In way of a conclusion and since we live in a world restricted to top 10 lists of everything, I am going to wrap up this blog with my own personal list of top 10 (or more) reasons to live in the eternal city. I had originally prepared a similar list of reasons to leave Rome, but the distance already makes me feel nostalgic so I prefer to finish on a positive note.

My top 1-1-1 list:

1. the freedom of riding around on a Vespa

1. the stunning beauty of the city

1. the light

1. espresso coffee at café Eustacchio

1. umbrella pine trees

1. piazza Navona, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Fori imperiali at 5 am

1. puntarelle with anchovies

1. Bartaruga on piazza Mattei

1. St Peter’s cupola from viale Gregorio VII

1. Modica chocolate

1. Galleria Borghese

1. summer drinks at Isola Tiberina

1. raw artichoke and parmigiano salad

1. Raffaello’s School of Athens

1. Caravaggio’s Madonna dei Pellegrini

1. linguini con vongole

1. viale Cristoforo Colombo to the sea

1. the beach at cancelli 2 and 4 in winter

1. tasting the seasons at Mercato trionfale

1. pizza bianca piazza Mancini

1. lunch,  dinner and bakeries in the ghetto

1. Fatamorgana ice-creams

1.riding past the Palatino along Circo Massimo

1. shopping in Monti

1. arrosticini near campo Imperatore in the Abbruzzi

1. being able to see Carracci’s love of the gods fresco in Palazzo Farnese

1. Fabriano paper shop

1. walking through the historic centre and always discovering new alleyways

1. lemon or mojito granita in the summer heat

1. escaping to lake Martignano at the weekend

1. Borromini

1. Musei capitolini

1. summer concerts at Villa Ada

1. the café at Villa Medicis

1. hidden bookshops

1. olympic swimming pool at Foro Italico

1. watching the sunrise from the Gianicolo hill and the sunset from the Pincio…

Main 1930s pavillion at Cinecittà

Cinecittà was created in the 1930s by Mussolini who had ambitions to create a national film industry, following the trend developing elsewhere due to new cinema technologies. He identified a vast area on the via Tuscolana, which was in the middle of the countryside at the time (it is today part of the suburbs). That way, the studios had space to film outdoor and potential to expand. He never saw it take off, however his plans succeeded some 20 years later, when a new generation of filmmakers, such as Roberto Rosselini, took Italian films to an international audience with their so-called new realism movies. Cinecittà nevertheless kept most of its 1930s architecture and layout. During WWII, the studios became a shelter for refugees.

Today, Cinecittà studios are used mainly for large TV productions, the most recent one being the British-Italian historical drama ROME. The set is still there, ready for a follow-up series and can be visited during the exceptional opening of Cinecittà this year on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. Walking around the plaster board set, one has the illusion of walking through the streets and piazzas of ancient Rome.

Cinecittà's set of TV production ROME

Roaming around Rome early in the morning, we begin to understand the vision developed in the ancient myth, which great masters so often depicted. As the sun rises from site to site, it feels like a magic curtain is being lifted over the eternal city.

Piazza Navona at dawn

Dawn is one of the best time to fully appreciate the beauty of Rome, particularly in the middle of summer. At 5am just before sunrise, the city is revealing itself in a different light (so to speak). The Pantheon seems even more imposing in the dim light, Piazza Navona is truly stunning when empty, and the Trevi Fountain can be seen in full glory. From the historic centre, I ride around the Imperial Forum, the Colosseum and the Palatine, to reach the Giardino degli Aranci on the Aventine hill for a morning view of St Peter’s cupola. I continue across Trastevere to the Fontana Paolina on the Janiculum hill to watch the sun appear from behind the Abbruzzi mountains. Dawn’s curtain is now fully lifted, and Apollo is bringing light to Rome and to the world.

Sunrise over Rome from the Janiculum hill

It is time for the first coffee of the day, but the hardest part is to find a café open so early in the morning for Rome.

Keyhole view of St Peter's at dawn

It was the 18th century artist, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, famous for his etching views of ancient Rome, who created this amazing design when he was commissioned in 1765 to renovate the Roman seat of the Knights of Malta. It was Piranesi’s only architectural work in the eternal city, but one that made his name forever linked with the Priory. He is actually buried in Santa Maria del Priorato, the Priory’s church he redesigned.

Front panel of the Ludovisi throne

The meaning of the Ludovisi throne is debated. For some, it represents the birth of Venus (or Aphrodite), coming out of the sea, and was used for the cult of the goddess. Meanwhile, for other scholars who compared it with reliefs and terracottas from Magna Grecia, it shows Proserpine (or Persefone in Greek) coming back from inferno to bring back spring on earth. They date it back to the 5th century BC. On the left side of the throne is carved a representation of a young woman burning incense, while on the right side is a young nude playing the flute, the two figures supposedly representing sacred and profane love. The sculpture was found in the Horti Sallustiani, where the Dying Gaul had been found earlier. I personally find it quite modern in appearance and composition, almost out of the Art Nouveau style of the 1930s.

The Dying Gaul

The statue, found in 1622 in the Horti Sallustiani on the Ludovisi estate near the via Veneto, is a Roman copy of an ancient greek sculpture made of bronze. The original statue formed part of a monument the king of Pergamon, Attalus I Soter, erected around 225 BC to celebrate his victory against the Celtic tribes who had newly arrived in Asia Minor. The memorable victory earned Attalus the name of Soter (the saviour) and the title of king. Attalus I was also a loyal ally of Rome who played a significant role during the Macedonian wars fought by the Romans at the  same time as the Punic wars in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.

The statue, which represents a gallic warrior agonizing over his mortal wounds, has inspired many artists because of its strong emotional powers yet highly realistic features. Caravaggio’s St John the Baptist at the Corsini gallery, is depicted in exactly the same stance as the Dying Gaul. The Gaul, recognizable from his distinctive hair style and moustache, was equally admired by the many 19th century expert travellers doing the Grand Tour. It may seem obvious today to like such an overly famous work of art, however, one can still see it with fresh eyes and be moved by it.

Borromini's prospective in Palazzo Spada

Seen from a distance, the prospective gives the illusion of being as long as 30 metres, but it is actually only about eight metres long. The effect is created by having a series of columns mathematically decreasing in size on each side of an alleyway, and an ascending path which converge towards the same central point as the columns. The rather disconcerting effect it creates, is further enhanced by a statue of a Roman soldier placed at the end of the prospective. The statue, which is only 50 centimetres high, seems to be of full human proportions to the naked eye. It is only when a person stands next to it at the end of the alleyway that its true dimensions are revealed. When Borromini created his masterpiece, the prospective was opening on to a painted wall, which has since faded and can no longer be restored. The statue was added later during the 19th century. It was a pure coincidence that gave the artist the opportunity to create the work. He was initially commissioned to paint a trompe-l’oeil fresco in the so-called orange garden of the palace, but his patron, the owner of the palace, Cardinal Bernardino Spada, was able to purchase an additional piece of land from his neighbour. The plot was too small to extend the palace, so Borromini came up with the idea of creating an architectural prospective as opposed to a painted one, to give the illusion of a larger and more ornate garden.

The palazzo Spada, located between Campo de’ Fiori and via Giulia, was initially built in the 16th century by Cardinal Capodiferro, a close adviser of Pope Paul III, who was himself building his palazzo Farnese nearby. A century later, Cardinal Spada, purchased it to house his growing art collection, and turned it into a Baroque palace, commissioning the greatest artists of his time, such as Borromini, to work on the decoration.

The three churches of St John Latran, Santa Maria Maggiore and the Holy Cross in Jerusalem (Santa Croce in Gerusalemme), are some of the most important churches in Rome. Santa Maria Maggiore on the Esquiline hill, famous for its rare 5th century mosaics, and St John Latran, the cathedral of Rome at the start of the via Appia, are two of the four Papal basilicas (together with St Peter’s and St Paul-outside-the-walls). On the other hand, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme holds the true relic of the cross, supposedly brought back to Rome by Emperor Constantine’s mother Helena, a great believer in Christianity. Her son Constantine, who ruled from 306 to 337, was the first Christian emperor of Rome.

However, the three churches are also linked by the symbolic triangle of the Trinity, the basis of Christian Faith. Seen on a map of the city, they actually form a triangle, that of the Trinity, but they also symbolize three major moments in the life of Jesus: the nativity (Santa Maria maggiore), the passion (Santa Croce) and the ascension (St John Lateran). The main arteries to connect the three churches were opened in the 18th century under Pope Benedict XIV. He was himself in charge of Santa Croce before being elected to St Peter’s throne. At that time, towards the end of the Baroque era, Rome had become the set of a great urban theatre, where prospective views and plays on optical illusions came to distort the truth.

One of them is the 17th century hand-painted astrolabe, an ancient instrument used to show the position of the sun and the stars in the sky. Even if it was meant as a purely mathematical tool to measure time, the workmanship is such that it was turned into a masterpiece. Its author, the French monk Emanuel Maignon who was staying at the convent, spent years completing it in the late 1630s. With the help of assistants, he hand drew every single line to match the exact position of the constellations in the sky. The time of the day and the year is measured on the lines by a spot of light shining through a narrow hole in the wall. It is believed that Maignon may have been in contact with Galileo Galilei, who spent a few months in the convent while under house arrest. After his trial in 1633 during which he was condemned for supporting the theory of a heliocentric system based on the rotation of the planets around the sun, Galileo was allowed to spend time in home confinement due to his old age.

part of the astrolabe at Trinità dei Monti

Next to the astrolabe room is another surprising work of art: the so-called anamorphosis, a wall fresco representing the life of St Francis of Paola, the founder of the Order of the Minims to which the convent used to belong. The particularity of the painting is that it is based on a strong optical illusion, whereby the subject matter changes according to the viewer’s position. Standing in front of it, the viewer sees a landscape scene with small sailing boats crossing a lake, while at a certain angle, the full size figure of St Francis starts appearing.

anamorphosis representing St Francis of Paola

According to a famous story, St Francis was refused a passage while trying to cross the strait of Messina to Sicily, so he laid his cloak on the water and managed to successfully sail across this way. Born in 1416, he was from Paola in Calabria. His order, which was approved in 1506 (a year before his death) by pope Julius II, particularly flourished in France until the French Revolution. The Trinita dei Monti church and convent have traditionally been French property and still remain so. However, it is currently run by the French order of the Fraternités monastiques de Jérusalem.  The Convent is open to visits on Tuesday and Saturday morning.

The statue, found in central Italy during the Renaissance, represents the Greek god Apollo as a standing archer, killing the serpent Python, the guardian of Delphi. After killing the monster, Apollo made his own oracle in his home in Delphi. The statue is particularly famous for its so-called contrapposto stance, or counter-pose resting on one leg.

Belvedere Appollo

Since the Renaissance, admiring artists had made drawings of it, which helped spread its fame beyond Rome. It became particularly noticed when Pope Julius II, who had ordered the renovation of the Vatican palaces, decided to put the statue in the newly built Cortile del Belvedere. There the Apollo found its natural home. It was equally praised by the many great artists who were working in the Vatican at the time, including Michelangelo, Raffaello and Bramante.

Interest in it was revived in the 18th century following Winckelmann’s studies. Originally from Germany, he came to Rome to perfect his knowledge and was eventually appointed Director General of Roman antiquities. He was one of the first to distinguish original Greek sculptures from Roman copies.  He was also a reference for the many writers, scholars and artists who came to Rome on a Grand Tour, and who wrote at length about the famous Apollo.

Today, its graceful stance and serene presence still draws the visitor’s attention. We may view the antiquity with more distant eyes, having less of a blinding passion about it, but we can still appreciate Apollo’s beauty and try to understand why he was such a model.