The Rome Less Visited.....review

I stayed in Rome for 4 days (Oct 22-25) before my Voyages to Antiquity cruise. In light of a post from around that time with ideas for sightseeing beyond the well-known "icons" of Rome, I thought some might find a review of a few of the lesser-known sights interesting too.

I stayed at the Albergo del Senato hotel in a single room. I'd requested a room with a view knowing full well that single rooms with views are the exception rather than the rule. This time I lucked out. I was in a room just above the juliet balcony, front and center, with a lovely view from TWO windows onto the piazza (one each in the bedroom and bathroom). What a pleasure! The hotel was looking its usually beautiful self. Someone had posted before I left about their stay at the hotel and said that the carpet on the stairs was stained and dirty. I had a look -- well, hmm, the carpet going down the stairs is a lovely old (real) Oriental runner. It did not seem stained or dirty to me. On the other hand, it IS old, probably an antique, and it's not going to look like the fake oriental carpeting at a Marriott!

The hotel, looking across the Piazza della Rotonda, with the Pantheon on the right:

From the Albergo del Senato, virtually any location in the central historical area of Rome is walkable. Looking out the front door of the hotel:

The hotel has a lot of "Old World" character that I love, but also has the necessary modern touches. Since my last visit there, they've added electric kettles in the rooms and makings for coffee/tea, which was welcome. There is a mini-fridge as well. The bathrooms also seem to have been freshened up (at least mine was) with new tile. I found the bathroom (and the bedroom for that matter) to be pretty spacious by European standards:

And the view from my bathroom window. The little shop with the single awning directly across the piazza is a salumeria where you can buy meats, cheeses, bread, small snacks, and premade (Italian style) sandwiches at prices that aren't too bad. The restaurant with tables on the piazza to the right of it is the one Texancruzer likes, Di Rienzi:

And before I move on to my sightseeing review, one last look at the view from my bedroom window before turning in each night:

Wonderful photographs! Thanks for sharing.

Looking forward to reading your sightseeing review.

Beautiful Photos! Looking forward to your Rome Less Visited Review because I think that's what we will be doing for our next trip in June.

Also would love hearing a review on your cruise and the various ports.:)

After I settled into my room (which was ready for me upon arrival), I set out at around 11:00 am for a busy day of planned sightseeing with lots of walking. I always arrive in Rome so excited to be there that the jet lag isn't a problem, and I find it best to keep going until I drop, lol.

My first stop was an obligatory quick visit to the Pantheon, my favorite building and also the most well preserved building from antiquity. The interior is lovely:

I had spent quite a bit of time on my itinerary for this visit to Rome. Although I've been there quite a few times, there are still things on my list to see and new things keep popping up as well. I tried to book three walks with Context Travel, but without much success. One of the tours did not have enough people signed up to run, which is fair enough -- costwise, they can't run a group tour for one person. Another tour was moved to a different time, which I was less happy about -- apparently a couple booked it and wanted it at a different time, a time when I couldn't go. This despite that I'd signed up for it months ahead and they signed up only a couple of weeks ahead..... In case people wonder why I prefer to DIY, this has to be a big contributing factor. When you are a single, you have little clout and paying for a private tour for one (while I'll do it under certain circumstances) makes for a VERY expensive day.

At any rate, one of the new things that I'd found out about and wanted to visit are the ruins of a large patrician Roman house ("domus") located under the Palazzo Valentini, which is very near Piazza San Marco and Trajan's Forum. Reservations in advance are suggested due to the limited number of people allowed on each tour, and currently there is only one English tour each day, which I'd booked (1:00 pm). Here is some additional info:

http://www.provincia.roma.it/sites/default/files/20101015Depliantdefinitivo.pdf

On the way there, I walked by the Republican Temples at Largo Argentina, another favorite site of mine and very near the Pantheon. These temples are quite old and (in recent years) quite neglected. They serve as a cat sanctuary, which is great for the cats of Rome but probably not so great for these historic buildings that need to be looked after! I was happy to see some scaffolding on the site and hope this indicates some restoration work to come.

Below is a photo of one of the Republican temples. Behind this particular temple was located the building the Roman Senate was meeting in on the day Caesar was killed. Quite a few people don't realize that he wasn't killed in the Senate house (Curia) on the Forum.

Also on the way to the Palazzo Valentini is Trajan's Forum and monument. Trajan ruled Rome when the Western empire was at its height and the beautiful carved work on the column shows the level of skilled artisans at his disposal in his time (late first/early second century AD):

And a close up view -- you can see Neptune (at the bottom) watching the exploits of Trajan and his soldiers in the war against the Dacians:

I grabbed a quick panini and made my way to Palazzo Valentini a few minutes in advance as requested to confirm my tour. The entrance to the Domus, which is located somewhat confusingly off the courtyard of the building (to the left), seemed suspiciously quiet. There were two people at the desk when I approached and after much rapid Italian between the two of them, I was told that the exhibit was closed -- no tours today. There was some unexplainable event that had occurred to close it and it wouldn't be open until perhaps Monday (this was Saturday). Of course they could not offer me a refund as I'd booked the tour online -- well, this is Italy. ;) I couldn't come back on Monday as I'd already made plans to be at Villa Adriana outside Rome. I suppose it gives me (another) reason to come back again.

Great pix and commentary!! Thanks for writing.

I did not know that ANY of the single rooms at the Del Senato had views!! Good info!

Beautiful Photos! Looking forward to your Rome Less Visited Review because I think that's what we will be doing for our next trip in June.

 

Also would love hearing a review on your cruise and the various ports.:)

Hi -- I wrote a pretty lengthy review of the cruise and it's been published here on CC:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=91769

If you'd like any more info on any of the ports or the ship, feel free to ask!

Also on my agenda for Saturday was a self-guided walk around the sights of the ancient Roman Forum Boarium/Forum Holitorium area. This is the part of Rome along the bank of the Tiber from just south of Largo Argentina, near the old Ghetto, down to and around the piazza where the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin is located (i.e., the church with the Bocca della Verita in the portico). This is a very pleasant half-day's walk (of course you can do it faster but I like to linger). If anyone is interested in my notes on doing this walk, let me know and I'd be happy to email them to you.

Armed with my Oxford guide, my notes, and my camera, I started my walk at the Portico of Octavia (below), originally built in the time of Augustus to honor his beloved sister. This area also appears to be receiving some (much needed) restoration, which makes me happy. Last time I was there it seemed to be in bad shape.

From there, it is just a few steps to the Theatre of Marcellus (below). This too was built during Augustus' time, making it fully 2,000 years old. At the time it was a state of the art theatre, one of the earliest permanent theatres in Rome (the earlier Romans were suspicious of theatre, it was just a bit too Greek for their liking). It was dedicated to Marcellus, the nephew of Augustus. It became a sort of fortified villa later, and now there are luxury apartments located on top!

The three columns standing nearby the Theatre are all that remains of a temple of Apollo (one of several in Rome) which was built after Apollo supposedly "saved" Rome from a deadly epidemic:

Continuing to walk in a southerly direction parallel to the river, I next reached the church of San Nicola in Carcere. This interesting church was built in the midst of three ancient Roman temples. It incorporates the walls of two of the temples in its own walls, and it is built on top of the third one, more or less. The photo below shows the southern wall of the church, with the remains of the temple columns clearly visible. Tours are given inside the church to visit the remains of the temple underneath whenever there are enough people to warrant it; however, I wasn't able to convince the assistant in attendance to let me go down on my own. The inside of the church is lovely as well, just not my era of interest!

Next along my path (just a few steps away) was the Temple of Portunus. (Portunus is a river god, which makes sense as this temple was located very near the main Roman harbor on the Tiber at that time.) It is truly a gem of a building, built around 70 BC -- it became a church nine centuries later, which helped to preserve it. As you can see, there is some ongoing restoration at the back.

And now, for me, the highlight: the beautiful round temple next door. For many years it was called the Temple of Vesta, but now that's known to be incorrect. It may be a temple to Hercules. At any rate, it is one of the most beautiful ancient temples in Rome or anywhere, IMHO, and it is well worth taking a few moments to appreciate, although you cannot go inside:

To be continued.....

After sitting for a few minutes and enjoying the view of the round temple (there are convenient benches around it), I decided to head across the piazza and see the Bocca della Verita as the line seemed pretty short. I'd visited it before, but wanted to get a better picture with my better camera! The so-called Mouth of Truth is probably just a fancy drain cover from ancient Rome; the figure is Oceanus:

The interior of Santa Maria in Cosmedin is worth a visit too, and underneath it is an ancient columbarium (niches for burial) that can be see for an extra "donation".

I headed back up the other side of the piazza to get a closer look at the Arch of Janus. This arch is from about the same period as the Arch of Constantine at the Colosseum, but it is very different -- it's not a triumphal arch but more like a boundary marker. I believe it's Rome's only surviving four-sided arch:

This marked the end, more or less, of the walking tour, but I wanted to tack one more thing onto the day, a visit to the remains of two Roman houses underneath the church of SS Giovanni e Paolo on the nearby Celio. I walked along the edge of the Circus Maximus to Via San Gregorio looking for the way up to the Celian hill that's across from the Palatine Hill entrance. Since I was there, I thought I'd take a photo for those looking to buy their ticket to the Colosseum there and avoid the crowds. (Note: most of the people there are just milling around, not actually in line.)

After much unnecessary walking (due to my own poor sense of direction), I finally reached the entrance to the underground area of the church, which is separate from the church entrance. In the photo below, the entrance on the Clivus Scauri is shown (to the left looking up the hill), between two of the arches that should be an obvious marker for anyone looking for it!

I found this stop totally fascinating; there was hardly anyone there and the frescoes still retain a lot of their original coloring, as shown below:

By this time I was getting a bit weary, so I ended the day with a quick walk past the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum (beautiful at this time of day, and there was a wedding party having photos made, with the crowds watching and applauding them).

Then I got myself to the Hotel Forum rooftop bar for a restorative beverage ;) and a beautiful view of the sunset. Enroute back to the Albergo del Senato, I stopped and had a lovely dinner at La Pigna, but was falling asleep in my dessert by this time.

Tomorrow: the Temple of Hadrian, Auditorium of Maecenas, and the National Museum at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme.

Absolutely wonderful, Cynthia! Really looking forward to tomorrow's installment.

Great pix and commentary!! Thanks for writing.

I did not know that ANY of the single rooms at the Del Senato had views!! Good info!

Yes, I was surprised, but I think they have a (very) few singles with a view. On the other hand, it's possible I was upgraded to a double -- if so, they never said so. I suspect it was a deluxe single, though.

Hi -- I wrote a pretty lengthy review of the cruise and it's been published here on CC:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=91769

 

If you'd like any more info on any of the ports or the ship, feel free to ask!

Thank you so much for the link. I really enjoyed the review. I'm glad you got to Tunisia. RCCL cancelled Tunis stops for next year so my cruise will not port there. That was disappointing since it was one of the reasons we chose that cruise.

There were two people at the desk when I approached and after much rapid Italian between the two of them, I was told that the exhibit was closed -- no tours today. There was some unexplainable event that had occurred to close it and it wouldn't be open until perhaps Monday (this was Saturday).

The Colosseum was closed at the same time due to flooding that resulted from sudden heavy rainstorms on Thursday of that week, perhaps it was the same reason? We had tickets for the new underground tour at the Colosseum on the following Tuesday but it was still not available. As you say, another reason to go back to Rome ... as if I need one! :rolleyes:

You sound like my kind of tourist. Instead of running all over the place to "see" Rome in a day, you actually experienced the city. Several years ago, we visited Rome and my wife had a bad blister on her foot from wearing bad shoes in Greece. We spent a day just riding public transport around the city. It was great.

DON

What camera were you using for the photos?

Cynthia, what a wonderful review, Thanks so much for posting this. We left Rome on the 20th, so we just missed you! I've been sidetracked by the holidays & haven't posted my Rome review yet, so I'm really enjoying yours!

I have two questions: 1. What kind of camera were you using? Your photos are fantastic! 2. How did you manage to sleep with that amazing view outside your window??:D

The Colosseum was closed at the same time due to flooding that resulted from sudden heavy rainstorms on Thursday of that week, perhaps it was the same reason? We had tickets for the new underground tour at the Colosseum on the following Tuesday but it was still not available. As you say, another reason to go back to Rome ... as if I need one! :rolleyes:

Gosh, I don't know why I didn't connect the two things, but I'm sure you must be right about the reason for the closure. They couldn't clearly describe what was wrong, but I definitely got that it was some sort of calamity that had occurred, not a strike or anything of that sort.

What camera were you using for the photos?

Cynthia, what a wonderful review, Thanks so much for posting this. We left Rome on the 20th, so we just missed you! I've been sidetracked by the holidays & haven't posted my Rome review yet, so I'm really enjoying yours!

 

I have two questions: 1. What kind of camera were you using? Your photos are fantastic! 2. How did you manage to sleep with that amazing view outside your window??:D

When it comes to cameras, I'm sort of a novice. I've been working my way up from the more basic digital "point and shoot" cameras to those that have some more manual options, but as yet I haven't gone to the full-out DSLR type camera. I really love what I'm using now -- the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35. Three things I like most about it are: 1) the 18x optical super zoom (plus great image stability) for detail, 2) the fact that it works very well in low light situations (enabling me to get decent photos in museums that don't allow flash), and 3) it's got an electronic viewfinder; a must for me. It's also smaller and lighter than the equivalent Canon model I looked at -- small enough that I can put it in my purse if I want. I'd previously only used Canons and was happy with them, but for this particular camera I much prefer the Panasonic.

As for how did I sleep with that view? I'll just say it was difficult to tear myself away......:)

When it comes to cameras, I'm sort of a novice.

You would never know it from your photos! :eek: Amazing pictures and thanks for taking the time to write this up and share! :)

You would never know it from your photos! :eek: Amazing pictures and thanks for taking the time to write this up and share! :)

Thanks, that's praise indeed after seeing your recent photos. :)

After a good night's sleep and leisurely breakfast, I woke up to a beautiful October day. Throughout my stay the weather was very nice, cool in the mornings (a light jacket over a long-sleeved t-shirt was sufficient) but mostly sunny and warming up through the day.

First on my list for today was to re-visit another of my favorite buildings that's not far from the Pantheon -- Hadrian's Temple. When emperors died (and if they were popular), they were considered to be "deified" or made into gods, and temples were built to honor them. Most of these have disappeared, but Hadrian's temple, built by his successor, still lives on in that many of its huge columns were incorporated into later buildings -- one of the things I love about Rome. Rather than tear things down, they live with them.

The columns can be seen in the Piazza di Pietra ("Piazza of Stone"), which got its name because the ruins of the temple were re-quarried there and carried off for other projects by later generations of Romans.

The temple originally had beautifully carved panels in the space above the columns and below the roof. Some of these still exist and can be seen at the Capitoline Museum and some at the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, which I visited later in the day:

Also, there is a model of how the temple probably looked in its heydey that's located in a window just across the Piazza from the columns, if you're interested.

After my walk, I headed back to the Pantheon to get a taxi. I had a special tour scheduled for 11:30 today to see a place I've always wanted to get inside: the so-called "Auditorium of Maecenas". Maecenas was one of Augustus' best friends and counselors and was renowned for his taste and as a patron of the arts as well. (Virgil and other authors dedicated works to him.) He was known to have had a magnificant villa just outside the ancient Roman walls. This "auditorium" cannot be precisely attributed, but it's a good bet that it was a part of his villa and that it actually was a special summer dining room beloved by Romans at the time.

The building is unimpressive from the outside. Located just a few blocks from Termini, it's in a busy area but few people know what's inside (and fewer can actually get in -- I had to get the hotel to arrange to get me on this tour; I'd tried for the last two visits to get on one of the tours with no success).

I'd been told the guide would speak in Italian and English, but as I was the only English speaker in the group of 7, he only spoke Italian! Luckily I can follow some basic Italian, especially when I know the subject pretty well. Inside the large room, there is a semicircular apse at one end, with seven steps. In Roman times, this was likely a lavish water feature with water flowing down the steps to keep diners cool. Above, there are niches in the walls with frescoes to fool you into thinking that you are looking at gardens outside, unfortunately they are much faded and damaged now:

By the way, after Maecenas died, he willed his villa to Augustus, so it became an Imperial property -- and it's thought that this is the place from which Nero watched Rome burn a few decades later....

The cost for the tour was very reasonable; I think it was something like 6 euro for the one-hour tour -- the difficult part was getting in contact with the group that runs the site and getting a confirmation; which is where the hotel was able to help. I have to say it was well worth it and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

After the tour I walked toward Termini and found a small bar with outdoor seating where I enjoyed a panini for lunch. Then I headed for the part of the Museo Na*ionale of Rome that's known as Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, which is a treasure house from ancient Rome -- particularly busts and statues of emperors, frescoes, mosaics, and coins.

Palazzo Massimo alle Terme:

The last time I visited this museum, in late 2009, I was a little disappointed in it, to tell the truth. However, it was obvious at the time that renovations were underway and some things were either moved or inaccessible. I decided to give it another go this time and I'm SO glad I did. Many of you know how much I love the Capitoline Museum, and this museum is now on my list of favorites too.

One of the most well-known pieces in the museum is this great statue of Augustus, dressed as high priest (Pontifex Maximus; incidentally a title that later became associated with the Pope, hence the title "Pontiff"):

Virtually every Western Roman emperor is represented somewhere in their large collection of busts and statues (on the first and second floors). One of my favorite things about Roman sculpture vs. Greek is that the Romans believed in showing what the person actually looked like, not an idealized version....

On the third floor, there is a wonderful collection of frescoes and mosaics. I don't know if it's relatively new or if I just wasn't able to access it last time, but there is a reconstruction of the interior of a very high-class villa (Villa Farnesina) that may have belonged to an imperial relation. The "rooms" are designed to be the same size and shape as the original, and the art is displayed as it would have been. Because they've been protected, the frescoes are marvellously colorful:

The shame is that the villa was discovered at the bank of the Tiber when new embankments were made in the late 19th century -- a few things were saved, but the villa was destroyed.

Mosaics are a good deal more durable than frescoes, and the museum also has some nice examples from other villas:

But the real star of the third floor, for me, were the frescoes from the suburban villa of Livia, the wife of Augustus. The villa was just outside Rome at a place called Prima Porta. The frescoes covered all four sides of room that was a summer dining room (yes, like the Auditorium of Maecenas, mentioned in my last post). This was definitely a "fad "of the time and there were some similarities in the style of the frescoes. However, the ones in the museum are stunning and in a much better state of preservation:

After spending almost all the afternoon here, I made a quick stop at the church Michelangelo designed from the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian, Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri (a real mouthful!). If you know your Roman baths (and by this time, trust me, I do) you can still see the underlying structure/form of the frigidarium from which the main space of the church was created:

I hopped on the metro, then walked back to the hotel from the Barberini stop. I had just enough energy left to make it to the Albergo del Senato's great rooftop bar to watch the sunset:

I had dinner at a restaurant near the hotel; then went right to bed to be ready for an earlier start the next day.

Tomorrow: Hadrian's villa, the DIY way.

Great pix and commentary!! Thanks for writing.

I did not know that ANY of the single rooms at the Del Senato had views!! Good info!

I just returned, spent 5 nights in a single room on the third floor with the same views, awesome!

Cynthia, I am really enjoying your review. I agree about the star of the show!

Very educational. More please.

Cynthia, thank you for posting your review and pictures. I am enjoying it very much and looking forward to reading more! :)