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LA DOLCE VITA FLATS: THE RIONE MONTI |
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Enjoy your holidays by staying in one of the most ancient and characteristic area of Roma: the Rione Monti. The name literally means mountains in Italian. The name comes from the fact that the Esquiline and the Viminal Hills, and parts of the Quirinal and the Caelian Hills belong to this rione. On its logo there are three green mountains with three tops on a silver background. The southern part of Rione Monti near the border with Campitelli was chosen by the emperors to expand the Roman Forum. Augustus and after him Nerva and Trajan built at this location basilicas and temples: the most significant monument of this period is no doubt Colonna Trajana. The rest of the rione was mainly occupied by villas such as Nero's Domus Aurea. The proximity with Colosseo (in Rione Campitelli) led to building imposing baths on the nearby slope of the Esquilino hill (Terme di Tito e di Traiano). Only in the late IIIrd century Rome expanded on the northern part of Monti: Diocleziano built imposing baths on a flat area at the top of Quirinale and Viminale, while a few years later Constantine built other baths in what today is Palazzo Rospigliosi. Maybe because of their remoteness from the center of ancient Rome where too many temples still celebrated the pagan gods, two peripheral locations were chosen to build great Christian basilicas: S. Giovanni in Laterano, near Porta Asinaria, and S. Maria Maggiore on one of the three peaks of Esquilino. Conditions in Rione Monti improved with Pope Pius IV (1559-65) who opened Via Pia leading to Porta Pia and to a greater extent with Pope Sixtus V (1585-90) who brought again water to this part of Rome (Acqua Felice) and opened long streets which facilitated the access to the basilicas. Several monasteries and churches were built along these streets, the most known being S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane by Francesco Borromini and S. Andrea al Quirinale by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. |
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In between 1924 and 1936 a big part of the rione, made of small streets and popular houses,
was destroyed to built via dei Fori Imperiali (the street artificially dividing the Roman Forum and most
of the Imperial forums) and the archaeological buildings of the forum Romanum were dug out from under the ground. Monti is nowadays full of archaeological buildings such as: the Colosseum, the Ludus Magnus (the gym for gladiators), Nero’s Domus Aurea, the Baths of Trajan, the Baths of Titus, part of the forum Romanum, and the markets of Traianus. In this part of downtown Rome is the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, originally built in the 5th century: it holds the chains believed to be the ones which St.Peter was held prisoner with, displayed once a year on August 1. But the most visited feature of this church is the tomb of pope Julius II, by Michelangelo (about 1515), which includes the sitting figure of Moses, said to have been hit with a hammer by the sculptor, who shouted "Why don't you talk?". Most of its streets have been altered or rebuilt in the late 19th century, but the many interesting relics, which range from urban architecture of the imperial age to mediaeval churches and basilicas, testify the great historical background of this rione, whose district master had particular privileges. Monti's inhabitants, very proud of their status, traditionally claim to be "more genuinely roman" than those of any other district; they even used to speak a local variety of Rome's standard dialect, called monticiano. Nowadays is one of the trendiest area of downtown Roma, still keeping its ancient aura, and tranquil alleys. The close-by Via dei Serpenti and Via del Boschetto feature several dine outs, pizzeria and trattoria, meeting points for the notti romane!! |
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