Trastevere & Janiculum Hill
Across the Tiber, the vibrant streetlife of Trastevere paints a contrasting picture to the peaceful Janiculum Hill above it. For centuries a working-class area, Trastevere is now one of Rome’s most fashionable districts, with a maze of narrow streets full of traditional markets and trattorie that co-exist with modern galleries and shops. The Janiculum Hill provides respite from the chaos of the city as well as splendid views.
Colourful carousel horses, Janiculum Hill
Highlights
Santa Maria in Trastevere
Admire the magnificent mosaics in Rome’s oldest church, the Santa Maria in Trastevere.
West and East of Viale di Trastevere
Explore Trastevere’s enticing tangle of streets and piazzas, leaving plenty of time for window-shopping and people-watching (see West of Viale di Trastevere and East of Viale di Trastevere).
Janiculum Hill
Climb up the Janiculum Hill for panoramic views of Rome, followed by a puppet show and a picnic.
Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica
Visit the sumptuously decorated halls of the Palazzo Corsini, full of intriguing art (see Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica).
Villa Farnesina
Wonder at the exquisitely painted pergola and frescoed horoscopes at the Villa Farnesina, to the accompaniment of classical music.
Villa Doria Pamphilj
Take a break from city life at Rome’s largest park, the Villa Doria Pamphilj and perhaps enjoy a meal at its pretty Provençal-style bistro (see Villa Doria Pamphilj).
The Best of Trastevere & Janiculum Hill
Spectacular 12th-century mosaics in Santa Maria in Trastevere church
Sightseeing, shopping, people-watching and walks in the park can all be easily combined in Trastevere. There are beautiful mosaics in Santa Maria in Trastevere and sculptures in Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, while a visit to the exquisite Villa Farnesina and Bramante’s refined Tempietto brings a tangible sense of Renaissance Rome. The area’s many parks include the Janiculum Hill, Villa Sciarra, Villa Doria Pamphilj and the Botanical Gardens, while several piazzas are traffic-free.
Escape to the greenery
The green spaces on the fringes of Trastevere are ideal for winding down after a tiring day of sightseeing. Walk up the Janiculum Hill for fantastic views of the city, stopping by at the tranquil Botanical Gardens. Once part of the Palazzo Corsini, it is the perfect escape from the heat – full of shade and perfect for a picnic and games. Escape the madding crowds at Villa Doria Pamphilj, Rome’s largest park and one of the few places in the city where the sound of traffic seems a world away. The intimate and beautifully landscaped park of Villa Sciarra is also a great picnic spot and has a playground too.
On a budget
Head to the area West of Viale di Trastevere and explore the tangle of medieval streets at random, letting children decide when to turn right and left. Discover tiny alleyways and intimate piazzas crying out to be photographed. Armed with a picnic lunch, spend an entire day exploring the Janiculum Hill, then head to either Villa Sciarra or Villa Doria Pamphilj, without being tempted to spend a euro. On Sundays, search for bargains in the huge flea market at Porta Portese and in the months of January and July, buy clothes and shoes at prices that are a fraction of the original. For a change of scene, visit Santa Maria in Trastevere at night and admire the illuminated mosaics on the façade.
Palaces and villas
Get children to spot exotic vegetables on the vaults of the Sala di Psiche, and figure out the horoscopes represented on the walls of the Sala di Galatea at Villa Farnesina, a palace with beautiful grounds and enticing frescoes. Visit the splendid Palazzo Corsini, which houses the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, with an amazing collection of art from the 18th and 19th centuries. Families who visit early in the morning may well have the entire place to themselves – imagine what it would be like to live among such splendour.
Quirky sights
Wander through the eclectic streets of Trastevere counting the quirky sights on the way – the world’s first police and fire station, the house where Italian painter Raphael’s beloved Margherita Luti lived and a pharmacy where children can see an antidote to snake bites invented by Emperor Nero’s doctor. Cross the Ponte Sisto, a foot-bridge across the Tiber incorporating a 16th-century flood-warning device. Up on the Janiculum Hill, unique sights include a lighthouse that beams out the colours of the Italian flag; a statue of a baby-carrying, gun-toting war heroine; and, concealing a huge water tank, the façade of a house in which Michelangelo once lived.
Crossing the Tiber on the pedestrian bridge, Ponte Sisto
Santa Maria in Trastevere and around
Fountain in Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere
The bustling Trastevere neighbourhood can be reached by bus or tram, but the nicest (and often quickest) way to reach the area from the centro storico is to walk across a bridge – Ponte Garibaldi, Ponte Sisto, Ponte Fabricio and Ponte Cestio are all convenient. Climbing the Janiculum Hill from either the Vatican or Trastevere is fun – and much easier than might be expected, as flights of steps provide many shortcuts between the winding roads. Other sights are all within a hop and a skip of each other at the foot of the hill. Below the Janiculum, the busy Lungotevere is served by several buses, useful as swift access to – or a speedy escape from – St Peter’s and the Vatican.
2. West of Viale di Trastevere
3. East of Viale di Trastevere
5. Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica
9. San Pietro in Montorio and Tempietto
Detail on the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola, Janiculum Hill
1. Santa Maria in Trastevere
Holy bath water
Façade of Santa Maria church
Located on lively, traffic-free Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere, the basilica of Santa Maria is probably the first official Christian church to have been built in Rome. According to legend, a fountain of oil miraculously bubbled up here at the precise moment that Jesus was born, and, in the 3rd century, Pope Callixtus I built a church on the site. The present church was built in the 12th century and was the first in the city to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Try to see it at least once at night, when the glittering mosaics on the façade are illuminated.
Key Features
1. Cappella Altemps
2. Coronation of the Virgin
3. Cavallini Mosaics
4. Columns in the Nave The nave is lined with 22 huge granite columns filched from the Baths of Caracalla.
5. Narthex A miscellany of ancient inscriptions adorn the wall of the narthex.
6. Façade Mosaic On the façade is a 12th-century mosaic showing the Madonna feeding baby Jesus, flanked by ten women holding lamps. The veiled women whose lamps have gone out are probably widows. Kneeling on either side of the Madonna are two unidentified figures – probably those of the donors who provided funds for the building of the church – so tiny that were they to stand, they would barely reach the Virgin’s knees.
7. The bell tower The tower dates from the 12th century. At the top is a small mosaic of the Virgin Mary.
Left
Cavallini Mosaics Middle Coronation of the Virgin Right Cappella Altemps
Kids’ Corner
Look carefully…
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Can you see which of the lamps are lit on the mosaic façade?
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In the narthex can you find:
(a) Two peacocks drinking from a vase?
(b) Other birds?
(c) A boat?
(d) A barrel?
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Inside the church, can you find a mosaic of a shepherd boy playing pipes to sheep?
Be prepared
The ten virgins on the façade represent Jesus’s story of the wise and foolish virgins, a parable about the importance of always being prepared – the wise virgins took supplies of oil with them, while the foolish ones did not.
Wine or God?
After Pope Callixtus built his church, local tavern-keepers protested, claiming the site was theirs. The emperor, Alexander Severus, however, decided that a church was preferable to taverns, and the building became the first official place of Christian worship in the city.
2. West of Viale di Trastevere
Mystic medicines and busy street life
Ponte Sisto bridge with the dome of St Peter’s in the background
The elegant, four-arched Ponte Sisto has linked Trastevere with the Campo de’ Fiori district since the 16th century. Commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV and built by Italian architect Baccio Pontelli, it remains the most evocative approach to the Tiber’s left bank and is busy day and night with people hurrying, strolling, chatting, cycling, scootering and sometimes even skating. The bridge is pierced by an oculus (eye), designed to warn Romans when the water level of the Tiber gets dangerously high. Ponte Sisto also serves as an aqueduct, carrying water across the river from the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola on the Janiculum Hill. To the west of Ponte Sisto is a 16th-century city gate, the Porta Settimiana. Overlooking it is Casa della Fornarina, a modest house, which now houses a restaurant. It is thought to have been home to Margherita Luti, the baker’s daughter with whom master painter Raphael fell in love.
From here stroll down to Via della Scala, one of Trastevere’s main pedestrian thoroughfares, lined with shops, restaurants and cafés. Located here is the Antica Farmacia Santa Maria della Scala, run by Carmelite monks, and first opened to the public in the 17th century. The pharmacy became famous among the Grand Tourists of the 18th and 19th centuries for its acqua della scala (anti-plague water). This is no longer on sale, but calling in advance helps gain access to the original pharmacy on the first floor. Here visitors can see alembics, distillation equipment, pestles and mortars and a device for making pills, along with a vase containing theriac, a supposed cure for snake bites.
Further along Via della Scala is the Museo di Roma, which hosts photography exhibitions occasionally. A short walk beyond is Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere, the traditional heart of the neighbourhood.
Kids’ Corner
Where in Trastevere would you find…
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An antidote to a fatal viper bite?
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Hollow pillars?
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An early flood-warning sign?
An ancient remedy
Theriac – an antidote to snake-bites – was invented in the 1st century AD by Andromache, doctor to Emperor Nero. It contained 57 different substances, of which the most important was the flesh of a male viper that had lived far from the sea and had no contact with salt. Vipers were collected by hunters known as viperai, and had to be delivered, live, to pharmacies.
3. East of Viale di Trastevere
Of strict vigils and flea markets
Tomb of Santa Cecilia, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
The neighbourhood to the east of Viale di Trastevere is considerably less gentrified than that to the west, although quirky new shops and places to eat and drink are opening all the time. Begin with an inspection of the world’s oldest police station, the Coorte VII dei Vigili. Like the modern Carabinieri, ancient Rome’s policemen were part of the army. Their duties included fire-fighting, demolishing dangerous buildings and patrolling the streets at night on the lookout for thieves and runaway slaves. The vigili (municipal police officers) were nicknamed spartoli, or little buckets, as they patrolled the streets carrying buckets of water. All that can be seen today is a scruffy red building on Via della VII Coorte, with a Roman-looking wall around the corner on Via del Montefiore.
A short walk from here leads to the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, which stands above the house where St Cecilia lived – and was martyred – in the 3rd century. A church was built on the site in the 9th century and although there are very few signs of it today, it still exists, hidden beneath the 18th-century makeover. Tapping on the pillars in the aisle reveals that they are hollow – with the original columns still encased inside. In the 1260s the original church was covered with what must have been some of the first frescoes of the early Renaissance, by Italian painter Pietro Cavallini; surviving fragments of The Last Judgment can be seen in the adjacent cloister.
In 1599 St Cecilia’s tomb in the Catacombs of San Callisto was opened, and inside, wrapped in a gown shot with gold and a green silk veil, was her perfectly preserved body. On contact with air, the body began to disintegrate, but not before sketches were made, which sculptor Stefano Maderna used to create a statue of the saint, lying on her side with her head turned away to reveal her wounded neck. This is now displayed in a niche below the high altar. Below the church are Roman houses, and the remains of a tannery, complete with vats.
Opposite the church is a small children’s printing press called Nuove Edizioni Romane with an interesting range of illustrated books in Italian. Not far away is Piazza di Porta Portese which turns into a huge and famous flea market on Sundays.
Kids’ Corner
Flame fighters!
In order to fight fires in Ancient Rome, every cohort had a sipho (fire engine). The vigili would also bring water to a fire by forming bucket brigades or attempt to smother the fire by covering it with water-soaked blankets.
Santa Cecilia
After being condemned to death for being a Christian, St Cecilia was locked in the steam room of her home for three days to suffocate, but miraculously survived. Next, an axeman was sent to behead her. Roman law only permitted executioners to deliver three strokes, and these failed again to kill her, so she hung on, half dead, for another three days. She is said to have sung throughout her ordeal in the steam room and is now the patron saint of music.
4. Janiculum Hill
Lights, battles and a moving house
Puppets at Piazzale Garibaldi
It is hard to imagine that in 1849 the Janiculum was the scene of a fierce battle between the French – backing the pope – and Italian Republicans led by Giuseppe Garibaldi. Today, there is no better antidote to a morning at the Vatican than a leisurely walk up the Janiculum Hill. The views of Rome from the top are tremendous, and the Passeggiata Gianicolense, with its several belvederes, a picnic area, refreshment vans and a seasonal puppet theatre, has long been a favourite spot for a lazy early evening stroll.
Key Sights
1. Tasso’s Oak Struck by lightning in 1843, this tree trunk, held together by metal braces, is all that remains of the oak under which the Renaissance poet Torquato Tasso liked to sit.
2. Manfredi Lighthouse Built in 1911, this was a gift to the city of Rome from Italians living in Argentina. At night, the lighthouse beams out red, green and white lights – the colours of the Italian flag.
6. Casa della Fornarina
8. Piazzale Giuseppe Garibaldi
9. Monument to Anita Garibaldi
Left
Piazzale Giuseppe Garibaldi Middle Monument to Anita Garibaldi Right Casa della Fortuna
Kids’ Corner
As you climb the Janiculum Hill, can you find….
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An oak tree struck by lightning?
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The house of Raphael’s beloved?
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A baby riding into battle?
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A lighthouse flashing red, green and white light?
Homeless house!
Michelangelo’s house was pulled down at the end of the 19th century to make room for Il Vittoriano. It was rebuilt behind the Capitoline Museums on Via delle Tre Pile, but had to be pulled down again in 1941, when it was decided to widen the street. A replica was then built on the Janiculum Hill.
Anita Garibaldi
Garibaldi first set eyes on Anita when he fled Italy to fight in Brazil. According to legend, the first words he said to her were “You must be mine”. However, far from being a helpless romantic heroine, Anita was a dynamic and courageous woman who introduced Garibaldi to the cowboy-like gaucho culture of South America and rode into battles in Brazil alongside her husband.
5. Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica
Artful gore and bronze animals
A hall in the Palazzo Corsini, home to the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica
The splendid Palazzo Corsini, with enticing views over the magnificent Botanical Gardens, houses the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, popularly known as the Galleria Corsini. The gallery showcases the outstanding paintings collected in the 18th century by Neri Corsini. Both collection and palace were sold to the Italian state in 1883. Several paintings in the gallery are a little gory, notably, the 17th-century artist Salvatore Rosa’s anatomically accurate rendition of Prometheus having his guts pecked out by an eagle. The squeamish may prefer the 18th-century bronzes in the Galleria del Cardinale of a boy strangling a snake and two boys holding a parrot and sitting on a goat. Kids might also be amused by the portrait of Queen Christina of Sweden as the goddess Diana, on display in the room in which she died in 1689 after living here for 30 years. Besides the painting of a young St John the Baptist by Caravaggio, it is the collection of 18th-century still-lifes, in the Camera Verde, with their minute attention to detail, that are most fascinating. Spot the fly on a peach in Pfeiffer’s Natura Morta.
6. Villa Farnesina
Music and art
Fresco in the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche, Villa Farnesina
A perfect example of Renaissance architecture, elegant Villa Farnesina was built in the early 16th century for Agostino Chigi, a fabulously rich banking tycoon, and served as a sophisticated retreat where he could entertain and hold magnificent banquets. After Chigi died in 1520, his business collapsed, the villa was abandoned and its statues, furniture and paintings sold. Fortunately, the best artworks – two loggias frescoed by Raphael – could not be moved.
Begin with the glassed-in Loggia of Cupid and Psyche, which was originally designed to resemble a pergola. Scenes from the love story of Cupid and Psyche appear on trompe l’oeil tapestries (look carefully and it is possible to see the fake hooks) against an illusionistic sky framed by illusionistic ribs garlanded with foliage, fruit, vegetables and flowers. Although designed by Raphael, it was painted by his pupils.
The second one, the Loggia of Galatea, is named after the one painting that Raphael completed here – the famous Triumph of Galatea. It shows Galatea, a beautiful woman with strawberry-blonde hair streaming in the wind, as she rides the sea in a shell drawn by dolphins surrounded by tritons and nereids.
Above the door to the immediate left of this fresco is a portrait of the one-eyed giant, Polyphemus, sitting with his dog and gazing out to sea after having fallen hopelessly in love with Galatea. It was long believed that the blue drapes had been painted on after a woman was shocked by the giant’s naked body. However, a recent restoration revealed that there was no body underneath the drapery.
The upper walls of the room are devoted to horoscopes, one of Chigi’s main interests, while the panels on the ceiling depict the story of Perseus and Medusa as well as the story of the nymph Callista who was turned into a bear by Juno, and then into a constellation of stars by Jupiter.
Kids’ Corner
American imports
Columbus discovered America in 1482 – less than 20 years before the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche was frescoed. However, several exotic American fruits and vegetables appear in the frescoes on the ceiling! Look very carefully and see if you can spot:
- Tomatoes
- Squash
- Pineapples
- Avocadoes
- Corn
- Potatoes
- Chillies
Expensive tastes
Banker Agostino Chigi loved to show off: he had beds inlaid with ivory, gold and precious stones, and on one occasion dinner was served on gold and silver platters.
Who’s that girl?
Raphael’s Galatea is often said to have been inspired by Agostino Chigi’s girlfriend, Imperia, though Raphael himself wrote that since there was a ”lack of beautiful women I am using an idea which has come into my head.“ Presumably, he did not show what he had written to Imperia or La Fornarina!
The baker’s daughter
Raphael was so distracted by his love for La Fornarina when he was working on decorating the Villa Farnesina, that its owner, Agostino Chigi, was worried that he would never finish. His solution was to kidnap La Fornarina and hide her, but Raphael got so upset that he couldn’t concentrate, so Chigi miraculously “discovered” the girl and let her move into the villa while Raphael painted.
7. Botanical Gardens
The perfect escape
A fountain in the Botanical Gardens, at the foot of the Janiculum Hill
Rome has a long history of gardens, dating back to the 13th century, when a garden of medicinal plants was cultivated within the walls of the Vatican. Since then, there have been several botanical gardens in the city, but it was only in 1883 that the University of Rome was given this permanent site – perfectly located between the Janiculum Hill and the Tiber – away from the chaos of the city.
The tranquil gardens contain more than 7,000 plant species from all over the world. Although peaceful, lush, full of shade and perfect for a picnic or to get away from the heat, the gardens are not very well maintained – many of the fountains are dry and the greenhouses dilapidated. There is, however, plenty of space to run around, including an avenue of palms, a Japanese garden and a rustling bamboo grove.
8. Fontana dell’Acqua Paola
From lake to fountain
The Fontana dell’Acqua Paola on the Janiculum Hill
Built into a wall like a miniature Trevi Fountain, the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola is best visited at night when it is illuminated and its marble columns – taken from the original St Peter’s Basilica – and statues gleam with the light bouncing off its waters. The fountain’s source is Lake Bracciano, to the northwest of Rome, connected to the city via an aqueduct built by Trajan in AD 109. In ancient times the water powered the many flour mills that existed in this area. Just below the fountain, on the other side of the road, are a flight of steps that lead to the Tempietto.
Kids’ Corner
Floating mills
In ancient Rome, there were several mills on the Janiculum Hill, which were powered by water from Trajan’s aqueduct. In AD 573, the Visigoths cut off all 14 of Rome’s aqueducts, leaving the city without fresh water – and without mills to make flour to make bread. The mills were then moved down to the Tiber and rebuilt on rafts anchored to the pylons of bridges. These floating mills survived for centuries – the last were destroyed in the great flood of 1870.
9. San Pietro in Montorio and Tempietto
Temple within a church
Bramante’s Tempietto, the most famous Renaissance building in Rome
Founded in the Middle Ages, San Pietro in Montorio is Rome’s Spanish church, rebuilt by order of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain at the end of the 15th century. It was decorated by some of the most outstanding artists of the time, including Giorgio Vasari.
Secreted away behind a gate in a tiny courtyard alongside the church is the Tempietto or “little temple”. Possibly the most famous and certainly the most quintessential Renaissance building in Rome, the Tempietto was built by Bramante in 1501 on the site where St Peter was believed to have been crucified. It is a perfectly circular Doric temple, whose design and proportions adhere precisely to those laid down by the ancient Roman architectural writer, Vitruvius. His book, De Architettura, describing Roman buildings and building techniques, became the driving force behind the revival of Classical architecture during the Renaissance. The Tempietto was the first building to be based entirely on these principles.
Kids’ Corner
Circular buildings
Buildings that are circular like the Tempietto have always fascinated architects. Can you design a house in which everything is circular?
Caesar’s garden
Julius Caesar had a wonderful garden, which stretched right down to the banks of the Tiber, in the area where Villa Sciarra is today. It is said that Cleopatra was his guest here.
10. Villa Doria Pamphilj
The perfect getaway
Formal gardens, Villa Doria Pamphilj
A vast expanse of rolling hills, lakes and ancient pines, this is the largest, and probably the most beautiful park in Rome and one of the few places in the city where, at times, it is possible to be out of earshot of traffic. Created as a summer retreat for the Doria Pamphilj family in the 17th century, the park comprises several villas, including the Casino del Buon Respiro, surrounded by formal gardens. Close to the entrance on Via Vitellia is a children’s playground.
Kids’ Corner
Nature’s soundtrack
Walk into the middle of the park at Villa Doria Pamphilj and you will be in what is possibly the quietest spot in Rome. But how quiet is it really? Take a piece of paper and a pencil, close your eyes for five minutes and write down everything you can hear.