Capitoline Museums are the oldest existing of their genre and host one of the most important collections of classical sculptures in the world. They are located both on the Capitol Hill - sacred to the Romans - and in “Centrale Montemartini”, a former thermoelectric power plant reconverted into a museum in 1997.The work on display that catches the eye the most is the “Crepereia” doll.She takes her name from the woman whose sarcophagus she was found in, Crepereia Tryphaena.
Christmas is a Christian holy day to remember and celebrate Jesus Christ’s nativity. It is held every year on December 25th and observed throughout the Christian world. There are many traditions linked to Christmas, and, of course, they are different depending on the country and local culture. The first news about Jesus’ birth in relation to this day is from the beginning of the 3rd century CE, much before the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 CE). In Rome, the first official celebration of Christmas in 336 CE, under Constantin.The date is of course conventional. The festivity overlapped with the pagan celebrations of the "Sol Invictus”, a feast day introduced by the emperor Elagabalus (around 220 CE), celebrating the invincibility of the Sun in the day of the emperor’s birthday. Developed throughout the centuries in the whole Christian world, Christmas became particularly popular because of its cultural and social aspects in the rest of the world, like no other religious or laic festivity before.
The largest villa in Rome is Villa Doria Pamphili, often called simply Villa Pamphili. It was named after the family that in 1630 bought its original nucleus. This noble family became owner of some vineyards on the slope of the Gianicolo Hill and entrusted Alessandro Algardi to restructure the area.
One of the most unique and interesting archaeological parks in Rome is Villa Gordiani. The Villa offers entertaining to people of all ages and it surrounds visitors in a very particular atmosphere. The many archaeological remains of Roman monuments take the visitor back in time, where nature and history find a balance that can rarely be seen in other environments.
The concept of “villa” started to spread for the first time in Ancient Rome, during the second half of the Republican Age (II and I century B.C.) and stands for a countryside house that has big plots of land addressed to farming. During the Renaissance the meaning of this word changed a little bit from its classical one and the villa became a place of pleasure where people lived an idle and luxurious life. Obviously it was characterized by great gardens in which it was possible to take long walks and pass the time peacefully.The most famous Villa of the Eternal City – but not the biggest – it’s certainly Villa Borghese.
One of the most suggestive and exciting views of the Eternal City is the one from the Orange Garden. This splendid green space is on the Aventine Hill and it overlooks the Tiber river, giving, through its belvedere, the most beautiful sight. The unique shapes of Castel Sant’Angelo and Saint Peter’s Basilica from here are breath-taking. The Orange Garden is nothing but Parco Savello, that takes its name from the Savelli family, that once had a small castle on this same spot. This family, one of the most powerful in the Middle Ages, believed to descend from the mythical king Aventine, grand-nephew of Aeneas and ancestor of Romulus and Remus.
Among the most scenographic squares of the Eternal City and, probably, among the most famous squares in the world, Piazza Navona always strikes for its sober elegance, characteristic that makes it unique.
Between the Tiber Island and the “Ponte Palatino”, in the middle of the riverbed stands a very mysterious ruin. It is the last standing arches of the most ancient stonework bridge of the city of Rome.
It’s one of the most famous places of the Roman night life; destination for young people and tourists ‘Campo de’Fiori’ (literally ‘field of flowers’) is among the “loudest” areas of the city. A place of interest for people that want to stay up late eating and drinking, or just talking underneath the statue of Giordano Bruno located in the middle of the square. An unfounded legend wants this area to take its name from a noble Roman lady (Flora) who lived in this area during the I century A.D. and was thought to be loved by Pompey.
One of the most spectacular and famous works by Gian Lorenzo Bernini is the “Ecstasy of Saint Teresa”. Sculpted between 1647 and 1652, it’s dedicated to Teresa of Avila, Spanish mystic and Carmelite nun who lived in 1500s and was canonized in 1622.
One of the greatest and more brilliant artists to ever lived– as we had already pointed out – was Gian Lorenzo Bernini. He was a sculptor, a painter and an architect of the XVII century who gave his best in the Eternal City with one of the most fruitful artistic production in the history of art.
One of the most famous sculptures of the Capitoline Museums is definitely the “Girl with a Dove”. The Capitoline Museums not only have the largest collection of classical sculptures in the world, but they are also considered the most ancient public exhibition space. Although they first opened to the public under the papacy of Clement XII, at the beginning of the 18th century, in 1734 to be exact (this is already a world record, just think about Louvre that opened only in 1793), the official birth of this institution is commonly dated back to 1471, year in which pope Sixtus IV donated the bronze statues of the Lateran to the city.
If we get in the splendid basilica of Sant’Agostino, Saint Augustine, a 15th century church near Piazza Navona, and look up to the third pilaster on the left of the nave, we can see, over the sculptural group of Andrea Sansovino (representing Saint Anne, the Virgin Mary and Jesus as a child), an amazing fresco by Raphael Sanzio. The artist from Urbino, one of the greatest painting geniuses, worked in this church, since an important prelate commissioned him a fresco with the prophet Isaiah as the protagonist.
Right behind the Pantheon there is the small Piazza della Minerva, in the centre of which solemnly rises the figure of a stocky and funny little elephant. The pachyderm, made of Carrara marble, holds on his strong back a pink granite obelisk, found in 1665 circa, in the garden of the close Dominican monastery. Almost 5.5 metres tall, this obelisk, from the 6th century B.C., once decorated the temple of the Egyptian goddess Isis, that during the Roman era was located in this area.
One of the greatest masterpieces of the history of art is the Moses by Michelangelo. Extraordinary work of the Renaissance, it is the most important sculpture in the tomb of Julius II, in the church of Saint Peter in Vincoli. It was sculpted by the Tuscan artist between 1513 and 1516, and it represents the central element of this amazing mausoleum that started to host the remains of the pontiff almost a century after his death, which took place February 21st, 1513.
The Laocoon group, known simply as the Laocoon, is one of the most famous sculptures in the world. Masterpiece of Ancient Roman art, probably carved in the second half of the 1st century BC, it is a marble copy of a Hellenistic bronze statue, likely produced by the school of Pergamon. Attributed to Agesander, Polydorus and Athenodorus, three very famous sculptors from Rhodes, it represents one of the most famous episodes from the Iliad, described in detail by Vergil in the Aeneid.