Tips 1 - 10 of 16 Rome General Tips
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Favorite Thing: When visiting and writing reviews about Roman monuments I read so much about earthquakes shaking the Colosseum half a dozen times, destroying Basilica's, that I felt it my duty to add this type of event to "Rome warnings and dangers".
Don't think this danger is just far away in the past; on 22/08/2005 the centre of Rome felt an earthquake of 4.5 on the Righter scale. There was a lot of talking between neighbours on the streets but no serious damages.
And closer to us on 12/04/2008 a small earthquake has shaken the Alban Hills southeast of Rome during the night and woke many people.
Don't think that nothing serious can happen and that pickpockets are much more a danger than earthquakes! On 26 September 1997 strong earthquakes struck central Italy and shook Assisi so strongly that frescoed vaults of the upper Basilica collapsed.
When I wrote this in 2008 I could not imagine what was going to happen one year later in Aquila..This night (6/04/2009) a terrible earthquake struck the mountainous Abruzzo region with the city of Aquila at 100 Km east of Rome. There are more than 250 death and enormous destructions. All my sympathy goes to the victims.
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Music: LISZT IN ROME
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Favorite Thing: Franz Liszt lived in Rome from 1867 to 1877 and composed here some wonderful pieces for the piano bundled in the third volume of the "Années de Pélérinage".
The first piece "Angelus!" subtitled "Prayer to the Guardian Angels" evokes the Angelus bells which Liszt heard ringing in the evening at Rome.
The next three pieces also written in 1877 are famous in the world of classical music: "Aux Cyprès de la Villa d'Este, N°1" and "Aux Cyprès de la Villa d'Este, N°2". It is said that this one was originally inspired by the cypresses of the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome at the Terme di Diocletiano (re. my tips on this church). It is thought that these cypresses were planted by Michelangelo.
The third piece for piano "Les jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este" "the Fountains of the Villa d'Esta" where he staid, is even more famous. These works foreshadow the impressionism of pieces on similar subjects by Debussy and Ravel.
Liszt wrote about this work: "j'ai essayé de rendre en musique quelques unes de mes sensation les plus fortes, de mes plus vives perceptions…" (I tried to translate into music some of my strongest feelings, of my sharpest perceptions…).
Liszt met the pope Pie IX and played for him at the cloister of Santa Maria del Rosario, on the Monte Mario. Franz Liszt studied theology, was lodged at the Vatican and received the religious "minor orders" in 1865.
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Music: RESPIGHI - "Pini di Roma".
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Favorite Thing: I can't visit the green parts of Rome without hearing inside me the music of Ottorino Respighi about the Pines of Rome. "Pini di Roma" is a symphonic poem composed in 1924.
Actually Respighi in the four movements of his composition describes the Pines of the Villa Borghese, Pines near a Catacomb, the Pines of the Janiculum and in the finale the Pines of the Via Appia.
There are nowhere so beautiful pines as those of Rome. In French we call them "pins parasol" because they spread like an umbrella.
The "Pini di Roma" from Respighi made a triumph although the Italian audiences of that time were more fond of the operas by Puccini, Rossini and Verdi (re. the excellent pages of a VT connoisseur "Nemorino").
Some years before, in 1917, Respighi had already composed another famous orchestral work "Fontane di Roma". The fountains chosen were the fountain of Valle Giulia at dawn, the Tritone fountain in the morning, the Trevi fountain in the afternoon and at sunset the fountain opposite Villa Medici.
In 1929 Respighi composed "Feste Romana" (Roman Festivals) completing his trilogy of symphonic poems about Rome.
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Favorite Thing: The first time I climbed to the Pincio terrace I found it wonderful that there was not a single skyscraper, not a single tower, not a single high building at the horizon.
No architectural injury was made to this city.
Even if the Romans disliked their Vittoriano monument, finally it is not far from being now a major tourist attraction.
OK, I have no problem with the skyscrapers of NYC or Dubai but I prefer a horizon made of cupolas, or palaces of the baroque period of architecture.
Look here at some photos made from the Capitoline or the Castel Sant' Angelo. Isn't that sublime? Now this horizon virgin of high buildings is not limited to the historical centre of Rome, outside the Mura Aureliane apartment buildings were also kept low as I could observe on my recent stay at the Monte Mario area.
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Favorite Thing: When born like me in a country where the bell-towers of the cathedrals touch the rain clouds one can not avoid being surprised that Rome with "thousand and one" churches has very few bell-towers! The campanile bell-tower of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, near the Coliseum is the most visible one. The bell-tower of Santa Maria Maggiore with 75 m is said to be the highest of Rome.
It hardly impresses me; in my small country there are 25 bell-towers of more than 75 m in height. We have even a cathedral in Tournai with 5 towers of 83 m.
German tourists will be even less impressed. They have the highest bell-tower with the Münster of Ulm reaching 162 m and the two bell-towers of the Dom of Cologne at 157 m.
The absence of bell-towers in Rome is largely compensated by the often immense cupolas like those of St Peters (136,5 m high) or Sant' Andrea della Valle.
The nearly absence of bell-towers in Rome always surprised me when there are so many bell-towers-Campanile in the North of Italy. The highest Campanile being the one of Cremona (111 m) in Lombardy.
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EGLISES SANS CLOCHERS.
Quand on est né comme moi dans un pays où les clochers des cathédrales touchent les nuages chargés de pluie on ne peut manquer d'être surpris que Rome aux "mille et une" églises soit sans clochers!
Faites le tour avec moi et vous verrez seulement quelques clochers. Celui de Santa Maria in Cosmedin en forme de campanile est le plus visible entre le Colisée et le Forum. Celui de Santa Maria Maggiore est avec ses 75 m le plus haut de Rome.
Il ne m'a guère impressionné; dans mon petit pays il y a 25 clochers de plus de 75 m de haut. Nous avons même une cathédrale à Tournai avec 5 tours de 83 m.
Les Allemands seront encore moins impressionnés. Ils ont le plus haut clocher avec le Münster de Ulm et ses 162 m. Le Dom de Cologne n'est est pas loin avec ses deux clochers de 157 m.
L'absence de clochers est largement compensée par les coupoles souvent immenses comme ceux de San Pietro d'une hauteur de 136,5 m, ou de Sant'Andrea della Valle.
La quasi absence de clochers à Rome m'étonne depuis ma première visite alors qu'il y tant de clochers-campanile dans le Nord de l'Italie. Le plus haut campanile est celui de Cremona en Lombardie avec ses 111 m.
Rome est la ville au mille et une églises mais seulement deux clochers!
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Favorite Thing: 1° avoid restaurants where the waiters are soliciting tourists onto their terrace. Now it is necessary to distinguish between soliciting the tourist and a pleasant welcome to the traveller looking at the menu.
2° avoid the restaurants with large terraces with too well set tables and well dressed quadrilingual waiters.
3° check that they serve wine "vino de la casa" by the carafe what avoids paying table wine at 20 € the bottle.
4° look if the customers are locals or only tourists. Here the question is how to distinguish them from each other; it is simple, Italians don't wear shorts for dining in the town centre.================================ ==
Comment éviter les "restaurants à touristes".
1° éviter les restos où les garçons font du racolage à leur terrasse. Maintenant il faut savoir distinguer entre racolage du touriste pigeon et un accueil aimable du voyageur qui s'intéresse à la carte.
2° éviter les restos avec grandes terrasses aux tables trop bien mises et garçons en livrée et quadrilingues.
3° vérifier que l'on sert du vin de la casa en carafon ce qui évite de payer du vin de table à 20 € la bouteille.
4° regarder si la clientèle est autochtone ou uniquement composée de touristes. Ici la question est comment distinguer les uns des autres: c'est simple les Italiens ne vont pas dîner en short au centre ville.
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Favorite Thing: Six years of secondary school studying Latin (at 8 hours a week) do not keep me free from some mental confusion when I visit the sites of the antique Rome. The essential question for me is not "to be or not to be" but to whom belongs this or that?
Indeed the Antique Rome counts twelve centuries of history, 1200 years of archaeological stratifications of a high complexity.
So please forgive the simple amateur I am not to distinguish at first sight what belongs to the Antoninus dynasty of emperors from what belongs to the Severus emperors.
I am already very satisfied to be able to distinguish (most often) what was before Julius Caesar from what came afterwards.
A now retired Professor of a French university, Lucien Jerphagnon, used to ask new students of the first year in history to situate the philosopher Seneca in the history; before or after J.C.?
All students hesitated… like me. Why?================================ =======
DOUZE SIECLES D'HISTOIRE !
Six années d'humanités gréco-latines ne peuvent empêcher que je ressente quelque confusion mentale lorsque je visite les sites de la Rome antique. La question que je me pose souvent est: à qui appartient quoi?
En effet la Rome antique c'est douze siècles d'histoire, 1200 ans de stratifications archéologiques!
Dans ces conditions il faut pardonner au simple amateur que je suis de ne pas faire la distinction au premier coup d'œil de ce qui appartient aux Antonins ou de ce qui appartient aux Sévères. Quant à moi je suis déjà très satisfait de distinguer ce qui est avant Jules César de ce qui vient après. Et comme J. César précède d'une cinquantaine d'années Jésus Christ, la chronologie en ce qui me concerne en est simplifiée.
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Favorite Thing: With the progression of their expansion the ancient Romans showed less and less modesty.
As the grandfather of Romulus and Remus was the Alban king Numitor and as according to the legend the town of Alba Longa (in the Alban mounts near Rome) had been founded by Iule the son of Aeneas, illustrious prince of Troy, son of Anchises and of the goddess Aphrodite/Venus, the Romans regarded themselves as descendants of the famous Trojans but also of two most important divinities of the Olympus Mars and Venus.
Actually when the Romans conquered Greece, it were the descendants of the unhappy Hector of Troy who took their revenge.
This always satisfied me because I never liked Achilles a cruel and sulky character.================================ ===
DU MYTHE A LA REALITE. I.
Au fur et à mesure de leur expansion les anciens Romains firent de moins en moins preuve de modestie. Comme le grand-père de Romulus et Remus était le roi albain Numitor et que selon la légende la ville d'Alba avait été fondée par Iule le fils d'Enée, illustre prince Troyen, fils d'Anchise et de la déesse Vénus, les Romains se sont considérés comme descendants des illustres Troyens mais aussi de deux divinités des plus importantes de l'Olympe soit Mars et Venus.
En fait lorsque les Romains ont conquis la Grèce, c'étaient les descendants du malheureux Hector le Troyen qui prenaient leur revanche.
J'avoue que cette revanche me plait bien car j'ai toujours trouvé qu'Achille était un type peu sympathique, boudeur et cruel.
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Favorite Thing: To Romulus, murderer of his brother Remus (I don't know if one should make a link with Cain assassinating Abel?), succeeded as kings Numa Pompilius, Tullius Hostilius (the one of the duel between the Horace's and Curacies) and Ancus Martius who is said to have founded the port of Ostia and have build the first aqueduct of Rome.
It is here that the myth, the legend, collides with reality.
At the 7th century before J.C the seven hills of Rome were inhabited by shepherds living in modest huts as one can see at the museum of the Baths of Diocletian's at the section of proto-history (ref. my comment on the museum of the Baths).
From the myth remains that all the history of ancient Rome was impregnated by a sacred context which directed the life of the Roman society as well as the individuals.================================ ===
DU MYTHE A LA REALITE. II.
Romulus assassin de son frère Remus (je ne sais pas s'il faut faire un rapprochement avec Caïn assassinant Abel ?) fut suivi des rois Numa Pompilius, Tullius Hostilius (celui du duel des Horaces et des Curiaces) et Ancus Martius dont on dit qu'il fonda le port d'Ostie et fit construire le premier aqueduc.
C'est ici que le mythe, la légende s'entrechoque avec la réalité.
Au 7e siècle avant J.C. les sept collines de Rome étaient habitées par des bergers logeant dans des modestes cabanes comme on peut voir au musée des Thermes de Dioclétien à la section de protohistoire (ref. mon commentaire sur le musée des Thermes).
Du mythe il reste que toute l'histoire de la Rome antique est imprégnée d'un contexte sacré qui a dirigé la vie de la société romaine et des individus.
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 Comments for breughel about Rome | | | | |
Nemorino Mon Jun 1, 2009 21:57 UTC
Me again, just checking back to read your new tips and updates since my last visit to this page on October 9, 2008. I hope Emperor Augustus had a sense of humor & laughed when his curule chair collapsed in the Theatre of Marcellus. (But I doubt it.) | MM212 Mon Jun 1, 2009 21:54 UTC
Je vois que nous partageons une fascination de la Ville éternelle: i pini di roma, foro romano, les églises, et les musées. J'ai même lu les Mémoires d'Hadrien (en français)! Rome me manque déjà... | hunterV Fri May 29, 2009 18:45 UTC
><><>< Great detail, thanx! ><><><>< | tratoria Thu May 28, 2009 13:52 UTC
HI, Rome is this kind of adorable place in the world. Just thinking to prepare my 2nd trip to Rome soon |
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