Golden Rooms ... Via Sistina 37 (my little pad.)

Golden Rooms, Rome

This was my little place In Rome. If you didn't know the exact address, you would never find it. Yes, that's my luggage out front. I carted all that around Italy for more than 3 weeks but remember ... it was cold! So, there were big sweaters, scarves, hats and gloves involved and when you are visiting Italy, you have to look cute, or at least try to look cute. Fortunately, I didn't move around that much.

As I said before, I was on the 3rd floor but really the 5th floor because there are shops on the street level and then the ground level. After that, they start counting. It was up one flight of stairs to the lift.

The lift. 

Hanging my scarves made them easier to grab, and added a little color and little boho feel to the place.

After four nights on this mattress, I ran into the guy who runs the place and he asked how things were going. I told him things were great but I also tried to explain that I was starting to feel the springs poking my ribs. "You want a new bed?"

"No, no," I said, "just a blanket to put over the mattress. Just an extra blanket."

That evening, after traipsing all over rome, I had a new mattress, twice as thick as the first and seemingly brand new. Yay! 

Italy isn't big on getting drinks "to go" and there weren't any cups in the room, so I went on a quest. It was a quest because most of the shops around me were selling shoes, ties or clothing. 

I had gotten orange juice at the little shop up the street and things to nibble on (yes, there was a little fridge!) but I needed a glass! Walking around near the Spanish Steps, there are a lot of very swanky shops. VERY swanky. 

Anyway, I managed to find a cute little shop selling this fabulous little glass tumbler for 7 euro. It's smaller than it looks because that's a half bottle I carried out of a restaurant. The umbrella was an emergency 15 euro purchase at the top of the Spanish Steps, but was much better than my little fold up I'd brought from L.A. You need something big when it's raining sideways.

It would sound more romantic to say I was having my wine and relaxing in the room but I think that's O.J. in the following shot.

One travels more usefully when alone, 
because he reflects more.
~Thomas Jefferson

(and I did a lot of reflecting. not just in the mirror ;)

(Below) Looking in to the bathroom, which considering the size of the bedroom was pretty big and the narrow terrace carries over to the bathroom, as well.

Gotta love the bucket, on the left, collecting rain water. I loved standing on this terrace and looking out. This photo (below) reminds me of an old Sophia Loren movie. She would have been in Naples but it reminds me of it nonetheless!

Yummy treat from up the street. A girl's gotta have protein! 

What's funny about this photo below, is if you notice the Garnet Hill pillow case. Yes, I brought my down pillow from home! 

The thing is, that when you travel in Europe, unless you are staying somewhere very Chi-chi-la-la (pronounce 'she she' la-la) you could very well end up with a pillow that's something akin to a watermelon. Plus, it's nice to have on the airplane. I highly recommend it. 

(But definitely put your pillow in a case that's a print or something that won't be confused for hotel linen or you could loose your pillow and your case!)

Count up five floors, to the floor on the terrace. I was on the right hand side of the photo, looking over Via Francesco Crispi. Via Sistina runs along the left side. (I'm sort of looking South East if you are trying to figure it out on a map.)

So, this was my little home in Rome for 9 nights. GREAT location, and super affordable, for Rome. I was there in low season and it was 49 euro a night, including my Italian breakfast of cappuccino, brioche and juice.

The only thing you have to watch for in that neighborhood, is that some of the restaurants are more expensive than what they should be because they cater to tourists. It's a trade off because this was so close to the Barberini Metro Stop and the Spanish Steps. Plus, I felt very safe in that neighborhood.

If you are interested in checking the place out click here.

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, 

we must carry it with us 

or we find it not.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Santa Susanna and Santa Maria della Vittoria

After my little journey around Piazza Repubblica, I made my way back north, to Via XX Settembre, to three more of the landmarks on the Quirinale Hill. (I know, it's endless. It's the same street as St. Ivo and St. Andrea in previous posts.)

The first might be recognizable, if you had to memorize church facades in Art History class. The facade by Carlo Maderno, completed in 1603, would end up having enormous influence on the architecture of the baroque era. So influential was Maderno, and apparently popular with the pope, that he was then commissioned to design the nave and great façade of Saint Peter's Basilica.

Santa Susanna 

Chiesa Santa Susanna alle Terme di Diocleziano

Though churches on this site go back to 280 AD, this church was rebuilt from 1585 to 1603. The church is said to be built on Saint Susanna's house where she was martyred. (Similar to the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere.)

As you can see, the church (like most of the churches) was very very dark. Guess they are saving on the light bills, and I am sure it's better for the frescos, by Cesare Nebbia, which cover nearly the entire interior.

In the early 20th century, there was a growing American population in Rome and Santa Susanna was in close proximity, at the time, to the American Embassy. So, in December 1921, Pope Benedict XV authorized Santa Susanna become the national church in Rome for American Residents and visitors from the U.S.

Below, the Martydom of S. Eleuterio by Cesare Nebbia and Giovan Battista Pozzo

Five Saints are buried at Santa Susanna... Saints Susanna, Gabinus, Felicity, Eleutherius, and Genesius. To read there stories, click here. Though frankly their stories are pretty depressing, so if you're feeling blue, I wouldn't go there.

Love the water on the street reflecting the facade in the photo below ... but that car! Oy! I wanted to find the owner and tell him he was fouling up my photo-op! Oh well. Photoshop anyone?

If you turned your head to the right, from the view above, you would see the view in the photo below. I pretty much took both photos from the same spot. In this photo, on the left, is Santa Maria della Vittoria and on the right, a huge wall fountain. I had no idea what the fountain was because (and I'm guessing here) they couldn't fit yet another landmark on my little tourist map. 

Honestly, can you imagine being a map maker for Rome, and trying to fit everything on a map?

Anyway, I looked it up yesterday and it turns out the wall fountain is the Fountana dell'Acqua Felice, (The Fountain of Moses) designed by Domenico Fontana, and was built from 1585 to 1588, and it's not even on Google maps. 

(A lot of people ride motor bikes.)

The fountain was commissioned by Pope Sixtus V. When he became pope, all the Roman aquiducts were basically out of commission and the only place for people to get water in the city was over by, what is now, the Trevi Fountain. So, the Pope restored the Acqua Felice aqueduct, naming it after himself, of course. (Felice was his last name.) This fountain is where the aqueduct would provide fresh water to the neighborhood.

Fontana dell'Acqua Felice

 

I'm not sure what Moses is pointing at, but he looks pretty serious about it. He was made in 1588 by Leonardo Somani and Prospero da Bresciano. Apparently, Prospero, carved the statue while the slab of marble was lying down and ended up not getting the proportions right, so the statue was ridiculed. The locals supposedly call it "the ridiculous Moses" ... "il Mosè ridicolo." I guess he is pretty stocky.

Moses with Motor Bikes

In the niche, to the left of Moses, is Aaron Leading the Israelites to Water, by Flaminio Vacca and Pietro Paolo Olivieri. Here it is, close up ...

Santa Maria della Vittoria

completed in 1620

This was not my first visit to this church but, if you're in the neighborhood, how can you not pop in to see Gian Lorenzo Bernini's masterpiece in all its splendor and glory? In the photo above, you can see the window that Bernini designed, above the sculpture, to bring natural light onto the "rays of light" and his magnificent sculpture of Saint Theresa in Ecstasy.

Here, once again, pictured below, is the Baroque in all it's dramatic, Counter Reformation, glory. The ceiling fresco is The Virgin Mary Triumphing Over Heresy, by Giovanni Domenico Cerrini. 

The church itself was designed by Carlo Maderno, who had created the facade for Santa Susanna, however the facade Santa Maria was designed by Giovanni Battista Soria. 

If you look at the façade of Santa Maria above (pictured 7 photos up, in the piazza to the left of the fountain) you can see the how similar it is to the façade of Santa Susanna, and see that influence I was talking about, that Maderno had on that period of architecture. 

Saint Theresa, was born in 1515 Ávila, Crown of Castile, (now Spain) and became a Carmelite nun. In her autobiography, Saint Theresa of Avila described a vision she had of an angel piercing her heart with a golden spear.

She wrote,"I saw in his hand a long spear o gold, and at the point there seemed to be little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of the excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it..."

Let nothing trouble you,

let nothing frighten you.

All things are passing;

God never changes.

Patience obtains all things.

~Saint Theresa of Avila

So here is "Master Shot" of the Cornaro Chapel. You can see on the right what looks like a balcony of four men. They are members of Cardinal Federico Cornar's family, the guy who commissioned the chapel.

You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.

~Saint Theresa of Avila

If you have the time, here is the entire "Power of Art" Episode about Bernini, and the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa, which is not only fascinating but has beautiful views of some of his unbelievable works.

Here are the official websites of the churches.

The Church of Santa Susanna

Santa Maria della Vittoria

So much to share and I will be posting more now that I am done with my two week housesitting stint. (My mom took her laptop with her to Mexico and my desktop is too big to move for two weeks!)

Believe it or not, except for the first "variety" post, these last 6 Rome posts have all taken place in the first 24 hours of my trip!!! The pace will be picking up, I swear.  ;)

It is love alone that gives worth to all things.

~Saint Theresa of Avila

blessings and light!

Piazza della Repubblica & Santa Maria degli Angeli

Lord, make me see thy glory in every place.

~Michelangelo Buonarroti

After checking out the Vermeer exhibition, I realized that I had another hour or two before I could go back into the earlier churches (to find my lost hat), so I headed south to find a bancomat (Italian ATM machine) and thought, while I was at it, I'd check out Piazza Repubblica. 

I'd driven through the piazza four years prior, a cab driver pointing out the window and shouting "PIAZZA REPUBBLICA!!!" but I'd never explored it. Plus, I figured I'd might find a money machine around there, since it's by the main train station, Termini.

Fountain of the Naiads

The statues on the fountain, which was inaugurated in 1901, were once thought so scandalous, that the city built a fence around it ... to which the Romans responded by knocking it down. 

Gotta love the Romans. ;)

The Piazza (previously called Piazza dell'Esedra) is laid out in a semi-circle in the exedra of the Baths of Diocletian, at the summit of the Viminal Hill.

Looking across the Piazza to the Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri and the Baths of Diocletian.

Seeing this, I had no idea what the deal was. Part Roman ruin ... part church ... So, I decided to head over and check it out. 

(Oh, and as we continue, you can listen to this gentleman I found on YouTube, playing Italian Renaissance Lute music. And, who doesn't love a lute? ;)

Nice doors, right? The bronze doors of Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj, are beautifully set off by the amazing brickwork, and were completed in 2005. 

This door, on the right, depicts the Annunciation. 
At the bottom of the door (not in the photo) it reads ...
Ecce Ancilla Domini Fiat Mihi Secundum Verbum Tuum - 
I am the handmaid of the lord, let what you have said be done to me.

The door on the left depicts the Resurrection, and Christ, his body etched with a cross.

To read more information about the doors, click here.

A bit of history, from the (great) website Sacred Destinations ...

"In 1541, a Sicilian priest, Fr. Antonio Lo Duca, had a vision of angels in the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian. As a result, Pope Pius IV (1559-1565) ordered that a church be built within the Baths. The church was designed by Michelangelo, who began work in 1563 but died a year later in 1564. His design was completed by Jacopo Lo Duca, nephew of Fr. Antonio and pupil of Michelangelo. The church was granted to the Carthusians, who built a monastery next to it, possibly to a design by Michelangelo."

Angel of Light  

Ernesto Lamagna 2000

I am not quite sure why it was so dang dark in there. It was rainy and all, but it was really dark. I tried to be very still while taking pictures but most of them were very blurry. I lightened these up, as much as I could, in iPhoto.

I love this modern stained glass window, in the dome of the Circular Vestibule, when you first enter the church. 

Light and Time 

Narcissus Quagliata 1999

I came upon a sculpture of John the Baptist, and found the light so incredibly beautiful, as it spilled over the stone ... It made it feel like a truly sacred space.

Saint John the Baptist

Igor Mitoraj

The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, as Queen of the Angels, as well as the Christian slaves who died building the Baths of Diocletian, which were completed in 306 and obviously dedicated to the Emperor Diocletian. Unfortunately, Michelangelo died before the church was completed.

If you knew how much work went into it, you wouldn't call it genius.

~Michelangelo

Below, the right transept, with Roman Columns 

This sculpture, below, is called The Meditation, and is in the Chapel of Saint Bruno. She was pretty enormous, which you see by the angle, and how I am looking up at her. She, along with the sculpture The Prayer, (lower left in the photo) date back to the 1870s and were finished by Frances Fabj-Altini.

I am not sure why, by I really was taken by her.

Saint Theresa's Chapel 

Here you can really see that the church was built in the Roman baths. I love how rustic they left this wall.

Through the Chapel of Saint Theresa, there is a door out into a peaceful courtyard, lovingly cared for, with greenery and sculptures, all in the midst of more ancient Roman remains of the Diocletian baths.

Galileo Galilei Divine Man
Designed by Professor Tsung Dao Lee
Bronze

For more about Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri please visit their website here.

To learn more about this church and many other sacred places, from around the world, check out the website Sacred Destinations.

What an interesting mix of the very old and very new, all in one place! And, this place wasn't even on my "to do" list. I am glad I was open to exploring and letting myself end up in unexpected places. A good lesson for life, I think! Hope you enjoyed exploring with me!

A beautiful thing never gives so much pain

as does failing to hear and see it.

~Michelangelo

blessings and light!