Walk 3

Piazza Barberini to Quattro Fontane, Santa Vittoria, Santa Maria degli Angeli, Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore, The Quirinale and The Trevi.

A 2-3 hour (plus) excursion.

1. Starting at the Piazza Barberini, at the beginning of the Via Quattro Fontane.

This imposing but busy square was home to wandering cattle and sheep as recently as the early 1900's, despite being dominated by the Palazzo Barberini since 1625. The fountain in the centre is the Triton Fountain by Bernini, with water coming directly from the still functioning Aqua Felice Aquaduct.

Note the dolphins holding up the Barberini family crest.

Across the street you see the beginning of the Via Veneto, made famous as the 'sweet life' of the Fellini "La Dolce Vita" film of 1955. The Veneto is a wandering, modern street that sports most of the truly great (and expensive) hotels catering to the rich and famous.  Most forget that nearly all the hotels were taken over by the German forces as officer accommodation during WWII. Halfway along is the American Embassy, complete with the obligatory Marines watching over the local lounging Caribinieri.

At the start of the Veneto, on the right, is the Church of St. Maria dell' Immacolata Concenzione (of the Immaculate Conception), better known as either the Church of the Capuchins (hooded ones) or more simply 'the bone church'. (Yes ... cappuccino coffee is named after the colour of the Franciscan monk's habits). The church itself is only mildly interesting ... quite gloomy in fact, with one standout. Over the altar is Guido Reni painting of "The Archangel Michael Smiting the Devil" (Reni painted Pope Innocent X as the devil) which must be the most copied painting in history. You will find copies of this original in churches the world over. However it is the underground crypt, entered to the right of the church, that most have come to see. e are over 4000 skulls and bones, being the remains of almost every monk who served in the church since it was built in the late 1600's. The bones are arranged in patterns and serve as a reminder of the fate of all men. Not at the top of my 'must visit' list, but some may find it interesting.

Walk back to the fountain, then across the road to the cinema. Behind is the start of the Via Quattra Fontane, the steep road leading up to the entrance to Palazzo Barberini.

2. Up Via Quattra Fontane to
Via Rasella

About 50 metres up this street on the right is the deconsecrated Church of St. Andrea degli Scozzeesi (Church of St. Andrew and the Scottish).  Nearby, the closed seminary building has a motto over the door "Nemo me impune lacessit" (No one attacks me with impunity). In 1717 James Stuart, "The old pretender" to the thrones of England and Scotland had his residence here.

A hundred or so metres up the hill on the left is the entrance to the Palazzo Barberini.  This was first the rear entrance, with the front of the Palazzo originally facing the Piazza Barberini. The facade we see is a rare example of cooperation between the architects Borromini and Bernini (see my separate page on their rivalry concerning the Piazza Navona and we will see more of this during this walk). Note the three orders of columns ... Doric, Ionic and Corinthian ... on rising floors.

The Barberini is one of the major art museums in Rome and the world, well worth a separate visit ... come back later. It today houses the National Museum of Art and has some astounding pieces including a number of Caravaggio's paintings, works by Bernini and that painting of Henry VIII by Hans Holbein that everyone knows.

Take just a moment to look down Via Rasella, the street opposite the Barberini gates. It was in this street on 23 March 1944 during the Nazi occupation of Rome after Mussolini had been ummm... 'replaced', that a group of partisan resistance fighters exploded a bomb as a column of German SS troops marched through, killing 23 soldiers. Some of the bullet marks from the German's immediate response can still be seen high on the walls. The reprisals were horrific, with 335 Italians taken to a cave outside Rome and executed. This became known as the Ardeatine massacre.

3. To the Four Fountains

Continue uphill along the Via Quattre Fontane and you will come to the famous  "Four Fountains" crossroads. The four fountains were commissioned by Pope Sixtus V  in the late 1500's. The figures of the four fountains represent the River Tiber (the symbol of Rome); the River Arno (the symbol of Florence); the Goddess Diana (the symbol of Chastity); and the Goddess Juno (the symbol of Strength)

From this vantage point on top of the Quirinale Hill, three obelisks can be seen.. the obelisk of Trinita dei Monti near the Spanish Steps, the obelisk of the Quirinal and the obelisk of Santa Maria Maggiore.  In the fourth direction is the Porta Pia through the ancient Roman wall, this monumental gateway designed by Michelangelo.  It was through this entrance that, on 20 September 1870, Italian troops marched into Rome to end the rule of the Popes and reestablish the Italian monarchy.

To the right along the Via Quirinale are two Churches ... one by Borromini and one by Bernini, that we will return to later on this walk. (No.9 below).

For now, turn left onto the Via Venti Settembre. (20 Sept, 1870... see above)

4. To the Church of St Susanna and

Church of St. Maria della Vittoria

About two blocks along the Via Venti Settembre on the left we come to the modest Church of Saint Susanna, the local Roman church for residents from the USA. In about AD280, an early Christian house of worship was established on this site, which, like many of the earliest Christian meeting places, was in a house.

The Church of Santa Susanna is one of the oldest titles in the city of Rome. The early Christian church, built on the remains of three Roman villas still visible beneath the monastery, was situated immediately outside the wall of the Baths built by Diocletian, the first walls built to defend the city. According to tradition, the Church was erected on Susanna's House, where the Saint was martyred with her family when she refused to marry the son of Emperor Diocletian. The structure became a church around AD330 under Emperor Constantine I, when the basilicas of numerous house churches came to be adapted for liturgical use.

In 1606, Carlo Maderno completed the design for the facade in an early baroque form that became the preferred style, much copied in future churches in Rome, and described as "The dynamic rhythm of columns and pilasters, crowding centrally, and the protrusion and increased central decoration add further complexity to the structure. Notice the interplay of relationships, none exactly symmetric on any one mirror side. The entrance and roof are surrounded by triangular pediments. The windows are replaced by niches. There is an incipient playfulness with the rules of classic design, still maintaining rigor." Let's just say it is one of the early steps between Renaissance and Baroque architecture.

This was the first church in Rome to install electric lighting, as demanded by the American congregation.  This was a shocking outrage to many in the Italian community.

Continue on, crossing the Via Emanuele Orlando (we will come back to the big fountain next), to the Church of St Maria della Vittoria (Our Lady of Victory).  Note the facade by Carlo Maderno ... remind you of the Church of St Susanna we just saw?

However, on this occasion it is what is inside that we have come to see. The church is known for the masterpiece of Bernini, the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa in the Cornaro Chapel, to the left of the altar.  The statue depicts a moment as described by Saint Teresa of Avila in her autobiography, where she had the vivid vision of a Seraph piercing her heart with a golden shaft, causing her both immense joy and pain. The flowing robes and contorted posture abandon classical restraint and repose to depict a more passionate, almost voluptuous trance.

A lot has been written, and imagined, about the intimacy expressed in this setting.

5. The Fontana dell'Acqua Felice

Out of the church, cross the busy Via 20 Settembre (the final day of the long process of Italian unification, marking both the defeat of the Papal States and the unification of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel II, an event much celebrated by the Fascist Regime) and enter Via Vittorio Emanuele Orlando... the road heading to Termini.

Immediately you come to the Fontana dell'Acqua Felice. In the mid 16th. C., only one of the ancient Roman aqueducts which brought water to the city, the Aqua Vergine, was still being maintained and working. Everyone in Rome who wanted clean drinking water had to go to the single fountain near the site of today's Trevi Fountain.  In 1585 Pope Sixtus took on the responsibility of restoring other aqueducts, including the Acqua Alessandrina, which he renamed Acqua Felice after himself. The  fountain that marked the terminus of the restored aqueduct was the first new monumental wall fountain in Rome since antiquity.

The central statue of Moses was criticised at the time for its large size, not in proportion with the other statues, but the fountain achieved its political purpose; it was a statement of how the Catholic Church, unlike the Protestant Reformation, was serving the needs of the people of Rome. It also achieved its social purpose of reviving the Quirinal neighborhood; what had been a rustic area of villas was turned into a thriving urban neighborhood by the arrival of a good drinking water supply.

Note the 'horns' on Moses's head.  Here we have another example of a mistake by St Jerome (4th.C.) when translating the Hebrew bible into Latin, giving Moses 'horns' instead of 'rays of light' as he descended with the 10 commandments.