Largo di Torre Argentina: Something Old, Something New

During prior visits to Rome we frequently passed by the Largo Argentina. It's notable because the site rests well below the current streets that surround it, a visible reminder that Rome is a stratified city of many layers. Today you can see the remnants of temples built as early as the 3rd century BC. It is also presumed to be the site of Julius Caesar's assassination.

What's new is that until now we have never been able to walk among the ruins.

With the new access comes a new appreciation of the strata of Rome. When I was a student here my professor would often use a term "palimpsest" to describe how a new building would be superimposed on an earlier one or on an even larger site with vestiges of the earlier form still visible. Bill uses this word in his research, as well.  Being at eye level with the ruins versus observing them from the street level, the stratification is apparent. Here is a medieval church that dates back to 1100s built on top of a temple ruin.

You can see the frescoes painted on the walls as well as the altar. In the 17th century an even newer place of worship was erected; it was subsequently demolished.

What used to fascinate us, besides finding ruins in the middle of the center of busy and car-congested Rome, were the cats. The Largo Argentina then and now provided a sanctuary for homeless cats. I'm happy to say that they're still there. Can you find two of them?

The renovated site allows visitors to view some of the excavated ruins that previously were not accessible. 

Part of a colossus right hand 

A dog above

While Rome is an extremely difficult city in which to navigate for anyone with a disability, the curators have made a conscious effort to bring the exhibit to the blind.

And what better way to demonstrate what's old is new again, than to bring you a Roman antiquities version of HGTV! 

The exhibit ends with another colossal head. 

Bikes

With its narrow vias, Rome has made some sensible accommodations when it comes to transport. Take these bikes, for instance.

The bike above is like the station wagon of family bikes.

Fayetteville could use some of these scooter transport bikes to clear the sidewalks of the abandoned scooters. 

When your church runs out of money

Our parish in Fayetteville is trying to build a new church, but with rising costs it can't afford all of the neo-Gothic gee-gaws it wanted, so it's back to the drawing board. 

This is not a new problem for the Catholic Church. Back in the day, we're talking 1626-50, the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius (Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola in Campo Marzio), faced a similar problem. The church was constructed in the Baroque style, but it ran out of the money needed to construct a proper dome and cupola at the church's crossing. Andrea Pozzo, who painted the ceiling of the nave, opted instead to create a trompe-l'oeil on a flat surface by painting a faux dome and cupola. Apparently, there was a fire a couple of hundred years later, so the false dome we see is a reproduction.

By the way, this is a Jesuit "Latin Catholic titular church." Thank you Wikipedia. What this means is that the church is assigned to a "cardinal deacon" (maybe an ordained priest since it looks like he could later become a cardinal bishop?). I was totally unaware of the hierarchy within the College of Cardinals and invite you to check out "Titular Church" in Wikipedia, if you're curious.

I must confess that the Roman revelers were out last night partying until the wee hours of the morning below our window. As a consequence, the complexities of the Church bureaucracy seem a bit fuzzy this morning!

Somehow I don't think that St. Joseph's Church in Fayetteville will arrive at a similar solution!

When sunlight hits Rome

 An architect once told me that light makes the architecture. Some bricks and mortar help, but sunlight does bring out the best in Roman architecture. Here are some pictures of just that.

This building above is located at the Piazza Sant'Ignazio. I would love to see the rooms inside.

The axis that leads from the Via Condotti above to the Spanish Steps is even more pronounced because the afternoon sun draws the eye directly to the Spanish Steps at the end of the via. Speaking of axes, in the picture below you see the obelisk. The city is full of them, and in Bill's words, they acted as GPS for visitors and pilgrims throughout the ages...well, at least until Mapquest and Citymapper became available!

Above is a closer shot of the Spanish Steps and its obelisk. By the way, the Via Condotti is home to some of the world's most expensive shops like Cartier, Ferragamo, Max Mara (my fav), Tod's, Tiffany, etc.

The sunlight in the picture directly above really emphasizes the church's concave facade.

The setting sun poured through the church window below.

I wish I could remember the names of all the buildings. 

Well, at least I know the names of the shops along the Via Condotti! 

Sometimes you just have to make a trip to Rome for something you want!

Amazon has lots of stuff, but sometime you just have to fly to Roma to get what you want. 

On the way to the Rome Center we stopped at my favorite hardware shop, Ottoni d'Arte. We're not talking wrenches and hammers but refined brass hooks and drawer pulls. Years ago we bought some hooks to hang gold watches and our UA medallions in Bill's study. They were perfect, but then Bill was made a distinguished professor and acquired a new medallion. We were short on hardware. Our friend, Brian, was headed to Roma and the Center and he kindly came back with another hook for us. Today we purchased some more in the event Bill is ever made Grand Jujubee or something. I mean, you never really know if you might need them, right? Incidentally, the Lady with an Ermine painting was given to us by Emilio Delgesso.

And then there are the Happy Hippos.  They're really for children, but who doesn't like a wafer filled with chocolate in the shape of a hippo?

For the best ice cream in Roma, there's Giolitti. I had the "small" glass  filled with orange sherbet, dark chocolate ice cream, a mountain of whipped cream (the real stuff) and a wafer-thin rolled cookie. Bill had the "grande" with walnut ice cream.

We walked around some more and stopped at Forno for their pizza bianca. While I walked 16,000 steps yesterday, it wasn't enough to make room for a typical dinner. Instead, we opted for a small and easy dinner consisting of the pizza bianca, some salami, a few pieces of cheese, and, of course, the vino!

Benvenuto a Trastevere

 

This is the entrance to our apartment building. The brown door is called a portone. The suffix "one" simply means that it is a large version of a thing, in this case "porta" or "door." Once inside the portone, you're in a wide hallway without windows or furniture that leads to the staircase. Our apartment is on the second floor, and you can see our living room window directly above the portone. 

These are views from our apartment windows. We face the Piazza de' Renzi. It's a gathering area for both people and cars, parking being scarce in Rome. On either side of our portone is a "ristorante," and a third across the via from our building. At night you can hear the clanking of the dishes.

You can see from the side of the building that there is a lot of graffiti. Incidentally, graffiti comes from the Italian verb "graffiare" meaning to scratch. There seems to be a lot more graffiti than when we last visited Roma, but maybe less that our first visit in 2005. Why? "Chi sa?" Who knows?

Our apartment is furnished with Ikea furniture. I was resting on the bed when I noticed the reflection of the window on the glass door of the armoire. 

Roma: very pretty, take a picture

This is my last post from Roma and it includes some random shots I snapped with my iPhone. They have not been photoshopped. The title comes from Emilio, the UArk Rome art historian who used to say that to us on site visits.

A medieval tower

Trajan's column and il Vittoriano

I couldn't decide on a picture here.

Some shots of Santa Maria della Pace

Romans post comments, poems, etc,. here.

Normally, there's a lot more stuff.

Yesterday, we went back to our little table with a view.

A very pretty facade and Italian flag.

Again, I couldn't decide which pic to post.

I like the food truck "on axis" with the Vatican.

(Roma alumni will get the allusion.)

Borgo Pio last night--setting up to shoot new Bond movie

A sign at the movie site telling gawkers that they're forbidden to stop here during the posted hours.

Bill and I agree that this has been our best stay in Roma. The apartment and neighborhood were fantastic. Bill got a lot of work done at the libraries. We spent the late afternoons and evenings just roaming around Rome.

Grazie a tutti! Arrivederci, Roma! Baci!