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Rome’s Hidden Corners and
Courtyards
By M.J.
Cryan
The next
time you want to see an authentic neighbourhood in the
shadow of Capitoline Hill, take a walk in the area bordering
on the central Piazza Venezia but far from its traffic,
fumes and fury.
Here the
visitor can walk the same cobblestones that Dickens trod
during his 1845 visit and can peek into the courtyards of
Renaissance palaces. The backdrop will remind many of the
Hepburn/ Peck classic film Roman Holiday but the actors are
today’s Romans with a few walk-on parts reserved for
passersby.
Before
plunging into the past, stand for a moment at the busy
intersection of Via del Plebiscito and Piazza del Gesù, main
church of the Jesuits and be surrounded by Italy’s palazzo
of power: the Gesù, main church of the Jesuits, is on your
left while straight on is the ex-Christian Democrat
headquarters.
The main
Masonic lodge is here too as well as the bankers’ central
“lodge” ABI in the delightful Palazzo Altemps. In this same
piazza there is also the rarely visited rooms of St.
Ignatius of Loyola where the warrior-saint and Jesuit
founded lived between 1544 and 1556. Enter the doorway next
to the church ( no. 45) to leave the chaos of modern Rome
behind. Inside the 16th century is evoked in the
rooms furnished with original artefacts and the corridors
frescoed by friar-painters.
From there
you can take Via di Aracoeli and Vicolo Margana to enter one
of the city’s most expensive real estate areas where
apartments are valued at astronomical rates. Piazza Margana
and its surrounding lanes are a microcosm of Roman life;
modest doorways may open into a butcher shop, an artisan’s
bottega, a bar sporting banners of Stalin and Gorbachov.
An
elaborate portone leads to FAO’s representative office and a
princess has a boutique of Turkish carpets inside another
doorway.
Further
along is Piazza Mattei where antiques shops vie with the
famous tortoise fountain for attention. Across the piazza a
series of palazzo which belonged to the powerful Mattei
family. A first courtyard has an airy staircase and loggia
but as the family grew in wealth and power other palaces and
courtyards were added.
Peek in at
no. 17 and then into the splendid double courtyard of the
palazzo built for Alessandro Mattei in the 1560’s with its
busts of Caesars inserted into the walls.
Climb to
the first floor where the American center has its classrooms
and library to note the herring-bone pattern of the brick
pavements and the stone benches on the landings, carved to
resemble cushions and complete with sculpted tassels.
Exiting on
Via Caetani there are two reminders that Rome is a
layer-cake of history. The facing wall carries a
commemorative plaque where bouquets are often left, for on
this spot the body of the Christian Democrat leader, Aldo
Moro was found. A few steps away is the Crypta Balbi, a new
museum resulting from the years of excavations done on site
by the University of Siena. The via dei Polacchi and the
Polish church are the lifeline for thousands of Polish
immigrants in the Eternal City.
Numerous
tiny bars and trattorie flourish in the area but just
across Largo Argentina and its numerous cats you will find
Corsi‘s trattoria and wine shop, a legend among office
workers: pretty waitresses, quick service and a typical
Roman hum.
Exiting
from Corsi’s peek into the opposite courtyard to discover a
unique water-powered clock dated 1860 which still ticks away
the hours in an ivy-covered fountain.
Another
special area for an afternoon stroll is the ghetto area and
Portico d’Ottavia where bakeries and kosher restaurants have
been serving out artichokes, carciofi alla Giudea,
since the times of Pius IX. This flourishing discount area
is still a discount shopper’s heaven. Next to the portico
named after Ottavia, modern brides choose crystal and silver
under the frescoed ceilings of a 16th century
fishmonger’s guild hall. From among the collection of
armorial plates on the showroom walls, a sharp eye can pick
out those ordered by kings, popes and presidents. There is
even a pattern ordered by Mussolini with its gold “M”
strangely similar to the logo of a hamburg empire |
