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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.
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