Walk 3 ... Part 2

Piazza Barberini to Quattro Fontane, S.M. degli Angeli, Basilica S.M. Maggiore, The Quirinale and The Trevi.

A 2-3 hour (plus) excursion.

6. To St. Maria degli Angeli and the Baths of Diocletian

Continue along Via Vittorio Emanuele Orlando. You are now in the area once completely taken up by the Baths of Diocletian, public baths named after emperor Diocletian and built from 298 to in 306. They were the largest and most impressive of the imperial baths, covering 120,000 square metres or 30 acres of the district and could hold over 3000 bathers. You can see the remaining walls all over this area, with our next stop, the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli built fully within the ruins.

As you walk towards the church, see the Planetarium on the left... this was a 'gift' to Rome as reparations by Germany after WWI. It is now closed.

As you approach S.M. degli Angeli you see how the entrance to the basilica is built into a remaining interior wall of the 'calderium' (hot area) of the baths.

Michelangelo transformed the ruins into a church in 1561, though it has been much modified since, including a complete re-orientation in 1749.  There is an interesting display of the various changes in a room at the back of the basilica, entered to the left of the altar.

On entering the basilica you are immediately struck by the sense of space... it is huge, bigger even than St Peters. This was the 'frigidarium' (cold) of the baths, used for cold bathing, meetings and socialising. Though Michelangelo made a number of alterations, including raising the floor by 2 metres, the original enormous red granite columns remain in place.

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On the floor you can see a 'meridian line' that, with the passing of a small sun spot coming from a hole high in the west transept, traces time and the astrological seasons.

This church is owned by the Italian State, not the church, and is often used for important commemorative and official services.

If you are interested in the extent of the baths, there is a museum built into the extensive ruins to the right of the church.

The whole area of the baths and the church is worth looking at in-depth and I recommend the "Blue Guide to Rome" as a good starting point.

Now you have a choice of itinerary.... A. You can take a 10-15 min walk over several blocks to get to Basilica of Santa Maria Maggore  [7. below] and the ancient Basilica of Saint Prassede [8]. Santa Maria Maggiore is one of the top sites in Rome and well covered in guidebooks, but the smaller Basilica of Saint Prassede next door is rarely on the tourist trail, despite having some of the most wonderful mosaics in Rome and a special relic of Christ.

If you choose this option, check your map and set a course. The best way is probably across the Piazza della Republica, down the Via Nationale and first left onto the Via Torino.

OR... B.  Skip those and head back down the Via Nazionale and turn right back onto the Via Quattro Fontana to again get to the Four Fountains (go to No. 9 below).

7. Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

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The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of Saint Mary Major), is a Papal major basilica and the largest Catholic church in Rome, from which size it receives the title "major". There is a good museum entered from around the right-hand side, and if you can somehow get to see the excavations under the main church (check... there may be tours offered), that would be a treat. You are far better consulting guide books than having me go over this remarkable church... so go at it!

8. The Basilica of Saint Prassede

From the front of Maggiore, cross the piazza and Via Merulana to your right and go down the small Via S. Giovanni Gualberto. At the end is the Basilica of Saint Prassede. he church in its current form was commissioned by Pope Hadrian I around the year 780, built on top of the remains of a 5th-century structure and was designed to house the bones of Saint Praxedes and Saint Pudentiana, the daughters of Saint Pudens, traditionally St. Peter's first Christian convert in Rome. The two female saints were murdered for providing Christian burial for early martyrs in defiance of Roman law.

The church is most famous for its decorative mosaics.  In the apse, Jesus is in the center, flanked by Sts. Peter and Paul, who present Praxedes and Pudentiana to God. On the far left is Pope Paschal (882), with the square halo of the living, presenting a model of the church as an offering to Jesus. Below runs an inscription of Paschal's, hoping that this offering will be sufficient to secure his place in heaven.

Santa Prassede also houses an alleged segment of the pillar upon which Jesus was flogged and tortured before his crucifixion in Jerusalem. The relic is claimed to have been retrieved in the early 4th.C. by Saint Helena (mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine I) who at the age of eighty undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where she founded churches for Christian worship and collected relics associated with the crucifixion of Jesus on Calvary, including returning to Rome with the Holy Staircase now located opposite

Now check your map and head back over to the intersection of the Via Quattre Fontane and Via Quirinale, the site of the four fountains.

9. The two churches of the Quattro Fontane

Turn left onto the Via Quirinale.  On the corner is the Church of San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane by Borromini and about 100 metres further along is Sant Andrea al Quirinale by Bernini. These two churches epitomise both the change from Late Renaissance to Baroque, and the intense rivalry between these two masters of design and art.  It is said that you "see" San Carlo, while you "feel" San Andrea.

For an article discussing these two churches in detail and the rivalry of the two architects, I have a page titled "Art and Architecture".

10. Along the Via Quirinale to the Quirinale Palace

Continue along the Via Quirinale with the long wall of the Quirinale Palace on your right.  Walking on the right-hand footpath, you may notice the man-hole covers still bearing the Fascist symbol of the bundle of reeds (fasces) with an axe, left over from the period of Mussolini.

The Quirinale Palace is one of the three current official residences of the President of the Italian Republic. It has housed thirty Popes, four Kings of Italy and twelve Presidents of the Italian Republic. The palace extends for an area of 110,500 square metres and is the ninth-largest palace in the world in terms of area. By way of comparison, the White House in the United States is one-twentieth of its size.

Pause at the gate half way along the Via Quirinale or the main entrance in the piazza and you should see some pretty fancily dressed guards.

The palace was built in 1583 by Pope Gregory XIII as a papal summer residence. The pope, who wanted to find a location which was far away from the humidity and stench coming from the river Tiber and the unhealthy conditions of the Lateran Palace, chose the Quirinal hill. The Palace was used as the location for papal conclaves in 1823, 1829, 1831 and 1846. As well as a papal residence it housed the central offices responsible for the civil government of the Papal States until 1870 when what was left of the Papal States was overthrown.

The palace became the official royal residence of the Kings of Italy, though some monarchs actually lived in a private residence elsewhere, the Quirinale being used simply as an office and for state functions. The monarchy was abolished in 1946 and the Palace became the official residence and workplace for the Presidents of the Italian Republic.

11. Down the steps to the Trevi Fountain.

Pause to admire the view at the top of the steps that descend at the Palace side of the Piazza, then proceed downhill to enter the tourist hell that is the area of the Trevi Fountain .  You will find the fountain at the end of the first substantial street that runs off to the right, but the noise will guide you.