Another out-of-the-way church in Rome: San Sebastiano

Saint Sebastian

Church lady decided it was time for a break from all that Fascist architecture, graffiti and social analysis.  Instead she offers Christ’s footprints, a Bernini pupil’s sculpture, catacombs, a check-off list if you’re doing your seven-church pilgrimage in Rome, to  name a few.

1612 facade

These are all found at the Basilica of San Sebastiano, at the cross-roads of via Appia Antica (the ancient Appian Way) and via delle Sette Chiese – “7 Churches Road.”  Built in the 3^rd or 4^th century, this quiet, lovely church was redone in the early 17^th century.  Among its treasures is the statue of an unusually recumbent Saint Sebastian, complete with gold-tipped arrows (photo at top).  The statue is so Berniniesque that some think its sculptor, Bernini’s pupil Antonio Giorgetti, did it from a Bernini sketch. 

in case you wanted a close-up

If that’s not enough, there are Christ’s footprints, the pole on which Sebastian met his arrows, and other relics.  The San Sebastiano catacombs, next to and under the church, were the first to be called catacombs (a word meaning underground cemetery, apparently derived from the Greek for "hollow"--Bill). 

If you want more on the iconography of this popular saint, Catholic Online has a good bio, tho' needless to say it doesn't talk about him being a gay icon.

Renaissance-worthy interior

It’s hard to say anything on the via Appia is off the beaten track; that’s really a non sequitur.  But, approaching San Sebastiano from via delle Sette Chiese as we did, one feels almost as a pilgrim might have.  And, unless a busload of tourists has just arrived to descend into the catacombs, you’ll pretty much have San Sebastiano to yourself, a treat in Rome. 

Dianne

Worst Public Sculptures in Rome: Some Competition in Piazza Lodi

We've been through Piazza Lodi many times, but until recently we had never stopped to admire the small plaza at its center, nor noticed the public sculpture that decorates the space.  Not long ago, on a walk through the area, we came upon the piazza--located at the eastern end of Via La Spezia--eager to savor its pleasures.  Among them are the two benches that grace the plaza, nicely placed for a good view of the splendid aqueduct that runs just behind it in the direction of Porta Maggiore, close by. 

Getting to those benches is another matter.  The plaza is isolated by a circle of traffic.  There are no lights or stop signs to slow the relentless string of vehicles, no crosswalks to suggest safe(r) passage.  It took us 5 minutes to find a gap through which we could sprint. 

Another attraction is the sculpture.  It's in the well known and, in Rome, overused form of the monolith.  It was probably installed in the Cento Piazze (Hundred Piazzas) program (see an earlier post on this - and on other candidates for WPS - worst public sculptures) begun about twenty years ago by then-mayor Francesco Rutelli, to bring art and culture to the masses.  Any attempt by the masses to get to this one would result in fewer masses.  


Regardless, it's probably not worth the effort.  The outstanding feature of the monolith are the slots on two sides, filled with cast metal that's designed to resemble (we're guessing here) primordial ooze.  Perhaps one is expected to feel humbled in the presence of humanity's origins.   Instead, we were thrilled just to make it back across the street.  
Bill

Apartment Gardening, in Rome

Rome is overwhelmingly a city of apartments, rather than houses, but that doesn't stop the gardeners, who benefit from a long growing season.  Even so, this building, on Via della Marrana at Via Nocera Umbra in the Tuscolano area, is in a class by itself.  The gardening committee must run the place.  Bill

Another Bad Idea: a Tunnel at the Ara Pacis

The photo above is of a section of the Lungotevere, the multi-lane street along the Tiber (here, the east bank, going upstream).  The street looks nearly empty here, but that's only because we waited until the traffic had cleared to dash into the street to take the photo.  Just behind us, to the right, a hundred cars and scootes are waiting for the light to change.   The building on the right is Richard Meier's "box" for the Ara Pacis, an ancient treasure.  The box is not popular with many Romans, for understandable, if not universally shared, reasons.  (See Dianne's caveat at the end of this post.)  It cost $25 million, a lot of money for a storage container.  It diminishes the nearby churches.  It clashes with the Mussolini-era buildings that line two sides of the Piazza Augusto Imperatore (see an earlier post where we listed that much-maligned piazza as #9 on our RST Top 40 list - see list at right).  And it sits too close to the Lungotevere.

That last complaint is about to be addressed--by another controversial project.  As we understand it, the authorities are proposing to create a piazza on the Tiber side of the building, right where the traffic now flows--just beyond the people standing in the left of the photo.  This will allow tourists and other visitors to the box to step out into the piazza and enjoy a view of the river below.  Not a bad idea.  But what's to be done with the cars, trucks, and scooters? 

Yes, you guessed it.  They'll be put in a new tunnel.  Tunnels are common on the other side of the Tevere, but not on this side, where there is just one - about where this one would end.  As we conceive it, the tunnel will begin just beyond the intersection from which the photo was taken, descend under the newly contructed piazza, and emerge down the road a piece (actually just off, to the east, of the Lungotevere).  At left, a map of the area, to help keep things straight.  The Ara Pacis is in lavender, near the bottom.

The Passeggiata di Ripetta, view
from the north end of the Ara Pacis

Even now, most of the traffic exits the Lungotevere right after the Ara Pacis, passing down a busy, two-lane brick road that eventually bypasses Piazza del Popolo.  As the traffic descends on this brick road, it streams cheek-by-jowl along the Passeggiata di Ripetta, which carries traffic the other direction (south) and emerges at the Ara Pacis.  On the photo at right, you can see the Passeggiata di Ripetta, as it skirts the Ara Pacis, which is behind the photographer in this view. 

Looking north on the Passeggiata di Ripetta

And left, a long shot down the Passeggiata.  Despite its proximity to a major arterial carrying traffic from the Lungotevere, it remains an attractive street, lined with sycamores.

Protests from apartment dwellers on the Passeggiata
di Ripetta

OK, that's a bit complex.  The key point is that the people who now live on the Passeggiata di Ripetta are upset at the prospect of the new tunnel, and all the construction that will go with it.  They imagine--and they can't be wrong here--all the noise, and all the concrete ugliness that's virtually guaranteed to come with the new structure.  In protest, they put up signs:  NO SOTTO PASSO (No Underpass).  The signs are at the top of the building in the photo at right. 

We're with the neighborhood on this one.  The new piazza would be nice.  But the Tevere's not much to look at, and the project promises to be more than a little disruptive.  The traffic flows fine as it is.  Our advice: save some money, and forget it.  No Sotto Passo. 

Bill

PS from Dianne - I think more positively of Meier's "box" than does Bill.  I was there for its grand opening.  Bill and I have climbed up and around and in it (with the managing architect).  It's a very popular building site in Rome, and houses a museum.  It's among the top 3 visited sites now in Rome, as I recall.

Parco dei mostri: If Walt Disney had lived 600 years ago

“Parco dei mostri” or “Monster Park” is a wondrous 16^th century Disneyland about 40 miles from Rome.  We found its fantastical sculptures, well, fantastic.  I don’t know if today’s kids, brought up with CGI and 3D, would appreciate it, but these kids sure do.

Funded and founded by the great Orsini family, one can marvel that it remains intact today, almost 600 years later.

The park managers have gotten savier, and now charge Eur10 for admission (Eur8 for children 4-8).  When we were last there, the snack bar reminded us of those from our 1950s car vacations through the Southwest.  Now they even have a fairly decent website, in Italian and English.

Parco dei mostri is about 12 miles outside Viterbo, a town worth visiting in itself.  (Even closer  than Parco dei mostri to Viterbo is the small town of Bagnaia, famous for Villa Lante, which Dianne will visit in a future post.) There's a frequent train from Rome to Viterbo.

Dianne