I am visiting Rome and need to know of sites of interest that are not on the beaten path.?

Question

I am NOT the typical tourist in that I am NOT interested in knowing where to go clubbing, what the coolest bars are, or where to shop.

I am most interested in famous graves and specific sites of historic or mythological interest. Anything a poetry-loving, History Channel-watching geek should see.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I said the same thing before I left for Italy.  If you want to go off the beaten path just walk down the allies you think aren't "safe." That's where all the good stuff is.  We met a ton of great people, artisans, etc.  Rome, like most other Italian cities, are very small.  Just make sure walk, walk, walk!  We met this wonderful composer playing the flute on the street.  We ended up having dinner with him that was the best meal we had.  For the 3 of us it was less than 40Euro with a ton of wine.  Make a lot of friends there!

Answer 2

The church Santa Maria della Concezione on Via Veneto has a crypt decorated in bones of capuchin monks.  Very weird.  Worth a look.  After I saw it, I had to research its history!

Answer 3

fodor's rome book has some neat things - off the beaten path too~  here are some others from my trip.....

We stayed right on the street that leads to the Vatican/st peters so….. most of the walks are from there.  i did research to see what i really wanted to see and color coded the map from that italian site - it was super. It you get the one from the Italian site I mentioned – let me know and I can try to “type” you through it…..

To the left of the via della concilliazione (VDC) along borgio spirito is a small church – it’s the spirito santa church…. Go inside and check it out – the altar and ceiling are by Michelangelo!  It was once a hospital and he was being cared for in there at one point.

To the other side of that main strip (VDC) is the borgo pio and has some great shops, trattioria’s and bakeries!!!  If you re on that street and heading up toward the Vatican, on the left hand side is a small tratiorria – open the earliest in the evenings I wish I knew the name but…. It was wonderful!  

Along the via cola di rienzo are shops like “home” department stores and such.  COIN is a grocery type store.

Big hint – I could KICK myself for not taking the metro sooner.  Don’t let people fool you – it was very safe and easy to maneuver and I’m NOT used to subways or anything.  

Don’t’ forget – most of this is taken from our walking through from the Vatican area….

Here are some of the “tracks” we established.   While it was not followed to a T – we wander…. Here is the basics – off that map from romaturismo.it

Pink Rome’s Churches 1.2 miles

Metro Cavor line B or Vittorio Emanuel line A

Morning is best as many churches close in the afternoon & siesta.

1 santa Maria Maggiore 7a-7p 1 of 4 basilica that belong to the Vatican. Onl  one retaining the classic interior. Cities highest belltower. Interior nave – 5th century mosaic panels tell the OT story. Ceiling gift from Ferdinand & Isabella. Chancel and apse story of Christ’s early life. The most sacred spot in the basilica is a silver urn said to contain the fragments of Christ’s manger/crib.

2. san Giovanni in Lateran & Scala Santa (holy staircase)

inside the door ro the right – holy door opened in 2000 by JP2 and once every 25 years. Papal Altar only the pope can use – said to be the actual wooden table of the apostle peters altar. Originally dedicated to Christ, no St John the Evangelist & Baptist. 312ad Constantine built the basilica here over his rival guards barracks. This church represented Christianity’s victory over paganism. It was the papal residence from 314AD until the 14th century went hey moved to France. SCALA – from the house of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem ascended by Christ b/4 the Crucifixion. 28 marble steps. Spots said to be Christ’s blood. The chapel inside was once the pope’s private chapel. Closed from 12-3. People ascend the stairs ONLY on their knees – humbling themselves perfectly before God. Some amazing statues of before the crucifixion.

3 san Quattro cononati ( this place was actually REALLY hard to find, run down but really neat)  it is a church & convent dedicated to 4 Christian roman soldiers who refused to make a statue to a greek god, they were killed b having an iron spike crown driven onto their heads. Inside is a large womens gallery which was unusual. Don’t miss the cloister and crypt below the altar.

4 basicilla of san clemente –buy the map of all three levels!  Basement is the oldest and was built for the Persian god mithras. 2nd level mosaic of Mary as queen of heaven. Upper level crucifixion level – 12 doves represent the apostles, Mary and john at the side and hand of God representing Christ’s cruch.

5 – san pietro in vincoli – under the high altar in a gilt bronze urn the chains used to bind st peter. Michelangelo’s moses sculpture with racheal and leah – Jacobs wives.

** after we left we went around to the right and were walking behind…. Not sure exactly where but – there was a Ethiopian orthodox church – primarily for women with these amazing rugs and curtains – it was up a flight of stairs and looked more like someone’s house! just be careful because up the hill to the left as we were leaving was their prision/jail - that was too funny!

Piazza Navona & Spanish Steps

We walked down to the castle san angelo and walked past it – to the right is a bridge over the street to the other side. This bridge (Umberto bridge)was actually the one mentioned in angels & demons by dan brown.  We walked across and found a bunch of neat things heading to the right. Eventually we ended up at

1 piazza navona – there were vendors all along the streets and we had roasted chestnuts and gelato – it was fun! St agnes agone was there but we couldn’t get in due to renovations

the fountina dei fumi were also there – have to see it – fount of the 4 rivers

1a sant’agostine – first chapel off the left hand side – has a picture of the Madonna with dirty feet and it caused quite a scandal in it’s time!

1b sant’agnostino was the 1st renaissance church built in rome. There are work to Raphael. To the left of the central portal is the Madonna del parto, then a fresco of Isiah – the first chapel on the left is the Madonna de loretto

2 plazza di spagni  the Spanish steps – seen in lots of movies – popular for heavy duty shopers!

3 – plazzo barberini open until 6:45pm – museum and capuchin cemetery

4 – trevi fountain – nothing like the movie roman holiday anymore – very built up and hugely populated – we almost walked right past it!

5 – santa maria sopra Minerva – assumption of the virgin tomb of paul iv. Near the high altar is Michelangelo’s Risen Christ with th Cross (he started and another finished).

   Just outside is the obelisk of bernini’s elephant

6 – panthenon – this was really cool! Pronze doors are probably the originals. 16 Egyptian column. Built in 27BC in style of greek pagan temple. Destroyed y a fire in 80ad & rebuilt in the second century as it’s seen today. It was given to pope Boniface iv who changed it to a Christian church.  He dedicated it to Mary of the martyrs. 28 cartloads of martyr’s bones were brought from roman catacombs and are under the altar.  Legend has it that during the Gloria (at mass) devils and malign spirits rose out and flew out the whole in the dome.

We looped around the first full day to be back in time for the Angelis.  Down around the catle san angelo are some neat little spots and such – we say san Catherine da dinna, st bridgets and then back up to spirito santo.

When we left the Piazza navona – we got a little turned around – well lost. We ended up at the Palazzo Venezia – the vittoria emmanual II monument – it was really neat and it’s called the wedding cake (or something like that) it also has their tomb of the unknown soldier and a museum. It was neat to have seen it because you could see it from various high points throughout the city.

Onto santa maria sopra Minerva, panthenon, trevi fountain.

Then the Vatican tour

We went off the beaten track to the Traveresta Ghetto…. I wanted to see the basilicia of St Celelia – it was worth it! We then started walking…. St Francisco a RIpa ( it had a beautiful painting of a pregnant Mary), St Quaranto & St Pasqual (martyrs), the santa maria in Travereste – legend has it that the day of Christ’s birth a font of oil erupted. In 212 the first church was built there.   This was a wildly neat little area with shops and such.  Even walking back in the dark…. While some areas were a bit “much” by US standards – we were quite safe!

After the papal meeting on Wednesday’s at 10:3 we took off again…..  took a taxi up to the janiculum hill to the church that is built over the spot where st peter was actually crucified – it was being worked on but had some beautiful paintings – bring a flashlight.  The view was amazing too!  Cabbies often get it mixed up with the st peter in chains.  Then huffed it back down and did the castle san angelo tour. the walk to andd around was really cool - walking to neighborhoods and such. people were rally friendly & helpful!!

Last day…. Metro to saint john lateren, scala santa ( just across the street slightly to the left) they are a must in my book, walking back up and around to the colosium and foro romano, then we did the san clemente, ss quarto coronati, peter in chains (peter in vincoli), basicilia of san mary maggiore (had a beautiful sculpture of mary with a toddler Jesus) on the way back we stopped at a church-  our lady of perpetual help – it was a polish thing.

Answer 4

Every site in Rome is of historic interest! You should see the mouth of Truth (Bocca della verità) because of its famous legend ( put your hand inside the mouth of the monument, then if you don't tell the truth your hand will be eaten). If you are interested in famous graves, go to the cemetery of Verano     ( catch the subway, Metro B to the station BOLOGNA, then the bus 93 to the final stop). In Verano cemetery u can find a lot of ancient graves belonging to the XVIII century and also the graves of some famous italian actors and art director such as Roberto Rossellini and Alberto Sordi. Catch the subway Metro B to the station PIRAMIDE and you can visit the angloamerican cemetery where there is the grave of Keats. You should also see the catacombs: from Piramide station catch the bus 118. From Piramide you can also catch the train and, in 25 minutes, u will be in Ostia Antica where u can see the old town of Ostia (very very old). But there are a lot of many other interesting places to visit, you should stay in Rome a month...

Answer 5

In Ss. Quattro Coronati, you can go into one of the side chapels and ask for a key to the Chapel of San Silvestro, which will be passed to you by a nun through a metal grille.  Inside is a fantastic cartoon-like (in the Italian sense of the word) series of frescoes depicting a nice story involving Saint Sylvester and Emperor Constantine.

Near Ostia Antica is the Isola Sacra where a really cool necropolis can be found.