Capitoline Museums, the world’s first public exhibition space
The birth of the Capitoline Museums, the oldest public museum in the world, dates back to 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV donated a group of bronze statues to the Roman people, which formed the initial nucleus of the collection. The collections were later expanded by the popes with works coming from excavations of Rome, from […]
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On the ‘Bicycle Thieves’ bus at Porta Pia: the protagonist gets on
Everyine is queuing orderly to get on the bus at the Porta Pia stop. With that hand resting on the shoulder of the person in front, expressing confidence, almost familiarity, and in any case endurance of the crowd in the public transport taken by storm. A popular gesture that seems inspired by the philosophy of […]
Nomentano, when Viale Regina Elena discovered the traffic jams
Line of cars, trams and crowds thronging the sides of the road. We are in the early 1930s: this is the period when Viale Regina Elena discovered traffic jams and began to take on the chaotic and frenetic appearance we are used to today. The shot, dated exactly 1 January 1933, belongs to the Atac […]
Cloths hung out to dry and shacks, this is how Piazza Galeno looked a century ago
Clothes hung out to dry, the dominant green, the shacks and the first small villas in the background. An almost unreal and very different Piazza Galeno as it appears today, the one seen in the early 20th century picture belonging to the Parisi family. The photo is taken from Typimedia Editore’s volume “Come eravamo Nomentano”: […]
Nomentano, the Art Nouveau villa that no longer exists
Nomentano has always been rich in beautiful buildings. Some can still be admired today. Others, however, survive only in the black and white pictures taken by the neighbourhood’s historic residents and jealously guarded in their drawers. Such is the case of the Art Nouveau villa that once stood in Viale XXI Aprile and was demolished […]
1930, all posing on the site of the Edificio Alato (Winged Building), the future Ministry of Aeronautics
Hundreds of workers “popping up” from several floors and taking a short break from work to take a picture that will go down in the history of our neighbourhood. This incredible shot, taken from the book “Come Eravamo Nomentano” (Typimedia Editore), shows the many “workers” who in 1930 were busy constructing the imposing Aeronautica Militare […]
Royal weddings alike in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli
One of the most opulent basilicas in Rome, at the top of an iconic staircase at the highest point of the Campidoglio hill: if you are planning a wedding in the Eternal City and are looking for a location that will leave everyone breathless, choose the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli. The entrance, high […]
A museum for Garibaldi’s heroes and the Roman Republic
After a restoration and enhancement project, the monumental complex of Porta San Pancrazio was reopened in 2011 and the Museum of the Roman Republic and Garibaldi’s Memory was inaugurated. Using historical documents, works of art and multimedia and didactic materials, it retraces history, places, and personalities of this fundamental era in the history of this […]
Baroque wedding in the Basilica of Santa Francesca Romana
The Basilica di Santa Francesca Romana, also known as Santa Maria Nova, is a small treasure of exceptional beauty. Inside it preserves a stone with imprints that, according to legend, belong to the knees of Saints Peter and Paul. Getting married in Santa Francesca Romana has a special charm, and it really feels like a […]
Pantheon, the shrine of the House of Savoy and tomb of geniuses such as Raphael
The Pantheon is one of the best preserved examples of the monumental architecture of ancient Rome. Its history begins in 27 B.C., when Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, son-in-law, friend and collaborator of Octavian, had a first temple built in this area dedicated to ‘all the gods’. Having fallen into a state of neglect and subsequently sacked […]