Trastevere walk

i'd been wanting to go on a proper sight-seeing walk through the Trastevere neighborhood for quite some time, and finally, on Saturday afternoon, the stars aligned (plus i may have played the Birthday card, it being my thirty-third birthday and all. more on that later). i downloaded Rick Steves' audioguide, and also bookmarked relevant pages in Frommer's Memorable Walks in Rome and Fodor's Rome: A Complete Guide with Walking Tours of Classical Rome and the Vatican (affiliate links to updated editions - my copies are old but still helpful!). since Santa Cecilia was closed in the mid-afternoon, we decided to reverse the order of Rick Steves' walk and start at the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere.

we walked along the Via della Lungaretta, keeping our eyes peeled for hidden gems along the way. and sure enough, there beneath our feet appeared two stolpersteine, brass plaques laid over cobblestones in memory of Holocaust victims. according to my trusty source, these memorials are the project of the German artist Gunter Demnig, and they are now installed in many European countries. each engraving begins with the phrase "Here lived", followed by the individual's name, date of birth, date of death, and the circumstances of their death. 

we arrived at the Basilica di Santa Maria just as Greta began clamoring for snacks. assuring her that she and Cecilia could have some snacks after we visited the church, we stepped into the portico. this church was initially founded in the third century and then promoted to a basilica in the 4th century. it is the oldest church in Rome dedicated to Our Lady. the engravings in the portico wall come from the lids to burial niches of early Christians who were buried in the catacombs. (many thanks to Kira who loaned me her phone for the following pictures - my iPhone 5 just can't capture the same level of detail!)

the original church was built on the site of the Taberna Meritoria, an old military hospital. this site was considered holy because a fountain of oil had sprung from this spot in 38 B.C., a phenomenon which is commemorated by this plaque inside the church. 

after a few moments to pause and take in the beauty of the church as a whole, we first walked along the right side of the sanctuary. here we found an altar dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, quite fitting on her feast day. i used to think it was a bit of a downer that my birthday fell on such a sad feast day, but after our miscarriages, i've found especial comfort in it. 

Our Lady of Sorrows

we continued along the side of the church until we reached the small side chapel. none of my guidebooks had anything to say about this -- what we really need is The Nerdy Catholic's Guide to Churches in Rome, With No Detail Left Unexplained. maybe i'll write one.

what all three guides did mention is the fact that Santa Maria is most famous for its unique mosaics. and they are truly stunning, especially when you consider that they were created in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. when we stopped in here a few weeks ago, mass was being celebrated at the time, so we couldn't get a close look at the front of the church. this time, we were able to gaze at the incredible coffered ceiling to our heart's content. 

notice how the capitals are mismatched? the granite columns were all scavenged from ancient Roman buildings. 

as we walked around the back of the sanctuary and approached the apse from the left aisle, some benevolent tourist put a coin in the slot so all of the mosaics were brilliantly illuminated. Fiat Lux!

stepping up on the left side of the apse

a large tour group was gathered near the central mosaics, so we went into the other side chapel first, the Chapel of Our Lady of Mercy. thanks to research after the fact, i now know that this chapel was designed to commemorate the Council of Trent and the Counter-Reformation.

we didn't know anything about it at the time, but i could tell just from its age that the icon above the altar had a story to tell. and does it ever. it dates from sometime between the 6th to the 8th century A.D., making it one of the oldest icons of Our Lady. Pope Gregory III had it covered in silver leaf in the mid-700s. 

the tour group finally dispersed and we walked over to investigate the mosaics in the apse. these mosaics were likely completed in the year 1148.  the scene in the central top mosaic depicts Mary enthroned next to Jesus. from left to right, we see Pope Innocent II, St. Lawrence, and Pope St. Callixtus; then Mary and Jesus; then St. Peter (and a few more saints not captured in my photo). 

the cycle of mosaics below this was created in the late 1200s and depicts the life of Mary, beginning with her birth (in which she is shown about to get a bath, while St. Anne recovers).   

skipping over the Annunciation, here's the mosaic showing the Nativity of Jesus. notice the small building marked Taberna Meritoria, alluding to the same spring of holy oil that was found here (some legends state that the spring of oil actually erupted on the night of Jesus' birth). 

as we left the church, i couldn't help but laugh over this thoroughly Italian juxtaposition of the fountain to the left and the military vehicle to the right, viewed from the portico of a medieval church. 

we continued along our walk while Greta and Cecilia devoured a bag of gummy crocodiles. when they had been sufficiently sugared up, we ducked into two other churches that flank the Piazza Sonnino. the church of San Crisogono (St. Chrysogonous) was built in the 12th century on top of a fifth-century basilica (you can take an underground tour of the remains of the basilica if you wish -- an endeavor for another day!). the floor and many of the mosaics in the church date from the thirteenth century. Kira probably got a little more Catholic-ness than she bargained for when we discovered the entire preserved body of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi in a glass case in a side chapel. further reading reveals that she was a mystic who lived from 1769-1837 and was beatified in 1920. (it always seems improper to me to take a photo of a preserved body, no matter how reverent the intention, so you'll just have to come to Trastevere if you'd like to see her.)

we entered through the side door

the eagles and dragons on the ceiling are symbols of the Borghese family, who restored the church in the 1600s

the original audioguide

I don't understand the full significance of this display, but there appeared to be prayer requests or perhaps letters of thanksgiving in the case.

Madonna & Child with Saints Crisogono and James (twelfth-century)

we walked across the square to Sant'Agata, which was built in the 11th century. the rosary was being recited, so we didn't want to be rude, and just stayed long enough to see the large figure of Our Lady. known as the Madonna de'Noantri, she is the patroness of Trastevere. during their annual festival in July, the Trasteverini carry the statue up and down the streets. 

we passed by the Piazza Belli, named after the poet Giuseppe Belli, who is famous for writing in the local dialect. then we walked past the Open Door, a secondhand bookshop which sells books in English (and from where Nick purchased my birthday presents!). i try not to let myself wonder too often about what i'd do here without kids, because it's pointless and of course i don't really wish that i didn't have them, but if i was living in Rome as a single college student, i'm sure i'd while away many hours in the Open Door. 

Piazza Belli

our next point of interest was a 14th-century house located on the Vicolo della Luce. (i have to say that i am utterly enamored with the word Vicolo, which means "alley". doesn't a vicolo sound so much more inviting?)

the arch and columns are original

we walked around the outside of Santa Maria della Luce, which dates from the third or fourth century. the church was closed, but just seeing an eighteen-hundred-year-old tower from the outside was remarkable. 

next we arrived at the Piazza in Piscinula (which means pool, as it is the site of some ancient Roman baths). the 14th-century Palazzo Mattei sits on one side. the Mattei family lived here until the sixteenth century, when several murders occurred on the property and they decided to relocate across the river. across the piazza sits the tiny church of San Benedetto. the church was built in 524 on the place where St. Benedict stayed in Rome prior to beginning his hermitage in a cave, and it contains not only the cubicle where he lived, but also the smallest and oldest bell tower in Rome (built in 1069). despite a sign on the door indicating that the church was open on Saturday afternoons, the doors were locked. 

Palazzo Mattei

the tiny church of San Benedetto

our next landmark was supposed to be a medieval arch that would lead us down another street towards Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, but we couldn't find it. so we just headed down the main road by the Tiber until we saw a sign for Santa Cecilia, and with much excitement and exuberance, we pointed out the church to Cecilia. St. Cecilia, the patroness of musicians, was martyred by the Emperor Diocletian in the year 300 A.D., but she did not go without a fight. she survived his initial attempt to drown her in her own bath. she was then sentenced to death by having her head cut off, but even after three blows of the sword, she remained alive for several days.

passing the Street of the Sausage-Makers (what a life!)

the 404 Name Not Found bar

facade of St. Cecilia

similarly stoic, our Cecilia remained unimpressed by the beautiful facade in front of the gardens, but she did love the fountain inside. as we walked into the garden, we realized that there was a wedding going on in the church, so we weren't able to go inside. but the girls had a great time playing around the fountain and Cece made friends with an Italian toddler (and by "made friends" i mean that she stared at him silently for about ten minutes and then eventually started following him around). we'll go back sometime soon to say a prayer at the church (which is built over the house where St. Cecilia lived with her husband, St. Valeriano). 

Cecilia (and her beloved "minky") at St. Cecilia's

by this point, we needed to head back to the college for Nick to play for evening prayer, but we hit a few points of interest along the way. first, the Piazza dei Mercanti, which Frommer's book describes as "one of the most picturesque squares in Trastevere". the house on the corner dates from medieval times. 

because you can't walk a block without stumbling over a church or two, we then saw Santa Maria in Cappella. this tiny church was founded in the year 1090. the bell tower dates from the twelfth century. 

then, we couldn't miss an opportunity to visit another Vicolo! the Vicolo dell'Atleta, to be exact, which derives its name from the statue Apoxyomenos found here in the 19th century. the statue is a figure of an athlete holding a scraper, and is now preserved in the Vatican Museums. this street is supposed to house the only remaining medieval synagogue in Trastevere, but it appears to have been converted into a restaurant now. 

this is supposed to be the site of the old synagogue

someone's living the Legally Blonde life with a hot pink Vespa

we continued back towards home, finally spotting the medieval arch of the house of Tolomei that we were supposed to walk underneath on our way to Santa Cecilia.

then, we saw the front of San Chrysogonos church; not surprisingly, it was much more impressive than the side entrance. 

as we followed the main road, the Lungotevere, back towards the base of the Janiculum Hill, i realized i'd fallen in love with Rome a little more. a good guidebook (or three) is helpful to understand the story behind what you see, but the Eternal City rewards even its wanderers so richly.