Unnoticed monuments in Rome
If, as dictionaries say, a monument is, among other things, any structure that has artistic, archaeological, historical or similar value, probably nowhere else in the world you will find too many monuments per square kilometer, as in Rome, most of which will go necessarily unnoticed.
One of them is undoubtedly the Carcere Mamertino (Clivio Argentario, 1), located in the ever daunting forums, specifically between the Roman Forum and Via dei Fori Imperiali, at the fingertips of the staircase that leads to the Capitol, where despite the harmonic classic look of its beautiful facade were thrown, all those whom the authorities considered were threaten the state security. There is also a curious, little known Christian pilgrimage place, that according to the legend, St. Peter’s features were printed in one of its walls when he hit his head against it before creating the miraculous of a well of water to baptize the guards escorting him. Those who don’t believe this story, maybe can find interesting the infamous hole in the ground where the prisoners were pulled to the dungeon and once dead, throw their bodies to a great drain.
To move from this truculent underworld, to other substantially brighter places in appearance like the small, but captivating marble Baroque, pale pink church of Sant ‘Andrea al Quirinale (Via del Quirinale, 29). Perhaps this isn’t the best-known work by Bernini, who built it without charging anything in return, but as a gift to the Jesuits congregation. Miraculously clever spatial design, which has the ability to multiply its space, and a statue representing San Andres making his way on his journey to heaven through a broken pediment, are both truly memorable.
Although significantly different, another notable building is the not-sufficiently-known art-nouveau splendid palace that served as a studio and home of the artist and Norwegian-American writer Hendrik Christian Andersen http://www.museoandersen.beniculturali.it/ index.php? en/1/home perhaps less famous for its sculptures and megalomaniac plans for a modern city ideal for his homoerotic relationship with Henry James. You have to pay a visit to the bar on the rooftop bar of the Palace and its magnificent views; it can be accessed without having to visit the museum.
Less well known than the one of Trajan, which imitates the spiral relief historians, perhaps the closest to the cinema that had the Romans, the column of Marcus Aurelius, built between 180 and 196 and located in the Piazza Colonna, which served as inspiration for numerous statues of the Renaissance, a time when tragically a statue of St. Paul replaced the philosopher emperor at the top of the monument.
Paul Oilzum
From today’s perspective, this is a bittersweet reminder of a time where the governors could be great cultural figures. Hard not to think about it when renting apartments in Rome
