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 Santa Maria della Scala,
in Trastevere by Lacristina
Yet it is incredibly beautiful and has a wonderful, interesting history. The polished red marble columns alone are enough to make my knees week! The altar and tabernacle by Rainaldi is impossibly, beautifully ornate.
So what and where is this little gem of a church?
Santa Maria della Scala (of the stairs), in Trastevere, the now trendy working-class neighborhood. Trastevere literally means "across the Tevere" or the Tiber River, from the historical center of Rome. The church is not far from the more famous Santa Maria in Trastevere.
Next to the church (on the right as you face it) is a preserved antique pharmacy from the 18th century, which used to service the Vatican.
For more information on the church, the reason for it's creation, and the pharmacy and how to visit it, see:
Farmacia
and
Church
Like many churches in Rome, it is closed between noon and 4 p.m. most days.
An interesting sidelight of this church involves my favorite painter, Caravaggio. He was commissioned to produce a painting for the church; the subject was the death of the virgin. The work was rejected (this happened to Caravaggio a lot, he was always getting in trouble.) In this case, perhaps because the model for the virgin was a prostitute, perhaps because her legs were exposed, or perhaps because her belly was too realistically swollen in death. In any event, the painting now hangs in the Louvre. You can see a copy of it here.
Death of the Virgin
(click on the small painting for an enlargement, then click on "Fit Width" at the top)
Address: 23 Piazza della Scala, Trastevere
Less than 300 meters northwest of Santa Maria in Trastevere, where Via della Scala turns into Piazza della Scala. Leave a Comment
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 Area of Ghetto in Rome. by chiara76
There are a lot of really old houses there and there is an unique atmosphere there.
There are the shops with the kosher products and the shop with interesting stuff.
You can find medieval buildings in the area of Ghetto.
The Ghetto in Rome was created in 1555 year by the Pope Paul IV and Jews was forced to move in this area in July,1556.
It finished in year 1870 when the king Victor Emanuel gave the Jews full citizenship.
There have been still a lot of Jews living in the neighbourhood.
Go to the internet page:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Rome.html Leave a Comment
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Walking from Ponte St'Angelo to Piazza Navona goes through an ancient district of which I would recommend the Via Dei Coronari. This street existed already in the time of the ancient Rome under the name of Via Recta. The present aspect goes back to the 15th c. under pope Sixtus IV. Number interesting mansions of that time still exist. Well known is at nr. 156-7 the house of Fiammeta Michaelis the favoured courtesan of Cesar Borgia.
The name Coronari comes from corone i.e. rosary beads which were sold here as well as sacred souvenirs in many shops to pilgrims entering Roma by the Porta del Popolo and joining St Peters by the St' Angelo bridge.
With her 500 m length Via Coronari was the first straight street of the medieval Rome redesigned by Pope Sixtus IV.
The rosary shops have been replaced by antiquaries but one will still find ancient religious objects in their windows.
When walking from Piazza Navona to Castel St'Angelo my preference goes to the large Via Zanardelli with the view on the Palace of Justice and the walk on the left bank of the river (Lungotevere Tor di Nona) with the splendid views on the Castle, the bridge St'Angelo and the dome of St Peters.
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 Refreshing break by rexvaughanLeave a Comment
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First I've heard about Garbatella while watching the movie "Caro Diario" by Nanni Moretti and I just felt in love with this part of Rome. The first summer in Rome it was basically summer evenings around Garbatella.
This district was built around 1920 as the place of cheap housing for people who needed to move out from a center of the city, as long as new streets were built at the place of their houses.
The old part of today Garbatella is amazing. There are not historic monuments and tourist's attractions, but from my point of view this place have something more - has "L'ANIMA" - a soul. If you enjoy walking around and watching buildings full of colors and plants you will like it for sure.
For me it's a ritual - walking along the streets, looking at people's windows, theirs gardens.
There are many good, cheap restaurants, where you will not meet anybody else just Romans.
(see restaurant section: Er Panonto)
You need to remember to walk a bit from the metro station Garbatella (metro B - Blue Line) towards the old part of the district, the theatre Innocenzo Sabbatini.
The new part of La Garbatella is nothing really special with new, kind of "match box" buildings.
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Strolling streets of your neighborhood is the only way to become familiar with the new surroundings. At the end of our street - the corner of Ludovisi and Aurora - is the Swiss Institute - a formidible villa/palace. Aurora runs parallel with Via Veneto and Ludovisi crosses them both.
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 People from Trastevere... by chiara76
I really like these old people ... Leave a Comment
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A short pedestrianised street, Via Portico d'Ottavia, is now the heart of what was once Rome's Jewish ghetto. It's a fascinating and atmospheric are, a maze of narrow streets and alleyways with many Roman artefacts incorporated into its old buidlings.
There were Jews in Rome from at least the second century BC, and probably before that, but it was Pope Paul Vl whose laws (in the mid-sixteenth century) made them live in this area, effectively creating a ghetto. They had to wear yellow shawls and caps when they left the district.
Most of Rome's Jews survived the Nazi occupation, and now live all over the city. But along the Via Porto d'Ottavia you can still find kosher restaurants, butchers, bakeries etc (even a kosher fast food outlet), .
Worth wandering through, if only for the fascinating chunks of Roman masonry dotted around (see photos).
Walk from Via Del Teatro di Marcello, or from Via Arenula. Leave a Comment
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A tiny island, Isola Tiberina, in the Tiber River is wedged between Trastevere and the Ghetto part of Rome. The island has been inhabited since ancient times and contained the Temple of Aesculapius. The 10th church of San Bartolomeo all'Isola was built on the ruins of this temple. Connecting the Ghetto with the island is Rome's oldest bridge that is still in use, Ponte Fabricio. It was built in 62 BC and is now only a footbridge.
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 by tango_jd
Very quaint, slightly shabby/seedy but with a style and panache.
Not too bad on prices for meals or drinks and a bit less frantic than the Fountain/Steps areas of the main drag.
The bridge in the photo - on the Travastere side there was the most wonderful ice-cream shop! Leave a Comment
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