Roma, turismo, web 2.0…

IN THE VICTOR EMMANUEL MONUMENT: AN EXHIBIT OF IMPRESSIONISM

“FROM COROT TO MONET: THE SYMPHONY OF NATURE”

This prestigious exhibit is open until June 29, 2010 inside the Victor Emmanuel Monument.

It’s a trip through the extraordinary innovations of the XIXth century that revolutionized  traditional painting.  These new techniques modernized painting, resulting in Impressionist painting that displays an expanded, broader understanding of nature and the culture of the times.

For the first time in Italy, you will see vintage photos, paintings and drafts from the beginnings of Impressionism of the Barbizon School of to the chromatic triumph of the Water Lilies by Claude Monet.  You will explore the colorful revolution of the Impressionists, admiring the atmospheres of Frédéric Bazille and Alfred Sisley, Gustave Courbet’s Poppy Field, paintings by Auguste Renoir and Camille Pissarro including his Pontoise landscape.

Organized by major art historians from throughout the world, the works come from galleries and private collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Public Library of New York, the National Gallery of Art and Corcoran Museum of Art of Washington, Toledo Museum of Art, Kimbell Art Museum, Musée Fabre of Montpellier, Bibliotèque Nationale de France of Paris and the Hamburger Kunstalle.

Address: Complesso del Vittoriano

Via S.Pietro in carcere (Imperial Forums)

From Monday to Thursday: 9.30AM-7.30PM

Friday and saturday:           9.30AM-11.30PM

Sunday:                               9.30AM-8.30PM

Cost of the ticket: EU 10,00

INFO: 06/6780664 - 06/6780363

Lorenza Faraone

Roman Guide Center

TU QUOQUE BRUTE, FILI MI.

Was Brutus really Caesarʼs son? Lacking any DNA proof, weʼll always be in doubt! But, we like to believe it and recount for you this story: Cleopatraʼs arrival in Rome was the cause of Cassiusʼ and Brutusʼ decision to lay the plot to murder Caesar.

Brutusʼ mother, everybody knows, was Servilia, a member of the patrician family of Servili.   While she was married to Marcus Giunius Brutus, tribune of the people,  Caesar was her young, tall and handsome lover.  We donʼt have any portraits of her, but she was certainly beautiful.  She was clever and, above all, so charming that her passionate love affair with Caesar lasted thirty years.

Servilia became pregnant by Caesar.  Unknown to Caesar, her son, Brutus, was also his.  As time went by, the young Brutus, did not hide his rebellious, oligarchic ideas.  Caesar was the unconquerable General.   Young Brutus was in danger.  As her son was in danger of being defeated and killed by his own father, Servilia revealed the truth to Caesar.  “Spare Brutusʼ life”, were her last words to him.  Caesar honored her wish and on the battle ground he ordered: “Donʼt touch Brutus!”

So the young man came safely back home to his mother who probably told him everything.  Caesar should have come back too, but the war wasn’t over.   His next move was to run after Pompeo to Egypt.  This is where he met Cleopatra.  He was 52 years old, she only 20.   He forgot about the civil war, Rome and…Servilia.

When Caesar finally came back to Rome, Servilia was ready to greet him. But she surely couldn’t compete with her young rival.   However, her daughter, Giunia Terza, was now the stunning beauty that she was at 16, her age when she first met Caesar.  So she offered her daughter to Caesar who was now returning with honors and substantial gifts.

While Caesar left again as a winner, in Rome the Senate’s resentment against him grew stronger, and Brutus firmly supported them.

In the meantime, while Servilia vicariously relived her love for Caesar through her young daughter, Cleopatra arrived in Rome.  She came with her little son, Tolomeus Caesar, fruit of her love affair with Caesar.

In the Senate, spirits got excited.  Cassius suspected that Caesar could take Cleopatra as his legitimate wife and recognize Tolomeus as his son.   This would mean the return of the kings, the end of the Republic… Certainly, this would be the end for Giunia Terza and, above all, Servilia.  This time, however, while she suspected the plot against him, Servilia didn’t side with Caesar, but let her son Brutus punish the betrayer.

Maria Elena Mastroiacovo

Roman Guide Center

THE COLOSSEUM UNDERGROUND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

After
centuries of neglect, part of the area beneath the Colosseum stage is being restaured and cleaned. Thanks to a couple of hoists faithfully reconstructed according to ancient models starting next July 2010 it will be open for viewing.

Visitors, who so far could only catch a glimpse of it, will be able to explore the underground of the famous “Blood and arena”. Gladiators used to reach it through a tunnel connecting it with their school, the “Ludus magnus”. In addition to the athletes for  gladiatoral combats, the subterranean maze of galleries, ramps and cells, were the waiting room for hunters and wild animals and condemned prisoners. Also housed  here were scene-shifters, operators, workmen ready to give life to the show with the striking noises of machines, screams, cries and roars.

One will shiver watching one of the most exciting and dreadful places of all times.
Now from the point of view of the service staff and the applauded gladiators, you will be looking up at the massive architecture of the Flavian Amphitheatre.

Also for the first time, you will see the advanced engineering of the Ancient Romans: the reconstructed underground machinery and the cruel ways of turning death into a show. This will be a thrilling experience from the very heart of the Circus.

Lorenza
Faraone

Roman
Guide Centre

POPE JOAN

This is one of the most famous medioeval legends: Joan is a young English woman, educated at Magonza. Because of her love for theology, she decides to dress-up like a monk and thanks to her great culture, once i Rome, rising through the Church hierarchy, she is chosen as Pope. She took the name of John VIII and reigned between 855 and 857.
Joan became pregnant by one of her lovers. While in Easter procession between Saint Peterʼs and Saint Joan the Lateranʼs Basilicas, meanwhile the crowd was growing its pressure, her horse got scared, frisked and she fell off. People watched in horror and astonishment when she gave birth to a child, revealing her female nature. The angry mob tied her feet at her same horse and dragged her to Ripa Grande. There she was stoned to death together with her baby.
it is a harsh story which takes us back to the darkest centuries of Rome. According to some scholars this legend, this is what it is, could have born as a “satire” against papacy and a ferocious criticism of some female personages as the corrupt noble ladies Teodora and her daughter Marozia, who during the 10th Century were at the same time lovers, mothers and killers of several popes.
The story of “popess Joan” gave rise to the following odd legend: since then, to avoid a repeat of such a shaming event, as soon as elected, popes had to sit on one of the thrones, with a potty-style hole in the seat, while an examining cleric felt under it to check his sex. Though, one of these two thrones, the so-called “sedes curules or prophyreticae”, according to recent studies, was actually established to be a thermal de-luxe water-closet, dating back the time of Emperor Hadrian.
The result is a complicated plot we better leave to historians. Lovers of Rome can satisfie their curiosity in Via dei querceti, by looking up at the niche on the wall with a Vergin Mary with child, which was built up on the same spot where our heroine is said to have given birth to her child.

ACCA LAURENTIA: Eros in Rome

The legend tells that Romulus and Remus, who founded Rome, were adopted by a
she-wolf (lupa) hence ‘she-wolf’ became the symbol of Rome. She-wolf is an
ambiguous word by which the roman prostitutes were referred and the word
‘lupanare’ (brothel) is also derived from lupa.
The legend suggests that Acca Laurentia, the wife of Faustulus, shepherd of
Numitor, saved the lives of Romulus and Remus. The shepherd’s wife who had
found the twins and who very likely adopted them, was she-wolf, a prostitute.
The populace passed on the origins of the Eternal City with many tales; we can say
metaphorically, that Rome is born with an inclination towards chaos. Ancient
Rome, both republican and imperial, had plenty of brothels, even though they
were placed in the suburbs of the town. Romans paid frequent visits to the
brothels mainly for erotic purposes. They favoured the mercenary love intended
as a peculiar pleasure, and in their turn, many women –honest matrons –
disguised themselves as ‘she-wolves’ in order to attend the brothels and enjoy
the unidentified services. Messalina, the wife of, Emperor Claudius, camouflaged
herself under false names and common dresses in order to participate in the
brothels’ life.
Not to overly dwell on dark images of sexuality, this form of ‘eroticism’, besides a
state of heritage of the origins of Rome, was due to the cult of Venus Ericina, who
was the symbol of fertility, therefore, of sensual love and as such, was the reason
why she was worshipped, unlike the Hellenic Venus who was the symbol of beauty
and chastity.
According to Aristotle and his syllogisms, the practice of the prostitution in Rome
at the time of its Empire comes from religious reasons.
Grazia Brasi
Centro Guide Roma

ROME 2010: IN THE SIGN OF CARAVAGGIO, EXHIBITION AT LE SCUDERIE DEL QUIRINALE

In the occasion of the 4th centenary of the death  of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio,on
February 20th opened up the exhibition dedicated to him and going on until June 13th.

We will find his works coming from all over the world, for the first time gathered in an exhibition
also telling us about his tormented life through 30 out of his 40 paintings.
Only the works clearly signed up by the master were chosen, leaving aside those attributed to
his work-shop.

The artist who painted revolutionary and shocking canvasses commissioned by the Church and other
wealthy lovers of art, full of a deep religious feeling but  even of such a tormented and harsh realism
to make customers feel so embarassed to sometimes prefer to refuse his works.
The artist who was painting during the night, maybe while drinking wine, or taking a walk with his friends
through the old Roman alleys, taking part to riots and fights and even brutal crimes.
But no other painter was ever able to render such a tangible reality of life through that mysterious darkness
and that filtering and almost divine light which still capture our eyes and our souls.

It is worth taking this trip through his works of art, especially now that they are concentrated in one only
exclusive exhibition, such as  “BACCO” FROM UFFIZI GALLERY, “CANESTRA DI FRUTTA” FROM MILAN PAINTING
GALLERY, “THE MUSICIANS” FROM METROPOLITAN MUSEUM, “DINNER AT EMMAUS” FROM LONDON NATIONAL
GALLERY.

Lorenza Faraone
Roman Guide Centre

INFORMATION AND RESERVATIONS:
SCUDERIE DEL QUIRINALE
VIA XXIV MAGGIO, 16
ROMA
TEL: 06/39967500 - 06/696270  FAX: 06/696271
www.scuderiequirinale.it
info@scuderiequirinale.it

WATER IN ROME

Ever since the earliest times, water has played an important role in the life of the city, a source of health and hygiene, but also part of the classical quest for beauty.

Water flowed constantly into ancient Rome along eleven major aqueducts expertly built by Roman engineers and was distributed to every district in the city. The carefully regulated flow was then piped to fountains, palaces, villas, apartment blocks and arenas not only to quench the population’s thirst but also to supply the cisterns and pools of the many public and private baths. Water was not only a basic necessity but also a decorative element incorporated into the architectural fabric of the city. Monumental cascades, nymphaeums of all sizes, artificial lakes and water-features were highly fashionable then, as later on in Papal times from the fifteenth century onwards. Rome is still today a city of magnificent squares and striking fountains witnessing the ideals of Renaissance beauty to recreate the glory of Antiquity,  a constant source of inspiration and renewal.At the time of the Empire over one million Roman citizens had 1000 litres of water available per head per day, and now? The city counts three million inhabitantsand each person has 500 litres of water a day. A real privilege! Visitors to Rome can drink the fresh water at any time from the 2,500 little street fountains called nasoni (big noses), cylindrically shaped and made of cast iron or travertine stone. At home tap water is generally excellent, considered among the best in Italy, according to a recent study on Italian drinking water involving 35 cities.A water sample was taken in Saint Peterʼs Square to check the quality, and the calcium level, hardness, fluoride and sulphate levels, low pollution factors and absence of solvents or metals, make it excellent. “Rome water is good quality and safe” declared Mrs Silvia Castronovi of Altroconsumo, a consumer organisation. The water of Rome is a valuable asset, distributed through 5,600 km of pipes and regularly analysed, by the Roman Water Company ACEA, to certify its quality.  

Museums in Rome

  Rome has been preparing for so long for “The Saturday of the museum” a series of thumbnails that every Saturday, from April 4 until May 2, include the opening of some museums together with exhibitions of theater, music, and gastronomy.
Rome offers to its visitors new ideas to live the city during the day and night.
The initiative represents a clear choice of the Municipality of Rome to exploit the museums of the city, including venues and aggregation for the Romans, who in normal times can not enjoy the wonders of their beautiful Eternal City.
For this occasion, the Museum of the Capital will launch a series of animated opening night by large cultural events, thus proposing the museum not only as an exhibition space but also as a place for evening entertainment.
The 13^th Of April, the day of “Pasquetta” has been full of theater: the 21 and 22.30, at the Museo Nazionale Romano di Palazzo Altemps, on stage “Il mondo della luna”, journey through the drama giocoso di Carlo Goldoni, music by Franz Joseph Haydn, constructed by mixing Ludovico Ariosto to Italo Calvino.

At Musei Capitonili , however, at 21 Gabriele Lavia suggested readings on “philosopher Marcus: between reason and reasons of state.”
The Gambero Rosso will delight the palates of the Roman Saturday 18 (19.30 and 21) to the Central Montamartini, with Italian wines, in a frame of industrial archeology.
The music player will be April 25: at the Museo di Roma in Palazzo Braschi will perform the string trio Ludwig, music by Beethoven and a transcript of the “Hungarian Dance” by Brahms. At Museo Nazionale Romano (at Terme di Diocleziano) , however, the quintet of Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia will propose a repertoire of waltzes, marches and polkas of the Strauss family, but also jazz songs (21.15 and 22.30).The event will end with a concert on May 2 to the Markets of Trajan, where the pianist Danilo Rea will perform in “Piano Solo”, while at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, the Trio will perform John Amato.
Admission to all performances is 5 euro, until the places available.
Rome has recently developed several cultural activities to promote and enhance its wonders.

The Villa D’Este in Tivoli

Not evryone knows that beyond the historical, cultural and artistic attractions offered by the Eternal City, there are also a lot of beautiful areas (within easy reach and in a short time!) that allow you to discover other views of the capital soul.
Among these, the charming town of Tivoli (about 500 years older than Rome), at around thirty kms from Rome. With its 60 thousand inhabitants, the historic streets and beautiful Villas, gives wonderful emotions and a charming view of the capital thanks to its location on Tiburtini Mountains, from where it is possible to see (if the weather allows) St. Pietro’s dome, and not only …Particularly interesting is the visit of Villa D’Este, the famous Renaissance villa built since the 1550 by Pirro Ligorio (architec from Naples), commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II D’Este.
In addition to the interior of the building (3 floors of rooms decorated with great care) the property offers 35 000 square meters of gardens, adorned by beautiful fountains and waterfalls, fed by the waters of the river Aniene, thanks to special hydraulic pipes.
Among the wonderful water features the most interesting coul be the “Fontana dell’Organo”. Here, the water falls, move the air within some reeds, while another device presses on the keys creating magnificient melodies.
Every 2-3 hours this charming structure is activated. I absolutely advise it!Equally fascinating is the lane of the 100 fountains, spread over 3 levels (representing the rivers Aniene, Albuneo and Ercolaneo) and various shapes, including those of the symbol of the Este family (lilies and eagles). The list of wonders could go a long …
Living very close, I made several visits there with friends and family from far away and it is possible to discover every time new amazing thing.
During the summer I advise a visit during the night. The play of light and water gives a magical vein to these enchanting gardens …. besides being very cheap!

How to get to Tivoli from Rome?
From Tiburtina Station (metro line B/blue) a train takes about 30/60 mins (depending on the train stops).
Otherwise, at Ponte Mammolo Station (metro line B/blue) a lot of buses go to Tivoli.
Recommend those that take the A24 freeway as you save the traffic on Via Tiburtina!
Once arrived in Tivoli, there are wherever directions to the Villa. If you do not see them, just ask!

Vatican Museum… long lines, but not for everyone!

As many know, to enter at the Vatican museums, there are long lines of several hours … Only accreditaed guided tours have a fast access without lines.

Usually the price of for a tour in Vatican museums is 35 euro per person, but we found who offer you a fast entrance for  only 23.50 … Entering with an accompanying list …. That at some point … Just leave you in the Vatican museums!
Of course, the practice is somewhat strange … But this is what we propose to http://www.rome-museum.com
Judging from the stories on tripadvisor seems that things go as they say.