The Rome Chronicles: The Beginning
Text and Photography by: Shermeen Beg
It was Christmas Eve and after a grueling flight (with an emergency landing in Milan due to water flooding the plane thrown in for good measure) me, 69 kilos of luggage and my Springer Spaniel finally landed at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport.
Christmas Day dawned and feeling surprisingly recovered from my trip I was ready to begin my exploration of the city. Explore it I did for the next three and a half years. I traveled the length and breadth of Italy and once I discovered low cost airlines, the world was my oyster; I traveled to Paris, Berlin, Istanbul, Morocco and ultimately even Russia.
I was so ill prepared for my move to Rome that I didn’t even own a map of the city but undaunted I charged on, feeling the pulse of this metropolis that had doubled its population for the Christmas holidays when Catholics the world over flock to Rome to hear the Pope’s sermon and receive blessings from the Holy Father himself at the famous little balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica.
I still remember that first day vividly. I took a tram (electronic train) to start my journey through an imposing entrance into the city for those traveling from the north; that of the Porta del Popolo. Designed by architect Nanni di Baccio Bigio, the outer face features statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The internal façade was redesigned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini as a welcome to Queen Christina of Sweden, newly converted to Catholicism (at the cost of her throne) who arrived in Rome in December 1655. The gate opens into the impressive Piazza del Popolo. Designed in a neoclassical style, it is elliptical in shape and widens panoramically into two broad exedras that have set within them fountains made of travertine with basins shaped like giant seashells surmounted by sculptural groups. In the centre of the square lies an obelisk amidst lion shaped fountains. The design for the Piazza (and the fountains in the hemicycles) was completed by Guiseppe Valadier; though it is not difficult to read into his design the influence of Bernini’s Piazza San Pietro. Both piazzas have semi-circular elements that are further accentuated by the lack of enclosing loggias that had been the norm at that time.
The obelisk was erected in 1589 and is the second oldest obelisk in Rome standing 111 feet tall (including its base); it was brought back from Heliopolis to Rome by Augustus in 10 BC as a decorative element for the Circus Maximus. Over time the Circus was left unused and this obelisk was buried under rubble. When it was re-discovered in the 16th century during excavations, it was in two pieces. Pope Sixtus V had it restored and employed these relics of antiquity like punctuation marks at the crossings and terminals of his new road system. He originally intended to use them as the gnomons of sundials, but, like his scheme for turning the Coliseum into a wool factory, this was never carried out.
In keeping with the overwhelming Egyptian theme, one often stumbles upon a mummy standing in front of the obelisk. Upon closer inspection the mummy’s death mask covers the face of an immigrant standing stock still for hours hoping to get a few tips at the end of the day. For every coin you drop in the box, the mummy bows once!
Legend has it that the ghost of Nero, the infamous Roman Emperor said to have fiddled as Rome burned, would terrorize the neighborhood in the form of demon crows that lived in a cursed walnut tree. Pope Paschal II reassured the locals in 1099 by replacing the tree with a church paid for by the people (hence the name ‘il popolo’).
[An aside for all Dan Brown fans; this church is home to the Chigi Chapel where the first of the cardinals was found murdered in ‘Angels and Demons’.]
By 1660, the designs for the twin churches of Santa Maria di Montesano and Santa Maria dei Miracoli were commissioned by Pope Alexander VII and several architects were employed before the project could be completed, these included Carlo Rainaldi, Bernini and Carlo Fontana. The churches frame the so-called Trident of three streets fanning from the piazza. By various ingenious devices a dramatic effect is achieved; two symmetrical looking churches that in reality stand on two different sized and shaped lots. The solution was to use an elliptical design for the church on the smaller site. The building was then pushed as far back as possible so the smallest diameter of the ellipse would correspond in width to that of the other building that was circular in plan. Simultaneously the smaller church is capped with an oval dodecagonal dome while the other with a round octagonal one, thereby happily achieving the apparent similarity rendered so elusive by the difference in shape of the sites.
Today, Piazza del Popolo is one of Rome’s most appealing squares. This vibrant piazza is one of the best places to soak up the Roman experience. The triangle to the south is home to some of the city’s most exclusive shopping, and the ocher-colored buildings that dominate the surrounding neighborhood make for pleasant wandering through narrow side streets. Throughout its checkered history the Piazza has been home to many events. From the Barbary horse race at the culmination of the Carnival in the 17th century, to being the smart meeting place for evening carriage drives or being a stopping place for diligences arriving from the north and the venue for public executions till as recently as the 19th century, the Piazza del Popolo has always remained a focal part of Rome. In more recent times, the Piazza has hosted many events from state functions, charity concerts, art exhibitions, Christmas markets and of course the biggest part of the year on New Year’s Eve. Every Wednesday, the members of the Pattinatori del Pincio Association meet in Piazza del Popolo for a wild roller-blading tour of the city. The route varies each week and is decided on the spot once everyone is there.
The most unexpected and memorable event during my stay in Rome at the Piazza del Popolo was an exhibition of the Trash People, life-size representations of people created from consumer refuse, like tin cans and metal containers, by German artist Ha Schult. These Trash People had been traveling the world, starting from Germany and heading onwards to La Grande Arche de la Defense in Paris and Moscow’s Red Square in 1999, the Great Wall of China in 2001, the Giza Pyramids in 2002, and Switzerland’s Matterhorn in 2003. Schult is one of Europe’s foremost practitioners of Action Art and to see the military like placement of the figures on the piazza was reminiscent of the Terracotta Army of Shi Huang Di, the First Emperor of China.
Rome is often described as the Eternal City; it has always been and will always be. To me the magic of Rome is in its eternal discovery of its multiple facets; whether in the form of a fountain covered with crawling bees carved out of stone, or a single ray of light penetrating an oculus, or God giving life to man via a single touch. But to reach any of these destinations my journey always began at the Piazza del Popolo. My sentiments are echoed in the words of an Italian author who in 1686 described the Piazza as ‘so majestic as to promise well from this beginning how many marvels must lie within so famous a city’.
It was Christmas Eve and after a grueling flight (with an emergency landing in Milan due to water flooding the plane thrown in for good measure) me, 69 kilos of luggage and my Springer Spaniel finally landed at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport.
Christmas Day dawned and feeling surprisingly recovered from my trip I was ready to begin my exploration of the city. Explore it I did for the next three and a half years. I traveled the length and breadth of Italy and once I discovered low cost airlines, the world was my oyster; I traveled to Paris, Berlin, Istanbul, Morocco and ultimately even Russia.
I was so ill prepared for my move to Rome that I didn’t even own a map of the city but undaunted I charged on, feeling the pulse of this metropolis that had doubled its population for the Christmas holidays when Catholics the world over flock to Rome to hear the Pope’s sermon and receive blessings from the Holy Father himself at the famous little balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica.
I still remember that first day vividly. I took a tram (electronic train) to start my journey through an imposing entrance into the city for those traveling from the north; that of the Porta del Popolo. Designed by architect Nanni di Baccio Bigio, the outer face features statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The internal façade was redesigned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini as a welcome to Queen Christina of Sweden, newly converted to Catholicism (at the cost of her throne) who arrived in Rome in December 1655. The gate opens into the impressive Piazza del Popolo. Designed in a neoclassical style, it is elliptical in shape and widens panoramically into two broad exedras that have set within them fountains made of travertine with basins shaped like giant seashells surmounted by sculptural groups. In the centre of the square lies an obelisk amidst lion shaped fountains. The design for the Piazza (and the fountains in the hemicycles) was completed by Guiseppe Valadier; though it is not difficult to read into his design the influence of Bernini’s Piazza San Pietro. Both piazzas have semi-circular elements that are further accentuated by the lack of enclosing loggias that had been the norm at that time.
The obelisk was erected in 1589 and is the second oldest obelisk in Rome standing 111 feet tall (including its base); it was brought back from Heliopolis to Rome by Augustus in 10 BC as a decorative element for the Circus Maximus. Over time the Circus was left unused and this obelisk was buried under rubble. When it was re-discovered in the 16th century during excavations, it was in two pieces. Pope Sixtus V had it restored and employed these relics of antiquity like punctuation marks at the crossings and terminals of his new road system. He originally intended to use them as the gnomons of sundials, but, like his scheme for turning the Coliseum into a wool factory, this was never carried out.
In keeping with the overwhelming Egyptian theme, one often stumbles upon a mummy standing in front of the obelisk. Upon closer inspection the mummy’s death mask covers the face of an immigrant standing stock still for hours hoping to get a few tips at the end of the day. For every coin you drop in the box, the mummy bows once!
Legend has it that the ghost of Nero, the infamous Roman Emperor said to have fiddled as Rome burned, would terrorize the neighborhood in the form of demon crows that lived in a cursed walnut tree. Pope Paschal II reassured the locals in 1099 by replacing the tree with a church paid for by the people (hence the name ‘il popolo’).
[An aside for all Dan Brown fans; this church is home to the Chigi Chapel where the first of the cardinals was found murdered in ‘Angels and Demons’.]
By 1660, the designs for the twin churches of Santa Maria di Montesano and Santa Maria dei Miracoli were commissioned by Pope Alexander VII and several architects were employed before the project could be completed, these included Carlo Rainaldi, Bernini and Carlo Fontana. The churches frame the so-called Trident of three streets fanning from the piazza. By various ingenious devices a dramatic effect is achieved; two symmetrical looking churches that in reality stand on two different sized and shaped lots. The solution was to use an elliptical design for the church on the smaller site. The building was then pushed as far back as possible so the smallest diameter of the ellipse would correspond in width to that of the other building that was circular in plan. Simultaneously the smaller church is capped with an oval dodecagonal dome while the other with a round octagonal one, thereby happily achieving the apparent similarity rendered so elusive by the difference in shape of the sites.
Today, Piazza del Popolo is one of Rome’s most appealing squares. This vibrant piazza is one of the best places to soak up the Roman experience. The triangle to the south is home to some of the city’s most exclusive shopping, and the ocher-colored buildings that dominate the surrounding neighborhood make for pleasant wandering through narrow side streets. Throughout its checkered history the Piazza has been home to many events. From the Barbary horse race at the culmination of the Carnival in the 17th century, to being the smart meeting place for evening carriage drives or being a stopping place for diligences arriving from the north and the venue for public executions till as recently as the 19th century, the Piazza del Popolo has always remained a focal part of Rome. In more recent times, the Piazza has hosted many events from state functions, charity concerts, art exhibitions, Christmas markets and of course the biggest part of the year on New Year’s Eve. Every Wednesday, the members of the Pattinatori del Pincio Association meet in Piazza del Popolo for a wild roller-blading tour of the city. The route varies each week and is decided on the spot once everyone is there.
The most unexpected and memorable event during my stay in Rome at the Piazza del Popolo was an exhibition of the Trash People, life-size representations of people created from consumer refuse, like tin cans and metal containers, by German artist Ha Schult. These Trash People had been traveling the world, starting from Germany and heading onwards to La Grande Arche de la Defense in Paris and Moscow’s Red Square in 1999, the Great Wall of China in 2001, the Giza Pyramids in 2002, and Switzerland’s Matterhorn in 2003. Schult is one of Europe’s foremost practitioners of Action Art and to see the military like placement of the figures on the piazza was reminiscent of the Terracotta Army of Shi Huang Di, the First Emperor of China.
Rome is often described as the Eternal City; it has always been and will always be. To me the magic of Rome is in its eternal discovery of its multiple facets; whether in the form of a fountain covered with crawling bees carved out of stone, or a single ray of light penetrating an oculus, or God giving life to man via a single touch. But to reach any of these destinations my journey always began at the Piazza del Popolo. My sentiments are echoed in the words of an Italian author who in 1686 described the Piazza as ‘so majestic as to promise well from this beginning how many marvels must lie within so famous a city’.
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