hide side of rome: 2009

Fontana delle Tartarughe - Turtle's Fountain

A jewel inside the Jewish Ghetto. A fountain by Giacono della Porta commissioned by the Mattei family, then adorned by bronze sculptures (turtles, dolphins and Pans).

The piazza is named after the Mattei family, one of the most powerful families in Rome during the Renaissance.this fountain was built indeed, by the Mattei family.
There is a nice story about the construction of this fountain.

Four ephebes (adolescent boys) cavort around the base of one of Rome's loveliest fountains, gently hoisting tortoises up to the waters above them.

According to legend, Giacomo della Porta and Taddeo Landini built the fountain for the Duke of Mattei at some point in the 1580s. The duke, so

the story goes, had lost all his money and hence his fiancée, and wanted to prove to her father that he could still achieve great things. He had the fountain built overnight in the square outside his family palazzo (you can wander freely into the classical, carving-clad courtyard of the palazzo, now home to an American studies centre); the next morning he triumphantly displayed his

accomplishment from a palace window.

The wedding was on again, but he had the window walled up, and so it remains. The turtles were

probably an afterthought, added by Bernini during a restoration.

The ones there today are copies: three of the originals are now in the Capitoline museums; the fourth was stolen and presumably graces some private fountain.

A stroll on Ponte Sisto.

The best way to soak up the city — and to find some of the quainter (and more affordable) shops — is to zig-zag from vicolo to vicolo (alley), piazza to piazza.

For a good two-hour stroll, start at the bustling Piazza Navona, then head south through Campo dei Fiori, where you'll find cafés and daily food and flower markets, to the beguiling Piazza Farnese, with its pair of fountains and Renaissance palace.

From there, continue toward Ponte Sisto. The ponte (bridge) offers a great perspective on the beauty of Rome, with the Gianicolo hill rising to the west and St. Peter's Basilica to the north. Cross the Tiber to arrive in the utterly charming Trastevere neighborhood, where laundry swings overhead and flowers burst from window boxes.

The current bridge was built by Pope Sixtus IV between 1473 and 1479 as a replacement of a prior Roman bridge named Pons Aurelius.

The bridge is architecturally characteristic because of its central circular "eye".

It connects the popular night-life areas near Campo de' Fiori and Trastevere and has become part of popular culture and recently featured in films, music videos, and adverts.

The Ponte Sisto connects the lively and Popular Piazza Trilussa in Trastevere, where many young Romans gather for an apperitivo on a Friday night, with the via Pettinary and via Giulia in Campo Marte.

On the corner of via Pettinari and via Giulia once stood a fountain, a work

of the Acqua Paola Aqueduct, the water of which was brought over the bridge from the Transtiberim to the Campo Marte via Ponte Sisto.

After the Unification of Italy in 1870, the buildings surrounding this fountain were destroyed, and the fountain itself relocated to Piazza Trilussa on the other side of the bridge, where it delivers water to this day.

Galleria Borghese, the Museum.

They say the best museum in Rome is the city itself. That may be so, but the Galleria Borghese is still a gem worth seeing.
Its collections are housed in a magnificent 17th-century villa and offer a compact course in the Italian aesthetic. In just 20 rooms, you are exposed to antiquities, the Renaissance and the beginnings of baroque art.

Visits to the Galleria in the northeast corner of the sprawling

Villa Borghese park are by reservation, which allows you the pleasure of seeing the Bernini sculptures from every angle without being crowded out.

Many believe that its sculptures, which include works by Bernini (including his sculpture David) and Canova, make the Borghese a must for those interested in art and history. Other works by Titian, Correggio, Raphael, Canova, Bassona and Rubens add

to the glory of the Borghese.

Reservations are required for the Gallery and can be made

online with this website.

For additional information on the Borghese, follow this link the

Gallery's official website. The Borghese Gallery and Museum is located at Piazzale del Museo Borghese 5 in Borghese Park and is open Tuesdays through Sunday.

While the Villa is a focus for many, the Villa Borghese Park is one of the largest in Rome and a pleasant respite from the activity of the city (sometimes it feels like the word "eternal" in Eternal City refers to its never ending traffic and noise). Offering beautiful monuments, landscaped lakes, dramatic fountains and manicured Old-World style gardens, the Borghese Park is an excellent place for a relaxing walk.

The Villa is remote from the Metro (the Piazza di Spagna stop is the closest). Although the walk is long, the park is a great place for a stroll. (Look at our museums map in Hybrid View to see the park

and the Gallery.) Many prefer to walk to the Borghese (from the Piazza Popolo or the Spanish Steps) and take a taxi for the return to their hotel.

Lost secrets of Rome Gladiators

Thanks to the ground breaking work of Austrian forensic anthropologists – Dr Fabian Kanz and Professor Karl Grossschmidt – at a mass Gladiator grave in Ephesus, Turkey, Timewatch has been able to establish a detailed picture of how the Gladiator, identified as Gladiator trainer Euxenius, may have lived, fought and died.

The Gladiator grave at Ephesus contained the intermingled bones of 68 corpses – nearly all young men under 30 – totalling over 2,000 bones, with a further 5,000 fragments. Kanz and Grossschmidt have been conducting detailed tests on the remains for five years.

One of the corpses Kanz and Grossschmidt discovered, when tested, was significantly older then the rest. The remains were at least 50 years old at time of death, and had two major healed wounds to the skull.

These facts, combined with the finding of a tombstone at the site dedicated by two young gladiators to the memory of their trainer Euxenius, strongly suggest the remains were those of a retired Gladiator-turned-trainer – the world's first named Gladiator remains.

Franz and Grosschmidt used a spectrometer to establish the amount of strontium in Euxenius's bones. Levels of strontium indicate the amount of vegetable matter consumed over a lifetime, the higher the levels the more likely that the diet is devoid of meat. The pair thought that strontium levels would be lower in Gladiators, as they would need a protein rich diet in order to build muscle tissue.

What they found in Euxenius, and other unnamed Gladiator corpses, was to astound them. The results proved that Gladiators in fact had an almost completely vegetarian diet. They probably ate a diet of barley and beans washed down with a vinegar/ash drink – the forerunner of sports drinks.

It was only the night before the fight that Gladiators were allowed to feast. This rather bland and pulpy diet and reduced salivation associated with physical stress could account for their high instance of acute caries – tooth decay.

"The Romans may have known more about the human body than we ever thought possible," says Dr Kanz.

"Today in osteoporosis research a lot of work is being done to see if administering strontium instead of calcium will build strong bones. It has been found that if strontium is administered, the healing process takes place faster and the bones become more stable.

"Higher levels of strontium could have meant that Gladiators were less likely to receive crippling injuries and wounds."

In addition to diet, Timewatch – Gladiator Graveyard reveals that Gladiators benefited from advanced medical surgery.

The remains of Euxenius, and other Gladiator remains, showed evidence of surgical intervention – including complicated procedures such as amputations and cranial surgery.

The father of modern day surgery, Galen, is known to have practiced only 60 miles away from Ephesus, and Kanz and Grossschmidt have firm evidence that his techniques were used on many of the skeletons they studied.

Museum of Roman Civilization

The Museum has both documentary and educational value, in that the material on display is essentially made up of reproductions of xamples of classical archaeology which have either been lost or destroyed or of works, which have been pieced back together.

There are mainly moulds of statues, busts, inscriptions, reliefs and of life-size parts of buildings, of plastic models of monuments and architectonic complexes of Rome and of the provinces of the Roman Empire, as well as evidence of the so-called “material culture” such as furnishings, objects of domestic use and work tools.

The Museum is divided into 59 sections that cover a surface area of 13,000square metres, for a wall development of 3 kilometres and a height of about 10 metres: such dimensions obviously make it possible to reconstruct, completely or partly, buildings and monuments of the ancient Roman world.

The first fourteen rooms house an historical summary of the origins of Rome until VI century A.D., which includes a map that illustrates the progressive expansion of the Roman Empire, the portraits of emperors and illustrious men including Caesar, Augustus, Claudius, Nero, Brutus, Pompeus, Cicero, and plastic models of numerous Augustan, Trajan, Severian and Aurelian monuments.
There are moulds of inscriptions and early Christian reliefs and sarcophaghi including that in porphyry of Costantina, the daughter of emperor Constantine, that of urban prefect Giunio Basso and that of St. Ambrose on exhibit in the section dedicated to Christianity.

Among the numerous other sections that reconstruct Roman civilization in its varying aspects in detail, from public life to everyday life, there are those dedicated to the military sectors of the army and navy, that of the ports and provinces of the empire, a section dedicated to baths, aqueducts, nymphaea and reservoirs and a section illustrating theatres, amphitheatres, circuses and arenas with plastic models of the Colosseum and the Theatre of Marcello in Rome.

The complete series of moulds of the Trajan Column deserves a special mention, there are reliefs that illustrate the two military campaigns of the emperor Trajan against the Dacians (101-102 and 105-106 A.D.) and the plastic model of Rome (scale: 1:250; surface:200 metres squared), created by architect Italo Gismondi, which reproduces the city as it was presented at the time of the emperor Constantine, and it is reconstructed on the basis of results and research and excavation campagins carried out over the years.

It’s construction had started for the Augustan Exhibition of the Roman World in 1937, it was completed in the seventies and is a useful instrument in learning about the ancient city, in an interesting comparison with the aspects that the same presents today.

Address: Piazza Giovanni Agnelli, 10
Visiting Hours: Every day from 9 am to 2 pm.
Sundays from 9 am to 1.30 pm.
Closed on Mondays, Dec. 25, Jan. 1
Price: € 6,50; reduced € 4,50

http://en.turismoroma.it/

The Roma Pass

For only 23 Euro get benefits and services across the city. Promoted by Rome Council, the Culture Ministry and working in conjunction with public transport the cit's tourist card offers discounts and services which make museum visits easier. Enjoy the beauty of Rome with greater ease.
From 1 January 2009 the Roma Pass kit will offer even more! In the New Year you’ll also receive health care and access to the city’s bike sharing scheme. You already get free access to your first two museums or archaeological sites, free movement on the entire public transport network and reductions on entrance to other museums, exhibitions, shows or dance productions that take your fancy. Moreover, to get even more from your card we have recently added “Travel Health.” It allows tourists to access a dedicated health assistance service for first aid advice and direction to either private or public structures according to your needs and condition.
The pass lasts 3 days after stamping it, costs 23 euro but offers services that a worth over 40 Euro and at all sites and events you have preferential access.
Roma Pass is available at: • All Museums and Sites participating• Rome Council Tourist Information Points • Rome Tourist Promotion Company - APT - Via Parigi, 5 • Bioparco - Rome Zoological Garden• Complesso del Vittoriano• Trambus Open - Piazza dei Cinquecento
Included in your pack are:• Roma Pass Transport: Your public transport ticket.• Roma MAP: The map shows you the Tourist Information Kiosks (PITs), metro stations, museums/sites with address, telephone number and bus, metro, coach and train numbers with timetables.• Roma Pass Guide: The list of museums/sites in the scheme.• Roma & Più News: The programme of events and tourism services for which discounts are valid and where they apply by category: art, music, theatre, dance, entertainment and public transport.
Roma Pass
How to Use itFill in the back with your name and surname. Activate it with your first visit to a site/museum by adding the date of that visit. For the second site show your card at the entrance. From the third site onwards go to the ticket office to receive your discount. You must always carry the card with legal ID. The card expires 3 calendar days from activation.
Roma & Pass TransportFree access to ATAC buses, metro lines A and B, Met.Ro trains, Rome – Osita Lido, Rome - Viterbo (Rome - Sacrofano section), Rome - Pantano.
How to Use itThe card is exclusively available with Roma & Più Pass and is valid for three zones and for an unlimited number of journeys. You activate it on the first trip by filling in your name, surname and stamping it with date and the code of the area of validity (zone A or zone B). Show it when boarding together with an identity document if requested by staff. It expires at midnight on the third calendar day of use.
Roma Pass Travel Health MET
Health assistance service for the first level of intervention and response.
Related Costs:
- the service is free to possessors of the Roma Pass.
- telephoning the Medical Call Centre is based on the local telephone rates.
How it works:
- the number to call is +39 06 83496311 (at the local rate)- it is a multilingual Call Center (English, French or Spanish). - it registers the referral code from the Roma Pass.- provides all the information needed for the case and directs the tourist, when necessary, to the public and private healthcare facilities based an the pathology predented.- The service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Antiques Markets in Rome

Antiques, collectables, new and used clothing, shoes, vinyl and CDs are all up for grabs at weekend markets located along some of Rome’s most frequented streets and squares.
For those who are always looking for something original, or something that is no longer fashionable, the antiques markets are the place to go. These markets offer all kinds of competitively priced goods.
Below are among the most well-known:

• Porta Portese
Is the most famous and biggest of Rome’s markets.
It covers an area that runs from Piazza Ippolito Nievo to via Ettore Rolli on one axis and via Portuense to Porta Omonima on the other. The market has over 1000 stands and goods of every kind from antique furniture to imitation designer shoes and stamps to kitchen utensils as well as collectables of every kind. It is extremely crowded and requires several hours to visit. It is open every Sunday from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.Website: http://www.portaportesemarket.it/

• The Ponte Milvio Market
has antiques on every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month.
Whereas, the 3rd Sunday features handcrafted products. The market is open from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and can be found in Piazzale di Ponte Milvio near Torretta Valadier. Call +39 335 5804254 for info.

• The Antiquariato in Piazza Verdi
is open every 4th Sunday of the month from 9:00 am to dusk. It is held in Piazza Giuseppe Verdi. Call +39 06 8552723 – 8552773 for info.

• The Stamp market in Largo della Fontanella Borghese
Is held on Mondays and Saturdays from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm and features stamps and books.

• The Via Sannio Market
Takes its name from the street that hosts it. Open Mondays to Saturdays from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm, the market offers new and used clothes, shoes and haberdashery. Via Sannio is close to San Giovanni in Lateran.

• Borghetto Flaminio
One of the capital’s most noted antiques markets, is found in Piazza della Marina 32 and is open every Sunday (except in August) from 10:00 am to 7:00pm. Call +39 06 5880517 for info.

For a complete list of markets call +39 060608 or visit http://www.060608.it/

Rose Garden

Another place in Rome in which i like to spend at least a relaxing half day couple of times a year is the municipal rose garden, on the Aventine Hill, directly opposite to the Circus Maximus and the Neronian Domus Aurea.

The rose garden, divided from the Via di Valle Murcia into two distinct sections - one more upstream and more extended, and the other at valley - home of more than a thousand species of roses from around the world, it is considered a good ground among the most beautiful in the world, both for the quality of the flowers and for the panoramic glance that offers.

Its curious that it is located in an area occupied from 1645 until 1895 from the Jewish cemetery;until the first half of the seventeenth century, the Roman Jewish community, could not bury their dead in Christian territory so they used land situated within the old Porta Porteseout of the vativcan land and curiously here since the third century a.C. stood the temple dedicated to the Goddess Flora, protector of flowers: in the same spot where now stands the rose garden.

The creation of the municipal rose garden is thanks to a lady of Pennsylvania, Countess Mary Gayley Senni lover of roses she used to grew dozens of this flowers in her properties in Grottaferrata near Rome.

In 1924 she donated the plants to the City, but then, not satisfied with the arrangements in a simple flowerbed on the Pincio, eight years later, saw her dream came true,the construction of a real rose garden.

The next year was held the first edition of the Rome Rose Prize,and the countess honorary member of the jury.

In the highest section of the extensive rose garden there is the real collection of roses.

There are traditional varieties, and modern hybrids and plants are distributed in different areas, depending on the different species.

The downstream section is where is placed the annual contest. while in the oval, are located only roses that have been winners in previous editions.

Roses most curious to be admired are the "Monstrosa " with green petals , " Omeiensis Pteracantha "with red and transparent thorn, viewedin backlight, lights up like a lamp, the rose that changes color several times in few days; the rose that emanates a strong smell of incense, and the North American variety "Knock Out", able to resist even at 30 degrees below zero.

In addition to a paradise of colors, scents and tranquility, the rose garden is obviously a haven for photographers as they can "immortalize" roses among the most beautiful in the world. not of less value, as I said, is the stunnig panorama "outside" the rose garden it offers a view that range from the Circus Maximus to the Domus Aurea, San Pietro and to the thousand domes of Rome.

Roman Pasta Matriciana

Inspired by one of the most beautiful "cooking" poems of one of my favorite actors, Aldo Fabrizi, great character of the "true" Rome (born and lived close to Campo de Fiori);

here's for you the recipe for original and inimitable pasta all'Amatriciana.

INGREDIENTS:

500 gr. of Pasta, Spaghetti or Bucatini

100 gr. Guanciale(Bacon) of pork, fat and cut quite thick

500 gr. of ripe tomatoes San Marzano or canned tomatoes 100 gr.

Pecorino cheese (wishing you could mix in Parmesan cheese)

A couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 / 2 cup dry white wine Chilli (not too much).

PROCEDURE:

Boiled for a few seconds the tomatoespassing them under the cold water and peel, then cut them into strips. If using canned tomatoes, chopped up first by hands or pinched in a pan with a fork.

Cut the bacon in strips (but not too thin, better strips about ½ inch of width) and place it in a preferably iron frying pan, with the oil and let brown a lively fire for few minutes until the bacon gets golden .

A nearly finished cooking add a little chili pepper, moisten with the wine and once it has exhaled remove the pieces of bacon from the pan , keeping aside, possibly warm in a cup covered with aluminum foil.

Put in the same pan the tomatoes, a pinch of salt and cook a lively fire for some minutes (10-15). Replace the bacon in the pan, stirring for about one minute.

Meanwhile drain the pasta "al dente" and pour into a container, preferably preheated.

Combine all the ingredients adding the pecorino (perhaps mixing a little 'of parmesan cheese, to get a taste less strong).

The origin of the name of this condiment is controversial it comes from Amatrice, a country in the province of Rieti, not far from rome Rome.

When this dish was born amatriciana was to be the main meal of the shepherds, then many, for its simplicity and quick to prepare.

Originally it was without the tomato and it was called "Gricia".

The amatriciana is a perfect summary of cuisine inside the territories of central Italy, as to be almost "mythologized" and has now become the protagonist of a festival in the streets which, every year in August, takes place both at Amatrice and in Rome, in the Campo de 'Fiori "homeland" of Aldo Fabrizi.

Protestant Cemetery in Rome

It's Not a graveyard "whatever" but the Protestant Cemetery
in Rome.
The Church in the'600 and'700, forbade non-Catholics (as well as suicides, prostitutes and actors) to be buried in Christian territory, so had to create new areas where buried, rigorously at night, those bodies, just outside the city walls.
For this reason existed at the time, a cemetery of the actors (at Porta Pinciana)
and one of the Jews (in the area where now stands the Municipal Rose Garden, on the Aventine hill).

The cemetery which I will speak accomodates "non-Catholic" of all nationalities: Italian (Gadda; Gramsci), American (Corso, poet of the Beat Generation, Simmons, sculptor and painter; Wetmore, sculptor, author of the wonderful "Angel of pain"), Russian Chinese Greek and mostly German (Goethe's son, the architect Semper) and English (Severn, American consul in Rome and a friend of Keats, next to which is buried).

Among the refined paths, surrounded by green hedges, pine and cypress trees you can see the graves of John Keats (1795 - 1821, died of tuberculosis in Rome, and Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822) sunk with his ship in the waters of Tuscany. His tomb is in the shadow of the Aurelian Walls.
A particularly romantic, although little 'macabre, relates to his death: his body was cremated
at Viareggio but his friend Trelawny "pulled" his heart from the flame of his and led it to his widow, Mary (famous author of novel Frankenstein).

The cemetery, lies between the Porta San Paolo (formerly called Ostiensis), the Pyramid of Caius Cestius, the Aurelian Walls and the Monte Testaccio.

The site, also widely known as the Protestant Cemetery , is one of the oldest burial grounds in continuous use
In Europe. It is a great and suggestive place to visit I strongly recommend

It is hard to think of another urban site quite so glorious.

Its towering cypress trees and abundant flowers and greenery shelter a heterogeneity of elaborate and eclectic graves and monuments.

"It might make one in love with death, to think that
one should be buried in so sweet a place" wrote Shelley, not long before he drowned and was buried here.

Cheese of Castelli Romani

Its hard not find cheese, on an Italian table, actually... its quite impossible!

The typical cheese, in the Castelli Romani area, are: the 'Roman Pecorino', 'Roman Caciotta', 'Ricotta Romana' and the 'Canestrato'. All these cheeses, are made, totally or partially, from sheep's milk. Sheep, in Italian, is 'pecora'. From here the name 'pecorino'.

The roman pecorino, its one of the most ancient cheese made, very famous and highly appreciated, in Italy and throughout the world. This cheese its entirely made of whole sheep milk, and has a typical aroma and a spicy flavor, giving a particular tasty flavor to first courses, especially on pastas.

The 'Canestrato', it's a direct derivate of the above mentioned pecorino cheese. His name derives from the fact that its made by being pressed into a 'canestro' - Italian word for wicker basket - of which pattern, will show on the cheese itself.
The Caciotta Romana its, usually, a fresh cheese, but, in can also be, sometimes seasoned, having a more marked flavor.

This cheese presents itself quite compact, white in color, which can end up in a light straw-colored shade. One of the most popular cheeses, its sells over 30.000 Kg, its shaped as a cylinder, 7 Cm in height, from 1 to 3 Kg in weight.

Excellent with 'fave romanesche' - roman broad beans - and over some pasta dish. Top of the line, thinly sliced on a nice, and rich, salad dish. One more hint: with potatoes or field mushrooms, makes an excellent, and light, second dish. Mixed 'Caciotta', are made by mixing sheep and cow milk. They are tasty and spicy, typical of the Roman countryside. Its shape is low and round, not less than three kilos in weight.
The great demand is for the 'Ricotta Romana' - Ricotta cheese - a firm, dry and compact cheese. Made from cow buffalo, sheep, goat and/or mixed cheeses.Never the less these products of the Roman countryside, produced with modern technologies, still retain all the fragrance of the old times past, and those characteristics such as: being natural, high quality and, above all, nourishment.

Cheese has always been found on most popular tables, mainly used for fast snacks and, also, for long trips - dried - since its simple to make, it goes well with bread, wine and other local goodies. It's a fast meal, complete and efficient and, above all... satisfying and filling! Can be preserved in a water solution, or spiced with thyme, pine seeds, and pepper. Excellent are the small 'ricottine' - same classic shape as a ricotta, but smaller - usually eaten with grilled bacon, porcini mushrooms and various salads. Don't miss these cheeses of you take a trip to the Castelli Romani... enjoy!

Shopping in Trastevere

Finding just the right gift to take home for someone can be as much fun for the giver as for the recipient. These Trastevere shops, located across the Tiber from the city center, all provide unique and useful gift ideas. You will find here one-of-a-kind places with their own singular ambiance. Sometimes hard to spot, tucked away in corners and having non-descript doorways, it isn't always obvious what treasures are hidden inside.

Ceramica D'Arte:
Weaving a basket or shaping clay has never looked easy, but Lavinia Santi combines both and makes it appear effortless. She has been perfecting her style for 25 years to create original pottery baskets, plates, bowls, jewelry and even lamps complete with electrical fittings. Prices run from Euro5 to 1,300, it's in Via S. Dorotea 21.

GraphicArt Bazaar:

Young, hip Veronica Di Giovane and Riccardo Giove, owners of this six-year-old shop, create whimsical designer stationery, photo albums, diaries, picture frames and more using only natural products. Each item could qualify as a work of art, but without demanding auction-house prices. Expect to pay from Euro 8 to 95. Vicolo del Cinque 30/b.

Ferrara:
"Upscale" best describes this gourmet food/wine shop and restaurant. A gift-boxed, 100-year-old bottle of balsamic vinegar will set you back about Euro270. For the rest of us there are reasonably priced Italian specialties including capers, olives, pesto and tomato sauces. Apricots, pears and clementines packaged in glass jars are almost too pretty to eat. If your aim is to impress, this is the place. Prices range from Euro 0.70 for a chocolate to 900 for a rare bottle of wine, it is in Via del Moro 1/a - Piazza Trilussa 41.

Polvere di Tempo:
Interesting items at this time-themed shop include handcrafted hourglasses, sundials, globes and kaleidoscopes. The owner, architect and craftsman Adrian Rodriquez, explained how candles marked with numbers were used by monks in the evening to note the passage of time. The tapers, priced at Euro 10, are attractively wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine. Prices range from Euro 8 to 630, you find it at Via del Moro 59.

The Almost Corner Bookshop:
This English-language bookstore carries all types of books and an especially good selection of history and fiction. Owner, Dermot O'Connell from Kilkenny, Ireland, invites you to browse among the latest bestsellers in the shop's larger, brighter space, two doors down from its old premises. His focus for the shop is to maintain its interesting and unusual reputation and to obtain anything a customer requests. Special orders usually take about three weeks, sometimes less. Regarding prices, O'Connell says: "We have books for every pocket." Via del Moro 45.

Valzani:
As you wind your way up Via del Moro, the window display at Valzani will stop you in your tracks. Rich chocolate cakes, sacher torte and typical Roman favorites like pangiallo (what fruitcake should taste like) and panpepato (made with honey, chocolate and pepper) tempt even

the most determined dieter. In business since 1925, the Valzani family has built up quite a following. Virginia Valzani says that their customers come not only from all over Rome but from around the world. Glossy red gift boxes filled with their handmade sweets are priced from Euro 7 to 20. Via del Moro 37a/b

The historic Restaurant - Hostaria dell’Orso

Rome give hospitality to Gualtiero Marchesi, the Italian modern cuisine father. Gualtiero Marchesi disembarked on the banks of the Tevere river in a Fifteenth century palace born like tavern and then transformed in hotel for pilgrims.

The Hostaria registered eminent guests like Rabelais and Montaigne, followed during the years of Dolce Vita by the couple Onassis-Callas and Hollywood stars like Clark Gable.
La veranda dell'Hostaria dell'Orso.

Today ancient frescoes, coffer ceilings and fireplaces coexist with orange skin Frau seats, piano bar and discotheque. The loggia with view and, in summer, the small court faced on the road are crossed by the solemnly irreproachable service captained by the Maitre Luciano Zanazzo.

With pride he carries on the table and discovers to blows of silver cloches the Gualtiero Marchesi’s creations performed by a staff leaded by Sous chef Antonio Panzironi. So the Hostaria dell'Orso may be a roman opportunity to know the origins of gastronomic conception of one of the protagonists of modern cuisine, still very active to 77 years old. In Rome Gualtiero Marchesi, with alternate gastronomic lucks, gives an echo of its talent with classic specialties like Seared scallops salad with ginger and pink pepper, Risotto gold leaf and saffron and Rossini Veal fillet.

Near to Roman traditional cuisine tributes (home-made basil and potatoes Gnocchi pasta, egg-plants mousse, tomatoes and smoked cheese or Roast spring chicken, stewed green and yellow peppers) there are two less expensive menu: Vegetarian menu (Green lettuce cold soup, Mix vegetables tempura, sweet and sour sauce) and Fish menu (Paccheri pasta with carpet-shells, broccoli, dried tuna roe and lemon, Roast grouper with lavender, wild salad and balsamic vinegar).

The wine cellar let to know Gualtiero Marchesi’s birth region (Lombardia, in North Italy) wine production and a selection of bottles whose price does not arrive at 30 euros is supported to an interesting possibility of tasting to the glass.
Hostaria dell’Orso: http://www.hdo.it/
Via dei Soldati 25/c - 00186 Roma

Rome, the Eternal young city

Rome , the eternal city, does not hide its fabulous beauty.

In exhibiting its fairness generously, Rome bewitches visitors with the unmatched fascination of its light, its colours and entranced atmospheres, alluring new-comers to stay on and enjoy all this magnificence to the full.

Rome offers an artistic and cultural landscape of unequalled vastness, variety and importance.
Invaluable “treasures”stored in the city’s numerous museums, richly endowed galleries, grand historic palaces, exhibition centers and superb archeological areas, are among the reasons why Rome shines like a breath-taking star in the celestial vault of the cities of art.

During the last years a great deal of work has been done to enhance this immense wealth. New and appropriate room for exhibitions has been created, and visiting time extended. This allows the public to have access to places that had been closed-down for years. A great deal more is still being done in order to unearth precious remains, buried or hidden under the stratification of history.

So far, only archeologists or researchers in general could see these discoveries. Rome has by far not yet ceased to amaze and the future undoubtedly has great
suprises in store. The APT-Office of Rome’s Municipality edited the present exhaustive and complete guide to be distributed gratuitously. Its practical shape as a handbook is meant to facilitate consultation concerning the city’s overall cultural offer.

Beside the most celebrated museums and monuments, less well known places are mentioned
here, but all of them artistically and historically interesting. Unexpected and genuine
oddities, also, will surprise and amuse the visitors.
I post this as a cordial invitation to discover the “Treasures of Rome”.

Rome Italic Forum of Mussolini

Ambitious building projects from the 1920s to the 1940s are still visible around Rome, and would have been even more widespread had the Fascist regime lasted longer.

Fascist architecture appears here and there in the historical center of Rome, but it is most present south of the center in the Mussolini-conceived EUR district, and at the Foro Italico sports complex north of Rome.

This guided visit will take you to the buildings and urban spaces that best exemplify how architecture could transmit the ideology of Fascism. Many of these Mussolini-era structures were directly inspired by imperial Roman art and architecture, but modified (some more convincing than others) to be colder, more sterile, more totalitarian.

For anyone with an interest in Rome's modern period or in comparative architecture, this unique tour is guaranteed to fascinate.The cult of sport was promoted and glorified in service of the Fascist regime that ruled Italy from 1922-1943.

In keeping with his belief that a fit country was a strong country, Fascist Dictator Mussolini commissioned the construction of the Foro Italico, a giant sport complex on the north edge of Rome, in the 1930s. Originally known as the Forum of Mussolini, the complex was conceived as a temple dedicated to the Fascist cult of athleticism, an idea that finds its expression in sculptural and mosaic decoration.

Today, you’re most likely to visit the Foro Italico today to attend a soccer match (it’s home to both the Roma and the Lazio teams and the stadium has been rebuilt since the time of Mussolini) or the world-class tennis tournament that takes place each year in May. But, not to be missed, is the spectacular indoor swimming pool, the walls of which are decorated with mosaics created by masters and students from the Scuola Irene of Spilimbergo, in the North-East Italian region of Friuli.

The giant mosaics are done in a style that’s typical of Mussolini’s art and architecture, paying homage to the modernist aesthetic of the early twentieth century, while simultaneously giving a nod to the glorious classical art of Rome’s ancient past.
Why such interest in the glorification of sport? Peter Bondanella explains the Fascist obsession with physical exercise in his book The Eternal City: Roman Images in the Modern World (University of North Carolina Press, 1987. pp. 192-193):

The Forum [of Mussolini] was intended to celebrate sport and strenuous physical exercise. Fascist leaders like to picture their regime as a youthful one. After all, the fascist humn was “Giovinezza” (”Youth”), and not only Mussolini but a number of party leaders often had themselves photographed in various sporting poses. Some leaped over drawn bayonets or through burning hoops to demonstrate their physical fitness and personal courage.

“Physical culture,” as the Fascists like to call it, was an important aspect of the regime’s ideology.

Foro Italico: Largo Lauro de Rossi, 3.

Tiberina Island in Rome

According to the legend the island was created by silt piling up on the crops of the Tarquins thrown into the Tiber when the last king of this line was driven out of Rome.

Natural island, It grew on the centuries of waste.

Tiberina Island in Romeis linked to the banks of the river by two bridges, the Fabricio and Cestio.

Today, in order to protect Tiberina from the current, the 'bows' have been extended right up to one of the pillars of the Garibaldi bridge.

Some ancient buildings can still be seen, like the Caetani tower dating to the Middle Ages, and the church of San Bartolomeo that was built on the site of the temple of Esculapius. Unfortunately nothing is left of the 10th century church as it was almost entirely rebuilt in the 17th century.

Every year, on November 2nd, the Brotherhood of the "Devoti di Gesù Crocifisso al Calvario e di SS. Maria Addolorata" Devouts of Jesus crucifix at Calvario and of Our Lady of Sorrows, so called of "Sacconi Rossi" (Big Red Sacks), celebrates the commemoration of deceased people with a procession on the Tiber Island banks.

The Tiberina island, besides to be an archeological place full of legend and traditions, contains inside characteristics still to be discovered: observing

carefully you may note many elements and come to the conclusion that the Tiberina island is also.

Every Year there open-air summer cinema festival on Tiberina Island features a fascinating programme of previews, retrospectives and blockbuster movies.The festival takes place in a magnificent location on the Tevere river.

The Ponte Rotto (broken bridge) connects the island to the mainland and is illuminated to transform this magical place into a huge cinema set.

Music, dance, fashion shows, multimedia artists, food and wine tastings accompany themed evenings and there are also appearances by stars from the movie world.

Sicily in Rome

Have you ever eaten at the Sicilian fast-food café "Mondo Arancina" in London’s Notting Hill district?

If you haven’t, (and even if you have) take some advice and try the original at via Marcantonio Colonna, where, if you like strong, decisive tastes, you’ll be able to savour a vast array of unique delicacies. Apart from classics like pizza by the slice, panini, panelle (delicious deep-fried chick pea flour patties) customers come especially to enjoy the speciality of the house arancine piping hot risotto balls.

Bite into an arancina (“little orange”) and you get a succulent, grainy mouthful of Italian risotto with a surprise at its heart. It might be a warm dollop of spinach and ricotta, bolognese ragù, peas or creamed funghi.
And there are other, far richer varieties. The arancine are deep-fried in fresh olive oil which is changed aftereach batch and are available in 15 flavours. Cost: 2.20 euros each. I would suggest you try ‘Stromboli’ filled with aubergine (eggplant) and tomato, or ‘Etna’ which features a spicy filling of tomato and chilli.

The ovens are fired up early and from 8.00 am onwards you can drop in for arancine, pizza, sfincioni (thick Sicilian pizza with a spongy crust), anelletti (Sicilian oven-cooked pasta rings), pitoni (savoury coiled fritters stuffed with a range of fillings) or typical pastries like pignolata, made with almonds and pine nuts.
The owners personally guarantee the quality of all the ingredients used at Mondo Arancina: flour, olive oil, groundnut oil, tomato sauce, cheeses, almonds, sugar, chocolate, etc.
How can you say no?
http://www.mondoarancina.it/

Even after a hearty meal why pass on dessert? Next to Mondo Arancina is "Gelarmony", a Sicilian
ice-cream parlour with a vast array of hand-crafted gelati made on the premises that is open everyday until late.
As I entered the first thing I saw was a giant brioche filled with ice-cream – a classic Sicilian treat and if you really want to go to town it can all be topped off with whipped cream. The display cabinets offer a colourful and bewildering array of flavours to choose from but the staff at Gelarmony are more than happy to offer advice on mixing and matching your choice: intense flavours which delicately caress the senses.

Only natural products are used at Gelarmony and all the icecreams, fruit-flavours or creamy are hand-made in-house. For people who are allergic to dairy products there’s also a range of soya ice-creams. And there’s not only ice-cream; you might want to try the deliciously refreshing
granite, a crushed ice drink made with fruit or coffee, or any one of the dozens of tempting cakes and pastries that fill the cool cabinets: Frozen yoghurt, mousses, mignon pastries with a dazzling choice of fillings, ice-cream cakes, orange slices glazed with chocolate, sponge cakes filled with ricotta cheese and covered with almond cream - and of course, that most classic of Sicilian pastries: cannoli – fried pastry dough filled with sweet creamy ricotta cheese topped with chocolate chips and candied fruit. You’resimply spoilt for choice.

Few steps from San Peter church in Via Marcantonio Colonna, 38 there is a place with the best traditional Sicilian cuisine.
http://www.gelarmony.com/

Restaurant "Betto & Mary - Ultra Rome Dining

Restaurants specializing in typical Roman cuisine are largely concentrated in the ghetto area behind the Synagogue on the right bank of the Tiber, but to sample one of the most Ultra Roman dining experiences you have to travel away from the historic centre and out to the Casilino-Mandrione neighbourhood, where you’ll find the restaurant run by Betto and Mary at via dei Savorgnan 99.

The Osteria includes two dining rooms and an internal garden. The decor is nothing special; the service is something else.

The friendly waiters have a penchant for making fun of unwary new comers; be warned Roman humour is not “lite”. Often it will be the owner himself who’ll sit down at your table to take your order and trade wisecracks.
The walls are decorated with funny posters and there’s also a tie rack labeled ”please leave tie here as they are not allowed in the restaurant”.

The atmosphere is robustly Roman – and so is the food. Many of these traditional dishes are no longer easy to find, or are only offered in five-star restaurants that cost ten times as much.
There’s coda alla vaccinara (oxtail stew with vegetables, see the post), la pagliata (a traditional dish primarily using the intestine of a young calf that has only eaten milk), la coratella (lamb sweetbreads) served with artichokes, granetti impanati (fried bull testicles) and tripe.

There’s a huge range of hearty home-made pasta dishes, including a vegetarian carbonara with zucchini instead of bacon. Vegetable specialities include fried broccoli, grilled radicchio and a host of succulent artichoke dishes.

If you’re a tad squeamish about the traditional meat dishes, anything grilled like sausage, chicken, and steak is perhaps a safer bet. They also serve a quite exquisite dish of quail.
To finish, how about cantucci – miniature, anise-flavored almond biscuits – dipped in a glass of romanella – a locally produced sparkling white wine.
Even if you go right through the menu from antipasti to dessert, you’ll find it hard to spend more than 30 euros a head and the portions are generous.

Betto e Mary is definitely worth the trek.
Booking is essential.
Closed on Sundays. And remember: don’t wear a tie or it will be confiscated at the door!
Restaurant "Betto & Mary" Via dei Savorgnan, 99 Rome
Tel.: 06-45421780

The Area Sacra of Caesar and the Cats of Rome

Today this area is an abode of cats; stay there like if they were the owners of that place, they play or rest among the ruins of Campo Marzio and all of them seem to be perfectly at ease and protected.

A few meters up, in the meantime, life runs fast. Largo di Torre Argentina in Rome is plenty of passers, cars, trams and work in progress. The library that overlooks the square is in constant activity. But what takes place few span up their heads, does not seem to interest the feline colony of the Area Sacra.

This site is one of the most ignored in Rome by tourists.

The reaction in front of what, at first sight, seems no more than a hole stuffed up of ruins in the middle of the square, is always the same. Distrust, a quick look and go, towards other more understandable destinations. Then once you discover the event that makes this place important, the level of attention increases , maps in hand, to identify the structures that had to be there in ancient Rome, instead of those four stones and flaky columns that you see today. Reveal the mystery then:

In the cats lair of Largo di Torre Argentina, the March 15th of 44 BC Gaius Julius Caesar was assassinated, it was made by a group of about sixty senators, they considered themselves the guardians and defenders of the republican tradition, they were opposed to any form of personal power. So, fearing that Caesar wanted to become king of Rome (unthinkable concept for Romans), decided it was the time to get rid of the dictator.

At about eleven o'clock in the morning, Caesar left the house and after the ordinary religious practices he got in the Curia. He went to sit unaware to his seat where he was immediately surrounded from the plotters which acted to ask him favors and graces. At the agreed signal, Publius Servilius Casca Longo unsheathe the dagger and struck Caesar at the neck, causing a superficial and non-fatal wound. Caeser tried to defend himself with the stylus in his hand, then all the plotters now around Caesar fling with daggers against their target; Caesar in vain tried to dodge the stab. but when he understood to be surrounded and he even saw Brutus (his son) going against him, covered his head with the toga, he passed over, pierced by twenty-three stab. Caesar had 56 years. The first Emperor of Rome, one of the most important and influential of the history; and his murder happened exactly here.

Today the district is called "Pigna", exactly in Largo di Torre Argentina; is right here where is consumed the most ancient and famous attack in ancient history. It was an important place of that time, area of thermal baths, majestic colonnades, leading religious area and especially political.

Centuries later, on this cultural esplanade passed years of hight-quality limestone activity, producing with bas-reliefs and columns layers of medieval buildings.

In 1926, Mussolini sent in this area some pickmen with the aim of breaking down the medieval structures and erect buildings able to accept the new leader class. The plan was never carried out, because under the blows of the pickaxes, came out the Area Sacra of Caeser, just, whose discovery had even touched the Fascist dictator.
Three years after that place was already territory of cats which, after all, they did not matter at all about the leader tears and nor about the stab inflicted to another leader two thousand years earlier.

Since then, the cats took possession of the place and of all the memories connected to it, becoming the major tourist attraction of the square.

A quick Roman lunch

In the hasty urban lifestyle, one of the best things that Rome has to offer people in search of a quick and satisfying snack is the takeaway pizza or even known as "Pizza al taglio".

You just find one, get in and choose the amount of pizza you want by size or by price.
There are an almost infinite variety of toppings to suit all tastes; with mushrooms, vegetables, salumi, cheeses and sauces and most places will offer a wide range of other hot foodstuffs such of supplì (balls of risotto with tomato sauce bound together by eggs around a piece of mozzarella, the whole sorrounded by breadcrumbs and then fried) a real delight, then filetti di baccala (salt cod in batter), potato crocchette, fried olives etc..

Rome is packed with takeaway pizza stores that provides office workers, students and tourists, it's a cheap and quick alternative to traditional restaurants or imported fast food outlets.
A piece of pizza from these street food stores is part of the gastronomic heritage of Romans having a lunch out and it's easy to find a nice bakery around the City center.

One of the most famous here in Rome is "Lo Zozzone", tucked away down the Via del Teatro Pace, behind Piazza Navona. Zozzone's pizza is so genuine you can often find members of the Senate from the nearby Palazzo Madama, who have deserted the luxury parliamentary restaurants for a quick and tasty snack.

When you are near san Peter and Vatican Meuseum, another popular place among pizza afficionados is "Pizzarium" in Via della Meloria, Metro A Cipro stop. It's my favourite. This gourmet takeaway outlet is run by celebrated pizza chef Gabriele Bonci, who combines slow rise dought made from special flours with fresh, seasonal toppings like wild asparagus or pesto and aubergine. You'll also find nice suppli and a wild range af quality imported beers to wash down your lunch.

In Via dei Chiavari 34, in Campo de Fiori is one of the oldest pizza bakeries in Rome. The choice of toppings is perhaps not as vast as in other place but the quality of the ingredients is unparalleled and the pizza itself is second to none.

Another quality place that I recommend is "Mondo Arancina" in Via Colonna Marcantonio 38, where taste a very tasty pizza al taglio and the famous arancina: fried riceballs in 15 different flavours. The products are the best that the tradition of Sicilian cuisine has to offer, including home made cakes and ice cream.

To finish, Laboratorio Pasticceria Lambiase, better known as "Il Sorchettaro", is a superb bakery store at Via Cernaia 49 few steps from Termini station, famous for its deadly luscious freshly-baked croissant with whipped cream and melted chocolate. But they also sell a vast array of pizza fresh from the oven.
Open until Late, it's the perfect spot for a tasty treat after a night on the town.

Roman Ancient Appian Way and Catacombs

Since the fourth century B.C. this has been Rome's gateway to the East.
It was the largest, widest, fastest road ever, the wonder of its day, called the "Queen of Roads".

Its first section was perfectly straight, eventually this most important of Roman roads stretched 700 kilometers to the port of Brindisi, the most important port in the ancient world of Rome, where boats sailed for Greece and Egypt.

A central strip accomodated animal-powered vehicles and elevated sidewalks served pedestrians. It was built with skill and precision of the best modern engineers, viable with every weather and transport up to this days thanks to an excellent pavement of smooth stones.

As it left Rome, the road was lined with tombs and funerary monuments.

Imagine a funeral procession passing under the pines and cypress and past a long line of pyramids, private mini-temples, altars and tombs.

Hollywood created the famous image of the Appian Way lined with Spartacus and his gang of defeated and crucified slave rebels.

The road starts about three kilometers south of the Colosseum at the massive San Sebastian Gate. You can visit the Museum of the Walls, located at the gate, that offers an interesting look at the Roman defence and a chance to scramble along a stretch of the ramparts.

A kilometer down the road are the two most historic and popular catacombs, those of San Callisto and San Sebastian.

Beyond that the road gets pristine and traffic free, popular for biking and evocative hiking. To reach the Appian Way, take the Metro A to Colli Albani stop, then catch the bus 660 to Via Appia Antica.

The stretch between the third and 11th milestones is the most interesting.

The catacombs are burial place for Christians who died in ancient Roman times. By law, no one was allowed to be buried within the walls of Rome, while pagan Romans were into cremation,

Chrisians preferred to be buried. The 40 or so known catacombs circle Rome about five kilometers from its center. From the first through the fifth centuries, Christians dug an estimated 600 kilometers of tomb-lined tunnels with networks of galleries as many as five layers deep. The underground tunnels, while empty of bones, are rich in early Christian symbolism wich funcioned as a secret language. The dove sybolized the soul, you'll see it quenching its thirst (worshiping), with an olive branch (at rest), or happily perched (in paradise).

Catacomb tours are essentially the same, which one you visit is not important. A look to this suggestive and mysterious underground tunnels and a walk on the ancient Appian way worth, however.

Dig this: the catacoms have a website

http://www.catacombe.roma.it/

S.S. Lazio 1900

Que serà serà
forever will be will be
we follow the boys in blues
que serà serà.

It's dedicated to the first club born in the Capital, to my Lazio.

Is 9 January 1900, is the beginning of the century. In a Rome that is moving among the ancient carriages and the first electric trams, nine young friends leaded by Luigi Bigiarelli found a "Tracking Association" on a bench along the Tiber in Piazza della Libertà, Rome. "It can not be named Roma, we should give to it a greatest name, a name which Roma is included: Lazio".
The proposal of Bigiarelli is accepted with enthusiasm from his guys: "Colours will draw inspiration from Greece, land of Olympic Games. White and Blue"...

The Society increased over the years the numbers of sports practised up to become the biggest sports club in Europe.
The symbol of the S.S.Lazio became the Imperial Eagle, emblem of the ancient Roman legions and image of the greatness of Rome in the world. The current symbol of the club is an eagle that supports the white and blue shield with S.S. Lazio writing in it.

The supporters area of the Olympic Stadium of Rome, where to find the hottest and fierced supporters is the "Curva Nord", one of the curved sector behind the goal.The Curva Nord of Lazio can be considered in its own right, one of the most important supporters of soccer club in the world. Solid, powerful, tireless in supporting the team and ready to come out into the streets for the Lazio and the Laziality. Present always, apart from the placings: in Second Division or in Champions League, the support and quality are always of hight level.

Many of us guys lived it, many others gave lustre, over the years many supporters cluster succession; Irriducibili, Vickings, Eagle Supporters, times and names change but the Curva Nord is always there with its sensational power to support the S.S. Lazio for better or for worse.
You love soccer, I styrongly raccomend you to come for a Lazio match, and for any question, ask me.

S.S. Lazio master of Rome.

The Blonde Roman Tiber

So it was called in Rome, the Blonde Tiber, with its history of 3 thousand years.

Since its birth, the Tiber was considered the soul of Rome. A history began when Aeneas, fugitive of Troy, looking for a new country, going up the mouth of the Tiber reached a place inhabited by shepherds. There will be founded Rome.

The fact that the City owes its own being to the Tiber, is also described in the first scene of the legend of the foundation of Rome, with "Romulus and Remus in the basket that stranded in the river under a fig tree, suck the sweet nectar of the fruit dripping, waiting for a real feeding".

Were given to it different names over the years, the current one derives by the tradition of the Latin King Tiberino which would be drowned into.

Like many rivers it had a vital importance for the ancient Romans, the River itself was considered a divinity personified in Pater Tiberinus,with a feast and a temple dedicated. It was used for many centuries as a way of communication, all materials of Roman works, goods and agricultural products passed through here.

This water belt that divided the left bank, the old Rome from the right that was once called the periphery, was considered for long a sort of impassable border for Romans that for the countryside trips chose to move to the right bank of the river, in the now area of Trastevere.

A water belt not always conveniet, because of alluvions which often hit the city with tributes of deaths and devastation. Historical figures as Julius Caesar and Garibaldi presented plans to change the big course of the river, today it is protected by great walls. Do you know the fountain in the middle of Spain Steps? It was carved in 1629 by Bernini. Pope Urban VII was so impressed from a boat there hurled by the fury of the river during one of the many floods and wanted it to remain memory in the shape of the fountain. For the Romans it is nicknamed the "Barcaccia".

Tiber is a river of 400 km that born in 1268 meters height on the top of Mount Fumaiolo, in Tuscany and goes through Umbria and Lazio, reaching the Tyrrhenian Sea. Next to the source, a trickle of crystal-clear water, in the Thirties was built an ancient column dominated by the Imperial Roman Eagle turned towards Roma and an inscription on a marble plaque that says

"Here born the sacred river to the destiny of Rome".

Villa D'Este - Renaissance masterpiece near Rome

Was Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este, son of the famous Lucrezia Borgia,the founder of Villa d'Este in Tivoli not far from Rome.

Good deal for him to build his new residence on the already existing ruins of palaces and gardens constructed by the Emperor Adriano 2000 years ago. For the Cardinal and his architect there was nothing easier than to draw inspiration from what was under their nose, make his own and restyling a park already sumptuous and rich in Roman art.

Was the year 1550 when he wanted to do of Villa d 'Este the pride of his Family. Today I just think he well succeeded in his intention:

Villa d'Este is actually in the list of Unesco's World Heritage, warded several times for the most beautiful park in Italy and few years ago it was elected "the most beautiful Park in Europe" from the prestigious competition launched in the USA by Briggs & Stratton, in its first European edition.

An oasis rich in greenery and water selected by an international jury composed of botanists, architects, historians and journalists. Magnificent frescoes in the palace, while fountains, waterfalls and water games, in a wonderful series of terraces create suggestive corners in the gardens that smell of cypress and roses.

This masterpiece of "Italian garden style" has over half a million visitors a year, you will be enchanted immersed in this path of ancient architectures, waters, plants sculptures and secular tree.
Walking through the park is a continuous surprise, at every step you find fountains, waterfalls, caves and nymphaeums, that recall in the names and decorations the heroes and myths of ancient Greece. Impressive is the number of fountains, among the most famous we see the "Fontana dell'Ovato", the "Cento fontane" hundred fountains in the shape of lilies, obelisks and boats. One of the most special is the Organ fountain that utter real melodies through a complex hydraulic system. Even today you can hear the "note" of the fountain several times during the day.

Villa d'Este is much appreciated for the state of maintenance and the quality of the garden,but also for the modern and efficient services offered to visitors as the opportunity to have easy access to information and the attention to disabled and elderly people.
The beauty of Villa d'Este is hardly comparable with other parks.

It is located in Tivoli about thirty minutes from Rome, it's easily reachable by public transport. Take the Metro line B to Ponte Mammolo and then the bus for Tivoli.

Transport for Rome

Two lines of Metro in Rome, 48 stations for a rail network of 36 km. A bus network of 2800 units for 350 different routes and then trams and regional trains. Not a bad range for the Roman public transport, numbers that are showing slow improvements but certainly have a "long way" still to do for a capital such of Rome with 2.8 million inhabitants and with over 20 million visitors a year.
Here you find some informations about the public lines wich you may need in Rome:

Subway has two lines: Metro A (marked by red) and Metro B (marked by blue), the logo of a white "M" on red background indicates the presence of a subway stop.
The two lines intersect in "Termini" Central station, the main hub of all public transports, local and regional. The Metro A has 27 stations through the capital from South-East to North-West, the gates are open at 05.30 and the service usually ends at 23:30 from Monday to Thursday and on Sunday, while ends at 1:30 on Friday and on Saturday. The timetable is just the same for the line B that with its 22 stations goes from South to North-East of Rome. Both of Metro run approximately every 3-5 minutes.

Buses and trams work from 5:30 am until midnight, from 00.30 until 5:30 am instead working more than 20 nigh lines, whose terminals are in Termini (Piazza del Cinquecento) and in Piazza Venezia.

The night bus stops are marked with an "N" and with the symbol of an owl, the tickets can be purchased directly on board. Tickets are the same for bus, tram and subway, can be purchased at any tobacconist and newspapers store or at the automatic machines inside any subway stations. Remember to buy your ticket before getting on buses because not all of them are equipped with tichet machines.

The cost of one ticket is 1 euro and it is valid for 75 minutes on buses and trams, and for a single run on subway, wherever you go. There is the chance to buy daily ticket at the price of 4euros, 3days ticket at 11euros and weekly ticket at 16euros.

For all the tourist facilities,discount cards and other details, take a look to the official website of Roman Public Transport.

Good journey in Rome!

http://www.atac.roma.it/

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