's three maps, to give you an idea of where in Rome this all is.

The arrow marks the general area.
The "real" St. Peter's is in the outlined area of the upper left.

This doesn't look far, which it isn't, on a plain, flat map.
However, there is a hill involved.
For reference, the Tiber Island is at the upper right.

A google earth overview of the area. 
The fountain has a large pool in front of it, 
and "X" marks the church of San Pietro in Montorio. 
The Tempietto of Bramante is in the cloister of the church, 
here hidden by the bell tower.

This is one of my "shortcut" paths,
to keep me away from
 the busy traffic
on the Via Garibaldi.

After at least eighty steps and much ramp walking, I found the pilgrim's friend, a tap of clear, clean, cool water.  I had already drank the bottle I brought with me. However, by this point I was too tired to correctly guess which way to turn, since one of my shortcuts was blocked, so I walked further than I intended.

But by doing do, I ended up with a visual treat. 

This lovely fountain was done by Pope Paul the Fifth in 1610-12 

as an outlet for a restored and reconstructed aqueduct to bring 

drinkable water to the residents of this hill. I've read that the Pope 

paid for this fountain by taxing wine, 

a move that still might cause complaints.

The white marble and some columns were "liberated" from a ruined temple to Minerva, down in the Imperial Forum of Nerva. Romeartlover.it says four of the granite (greyish) columns came from the old St. Peter's. Atop the fountain are his family emblems, the Borghese dragons. 

Various sources say that the short columns around the pool of the fountain were added to keep coachmen from watering their horses there. That low fence barely keeps the modern horses (cars) from falling in or even parking there. There's not much of a safe pedestrian walkway, and the cars were whizzing around very fast, another reason why I didn't take the time to look at this fountain more carefully while there. 

But the real reason I ignored the fountain was the unusually clear view, all the way to the mountains, some of which still have snow covered caps.

You can see why I nearly forgot about the church! But I knew it was scheduled to close at noon, and it was after 11 a.m., so I tore myself away.

San Pietro in Montorio has a case of mistaken identity. At least as early as the 10th century there was a monastery here, dedicated to St. Peter, based on a misinterpretation of the ancient name of the Gianicolo, or (Janiculum in English) which lead the pious to believe that St. Peter had been martyred here. They weren't too far off, only perhaps a mile, but a hill top is not a logical place for the large racecourse where St. Peter (and others) was martyred. 

Construction on the present church began in 1472, 

paid for by those

 most Catholic of Kings, Ferdinand and Isabella. 

Every American schoolchild used to know the ditty 

about what happened in 1492 when Spanish monarchs 

sent out three leaky ships and a pesky Genovese mariner. 

I think they spent much more money on this church 

and the attached monastery complex. 

It is still under the patronage of the Spanish nation, 

with the Embassy within this complex.

It is not a very large church,
and it is very poorly lit from outside at high noon,
but it has artworks by some of the best artists in Rome.

This chapel by Bernini was added in 1642-46, for the Raimondi family.
It deserved a closer look than what I gave it.


I am going to be mean and rotten and halt here. I have friends coming over for dinner tonight and there are still a few things to do. I have every intention of sending you the rest of this blog LATER, and hopefully soon. Keep well, miss you all, Carol

ps. this is Bramante's tempietto, over the supposed spot where St. Peter was martyred. There are MORE pix but I wanted to at least send you all an "April Fish" greeting!