The Lex Vespasiana
subject: Cola’s Rome
description: The Lex Vespasiana is a bronze tablet made in 69 AD to commemorate the emperor Vespasian’s acceptance of various imperial privileges from the Senate and people of Rome. Today, the Lex Vespasiana is installed in the Capitoline Museum. In the 14th century Life of Cola di Rienzo, written by an anonymous contemporary, it was hanging in the Lateran. Cola, who “alone knew how to read and interpret” its inscription, uses the tablet as a historical precedent for his argument, in a well-received speech, that the Senate, and people, i.e. the barons, of Rome, had too much power and that the emperor and pope ought to regain their former primacy in the city. Vespasian did not inherit the Roman Empire, but came to power through bloodshed, and the Lex Vespasiana repeatedly tries to create a continuity between his rights as emperor and those of his Julio-Claudian predecessors, emphasizing with each item that the divine Augustus and Tiberius had also been granted the same privileges. Cola, as reported by the author of the Life, adapts the language of the tablet to better fit his time or match to his interpretation, but the point is clear: just as Vespasian gave his decrees more authority by recalling the laws of “legitimate” (or deified) emperors, so does Cola use the example of his city’s former glory days to legitimize his reforms.
creator: Emma Burd (2015)
source: Wright, John, trans. The Life of Cola di Rienzo. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1975. Brunt, P. A. “Lex de Imperio Vespasiani.” The Journal of Roman Studies 67 (1977): 95-116.
coverage: 1300s

San Angelo in Pescheria
subject: Cola’s Rome
description: San Angelo in Pescheria is located just north of Tiber Island and the Theater of Marcellus and just east of the Jewish Ghetto. The church was constructed in the mid-eighth century by Pope Stephen II in one of the porches of what used to be the Porticus Octaviae, or the Porticus of Octavia. The Porticus of Octavia was originally built in the second century BC as the Portico of Metellus, but it was reconstructed by the Roman Emperor Augustus and dedicated to his sister, Octavia, around 27 BC. Much like many of the structures of Roman antiquity, the Porticus was adapted in the beginning of the Middle Ages to fit the needs of the time. In this case, it was adapted into a fish market, hence the name of the church, San Angelo in Pescheria. Some of the original columns from the Porticus are visible today outside the church. In addition, many of the colonnades of the ancient building were filled in with houses. The church itself has a couple interesting features. Due to the strong Byzantine influence at the time of construction, the church was constructed with three apses, one at the end of the nave and one at the end of each aisle. Furthermore, San Angelo once featured mosaics in the Byzantine style. Historically, San Angelo in Pescheria played an important role in Cola di Rienzo’s rise to power during the mid-fourteenth century. This was likely due to the fact that not only was the church near Cola’s home in Anagni, but it was also near the Capitoline Hill, which was a political center at the time. According to The Life of Cola di Rienzo, Cola once painted a scathing work of political commentary directed towards the barons on the wall of San Angelo in Pescheria. Later in May of 1347 he and a crowd of other conspirators began an armed march to the Palace of the Campidoglio from the church in order to rally in support for Cola’s rise to power.
creator: Charles Martens (2017)
source: "Cola di Rienzo." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Date Accessed May 24, 2015. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/124884/Cola-Di-Rienzo Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. p. 81-299. "Potico d'Ottavia." Roma Sito Turistico Ufficiale. Date Accessed May 16, 2015. http://www.turismoroma.it/cosa-fare/portico-d%E2%80%99ottavia Wright, John, trans. The Life of Cola di Rienzo. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1975. p. 38-40.
coverage: 1300s

The Piazza Navona
subject: Neighborhoods
description: The Piazza Navona is placed just west of the Pantheon. Today it is a bustling hub for both tourists and locals alike, with restaurants and bars lining the edges to provide a pleasant outdoor dining experience. However the piazza was not always the active tourist and local destination as it is today. The Piazza Navona was originally a hippodrome (a stadium for chariot races) built by Diocletian in Roman antiquity. Like many other great monuments of the Ancient Romans, the hippodrome was essentially abandoned and left ignored during the Middle Ages. As you can see from the accompanying photo, the original long elliptical shape of the hippodrome still persists. However, the original structure of the Stadium of Diocletian would have been far more apparent in the medieval period. Instead of the Renaissance and Baroque era buildings that face the piazza today, dwellings of the medieval piazza would have been ensconced within the original vaults of the Stadium. Though most of the original stadium has since been engulfed by newer buildings, you can still see pieces of the original framework in which these medieval houses would have been situate in the museum of the Stadium of Diocletian, at the northern end of the Piazza Navona. It was not uncommon for the piazza to host races and tournaments during the late medieval era. Beginning in the thirteenth century, Rome put on games in a celebration of the community which featured three games in particular: the hasti ludium in which horsemen would demonstrate their proficiency with a lance by threading them through suspended rings, the horse races, and the bull-and-pig-chasing. The first two games mentioned were featured in the Piazza Navona. Presently the impressive Baroque façade of the Church of Saint Agnes in Agony looms over the Piazza Navona. The church was originally built as a humble oratory to the Christian martyr Saint Agnes sometime before 800. Similar to the other buildings of the piazza, the oratory was embedded in th…
creator: Charlie Martens (2017)
source: Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. p. 12-271. "Le Origine." Sant'Agnese in Agone. Date Accessed April 18, 2015. http://www.santagneseinagone.org/homepage.html Maire Vigueur, Jean-Claude. L'altra Roma: Una Storia dei Romani all'epoca dei communi (secoli XII-XIV). Torino: Einaudi, 2011. p. 140-146

A French Gothic Ciborium in an Italian Medieval City
subject: Neighborhoods
description: Upon entering Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, one’s eyes are attracted to the large carved stone structure that appears to compliment the apse’s mosaic. This structure is a ciborium and is one of the well-known creations of the sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio (1240-1310). Prior to the construction of Arnolfo’s ciborium there was a canopy standing in its place. According to the Liber Pontificalis, this canopy was a gift from Paschal in his reconstruction of the church in 821 and was made from 600 pounds and 8 ounces of silver. Completed in 1293, the present-day ciborium is modeled after the French gothic style, as seen in the many spires and the rose window-like structure. This early style was at its peak popularity in France about three decades before Arnolfo’s ciborium and it was out of date by the end of the 14th century in France. Visitors before the late 13th century would have seen a shorter canopy compared to the present-day ciborium. From the left corner nearest to the nave and counter-clockwise, each corner has a statue that represents Santa Cecilia, San Valerian, San Tibertius, and Pope Urban (Bo 2008, 4-7). According to legend, San Valerian and San Tibertius are her husband and brother-in-law, respectively. The spandrels, areas between the arch and the horizontal enclosure, have reliefs of the Four Evangelists, two unknown prophets, and visual depictions of the Parable of the Wide and Foolish Virgins.
creator: Jenny Nguyen (2017)
source: Bo, Ragnhild Marthine. 2008. “The Iconography of the Gothic Ciborium in Rome, c. 1285-1370.” Medievalista 4: 1-14. Davis, Raymond. The Lives of the Ninth-century Popes (Liber Pontificalis): The Ancient Biographies of Ten Popes from A.D. 817-891. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1995. de Blaauw, Sible. 2009. “High Altar Ciboria and Roman Liturgical Traditions.” In: Arnolfo’s Moment. Acts of an International Conference Florence, Villa I Tatti, May 26-27, 2006. David Friedman, Julian Gardner, Margaret Haines, eds. Florence (Leo S. Olschki). Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1980. 214. &nbsp,
coverage: 1200s

From Grills to Grievances: San Lorenzo in Panisperna
description: According to legend, San Lorenzo in Panisperna is located on the spot where the martyr St. Lawrence of Rome was grilled to death. It was likely constructed at the beginning of the fourth century Constantine’s reign, although records of the church are scanty. The presence of San Lorenzo’s relics made the church a successful pilgrimage destination. At the end of the tenth century, a Benedictine monastery was apparently built alongside the church, in order to protect nearby Santa Maria Maggiore from the encroaching disabitato. The peasants and dependents of a monastery could help populate the area. In the late 13th century, Cardinal Giacamo Colonna renovated the monastery and ceded it to the Poor Clares. Some scholars argue that San Lorenzo was intended to be a family church like San Silvestro in Capite, a place where Colonna family wealth could be displayed while looking pious rather than greedy. Others argue, however, that this interpretation minimizes some of the unique circumstances of the convent’s founding. Giacomo Colonna handpicked all of the nuns for the convent and gave them a degree of freedom from the papacy with carefully timed gifts of land. That, coupled with Giancomo’s links to so-called “deviant” Franciscan groups who were slightly outside the religious norm, indicates that San Lorenzo in Panisperna may have been a sort of haven for female Franciscans who may have experienced conflict with religious authority rather than a family church. His sister, the Colonna Saint Margherita who had died several years prior, is an example of one of these women. Further strengthening this interpretation is the conflict that Giancomo experienced with Pope Boniface the VIII, indicating a potential wariness towards the papacy and a desire to create spaces outside of its direct control. The church was also a comfortable “society convent”-- a home for unmarried, well-to-do Roman women. Saint Bridget of Sweden, who is strongly associated with the church, exemplifies its re…
creator: J.M. Hanley (2016), Spencer Lekki (2021) Edited by Julia Tassava (2026)
source: Graham, Emily E. “Memorializing Identity: The Foundation and Reform of San Lorenzo in Panisperna.” Franciscan Studies 75 (2017): 467-495. https://muse.jhu.edu/ Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000. Hart, Vaughan and Peter Hicks. Palladio’s Rome. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986. Lowe, Kate. "Franciscan and Papal Patronage at the Clarissan Convent of San Cosimato in Trastevere, 1440–1560." Papers of the British School at Rome 68 (2000): 217-39. Majanlahti, Anthony. The Families Who Made Rome. New York: Pimlico, 2006.
coverage: 1200s

Farms, Families, and Open Space
description: As previously discussed, the disabitato had a bad reputation amongst Romans before the 12th century due to its uncultivated land, antique ruins, and lack of human settlement. However, starting in the 12th century, agriculture became more common in the disabitato. Vineyards and farm fields graced the slopes of the hills, as well as the valleys between. Farm animals grazed among the ruins of once-grand Roman buildings. Powerful families, such as the Frangipani, the Savelli, and the Pierloni controlled much of this agricultural land. Throughout the 12th-13th century and beyond, this family power was constantly shifting. Families built vast fortified complexes complete with towers and imposing walls in order to keep their holdings their own, and lands inevitably traded from hand to hand. While agriculture and family power flourished, however, the area remained, true to its name, largely uninhabited. Within the city walls, the disabitato had more in common with the countryside than with the city itself.
creator: Lindsay Brandt (2017)
source: Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. &nbsp,
coverage: 1200s

The Savelli Ruins on the Aventine Hill
description: During the Middle Ages there was a general movement towards habitation along the Tiber, partly because the climate allowed for less flooding of the river and partly because of a need for water due to the lack of working aqueducts. However, there is not much evidence of powerful families residing in the abitato which refers to the banks of the Tiber. Rather, most seemed to have retreated to the hills, where they found more land for their mansions and fortifications. For example, the Savelli family held power over the Aventine Hill, where ruins of one of their fortresses remain, the Rocca Savelli. The Aventine, which overlooks the Tiber, Santa Maria in Cosmedin and the Ponte Rotto, was a preferred part of Rome to which wealthy families retreated. The Savelli family was extremely influential in the 12th and 13th centuries, as they were considered the rulers of Rome. This title was given to the family because of their charisma, their proximity to the people due to the location of your fortress, their financial status, and their connection to the Roman senate. The fortress is said to have been built as late as 1285-1287. However there is documentation as early as 1279 of Pope Honorius IV (a member of the Savelli family) listing the fortress in his will. Sources from the 15th century show that the neighboring church, Santa Sabina, was given part of a Savelli fortress, where Pope Honorius IV once had his papal residence. However, today only the walls of Rocca Savelli remain and enclose a public garden filled with orange trees and a great view of Rome. The Clivo di Rocca Savella shows these walls clearly as you walk up the Aventine towards the Church of Santa Sabina.
creator: Shweta Bhatia (2016)
source: Brentano, Robert. Rome Before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth Century Rome. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1990. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000. Lloyd, Joan Barclay. “Medieval Dominican Architecture at Santa Sabina in Rome.” British School at Rome. 72(2004): 231-292.
coverage: 1200s

The Porte San Sebastiano
description: The Porta San Sebastiano is a gate in the Aurelian Walls. It was originally called the Porta Appia, named after the Appian Way, which the gate crosses. The gate was built as part of an extensive series of fortifications under Emperor Aurelian, in the years between 272 and 279 AD. The gate, as well as the Aurelian Walls themselves, have been renovated repeatedly since their initial construction, as even during the low points of Roman history great effort was put into their maintenance as a status symbol. The gate’s name was changed in the late medieval period, likely due to the proximity of the Catacombs of St. Sebastian. Today, the gate houses a museum, the Museo della Mura. Visiting the museum, which has no entry fee, allows one also to walk a part of the Aurelian Walls, and to take in the view from atop the Porta. It sits squarely atop a picturesque Via di Porta San Sebastiano, which is well worth walking down in its own right. Surrounding the Porta San Sebastiano is heavily wooded and little developed land, giving a sense of the landscape of the medieval disabitato.
creator: William Fritz (2016) Edited by Julia Tassava (2026)
source: Krautheimer, Richard, Rome: Profile of a City 312-1308, (Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 2000), p 6.
date: 272-279

Borgo prostitutes' races
subject: Daily Life
description: A resident in the Borgo area in 1503 would have witnessed prostitute races ending in St.Peter’s square. The participants were not limited to this certain group: interestingly, children, youth and the elderly would run nude while prostitutes would race with their underwear on. The prostitute races had been a tradition for hundreds of years. As a marginal group in the city these women would ride on donkeys, which were a despised and lower status mount, while being whipped by bystanders. Why was this race be regularly celebrated? During that period of time, the male leaders governed the marginal groups of the society, including the prostitutes. The civic festival of races was a means to help build up the authority and honor of “civic father” through disreputable behaviors of the suppressed groups. Moreover, the event is celebrated countrywide, not only in Rome. Ironically, prostitutes were the figures of war “heroines” in similar races, but in a different background—wars, where insult races were run in a similar format, however, to humiliate antagonists. Prostitutes, who were not citizens of the city, were considered the suitable agency to carry out this collective insult ritual towards the enemy. Armies would bring prostitutes along when attacking the enemy, not so much for sex as for performing the ritual. At this moment, the triumph of the commune ties to the dishonor of the rivals: the insult races were carried out in front of the city wall, witnessed by victims. After the war, the prostitutes’ insults to the enemy’ were celebrated as honorable and commemorated. The symmetry between the two races was interesting, but proved the marginality of prostitutes as the social group.
creator: Ruyi Shen (2017)
source: Trexler Richard C, “Collective insults in the late Middle Ages,” Mélanges de l'Ecole française de Rome. Moyen-Age, Temps modernes T. 96, N°2 (1984): 845-902.
coverage: 1500s

San Crisogono
subject: Neighborhoods
description: The church of San Crisogono, located near the Tiber River on the Via della Lungaretta, was constructed in 1123 by Cardinal John of Crema. This 12th century church rests, however, on the structure of a 4th century Christian church, the original San Crisogono—Cardinal John had abandoned the original church, removed its roof, and filled it with dirt. Visitors today have the option of paying a small fee to visit the original church, which was discovered in the last century and is now an archaeological site. One of the most interesting features of the original church was an annular crypt that Gregory III had added sometime between 731 and 741 when the original church was partially remodeled. An annular crypt is a semi-circular passage that sits behind an altar and follows the curve of an apse, from the apex of the semi-circle a straight corridor branches off and goes straight to a relic chamber, the destination for many pilgrims, that would sit directly below the altar. Although this was added to the original San Crisogono in the early 8th century, annular crypts only became a commonplace feature of churches built in Rome in the ninth century. Because annular crypts helped control vast numbers of pilgrims—they helped channel crowds of the pious into orderly lines to see a relic—it is possible that one of the reasons it was installed so early on in S. Crisogono was that its relics were an especially popular destination for tourists, necessitating some form of crowd control.
creator: Tanner Fliss (2016)
source: Richard Krautheimer, Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008)
coverage: 700s

The Scourge of Father Tiber: Flood Markers in Rome
subject: The Tiber
description: Walking along the bank, the Tiber looks like a formidable river. During the flood season the current is swift — carrying branches and other debris down the river— and the water level can rise above the bike paths that are now populated by bicyclists, runners, and pedestrians. For the modern Roman, however, the ominous Tiber is restrained by the massive walls on each bank, which were constructed beginning in 1876. Medieval residents were not so lucky — vulnerable to the whims of Father Tiber, Rome was devastated by a series of floods throughout the 16th century. While Rome no longer has to worry about floods, traces of past devastation remain in the form of flood markers. One such example can be found on the facade of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Located next to the Pantheon, Santa Maria sopra Minerva is half a kilometer away from the Tiber, but only around fifteen feet above sea level. At this site, there are six flood markers: the bottom three are from 1422, 1495, and 1890, while the top three are from the 16th century (1530, 1557, 1598). High on the wall, the 16th century markers all contain an engraved hand marking the water level, the date of the flood, and the Pope who reigned during that period (picture 2). While the Tiber had flooded throughout Roman history, the 16th century was an exceptionally destructive period. It took until the 20th century before Romans could deploy both the resources and technology to finally tame the powerful Tiber.
creator: Tyler Spaeth (2016)
coverage: 1500s

Capo di Bove
description: Built upon the ancient tomb of Cecilia Metella, this massive fortress derives its name from the ox-head images that decorate its walls. In the 11th century the fortress was incorporated into a larger walled complex. Later on, in the 14th century, Pope Boniface VIII gave control of the complex to the Gaetani family, who improved the walls of the fortress to include arrow slits and battlements. The Gaetani also constructed a palace nearby within the walls of the complex. The fortress was used to fortify the Via Appia, offering protection from invaders and revenue from tolls collected from travelers. Looking at the fortress, it is readily apparent that its construction took place in distinct stages. The white marble of the original tomb forms the lowermost layer, while smaller stones and brick from medieval renovations form the upper walls of the tower and much of the connected building. In the medieval period, the building would likely have been outfitted with a second floor, as evidenced by the pegs that would have supported such a structure and the seats built into the windows on the upper levels. The imposing exterior and the remains of what may have been a gate or arch spanning the Via Appia are reminders of the function of the building as a toll station and line of defense.
creator: Connor Dale (2016) Edited by Julia Tassava (2026)
source: Ferdinand Gregorovius, Annie Hamilton, History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages (Cambridge University, 2010), 673-675. Ivana Della Portella, Giuseppina Pisani Sartorio, Francesca Ventre, The Appian Way From Its Foundation to the Middle Ages (Getty Publications, 2004), 61-68.
coverage: 1000s
coverage: 1300s

San Giorgio in Velabro
description: Built in the 7th century upon a 5th century deaconry, which in turn was built over a complex from the 3rd century, the Chiesa di San Giorgio in Velabro has an irregular layout. The church was completed under Pope Leo II (611-683 C.E.), who dedicated it to Saint Sebastian. Saint George, a Cappadocian saint, became associated with the church in the 8th century when Pope Zachary moved George’s relics there. S. Giorgio in Velabro is named for the saint and for its location in the marsh (vel in Latin) that formed due to the frequent flooding of the Tiber and the presence of the cloaca maxima. The church stands near two antique arches: the 4th century Giano Quadrifronte Arch, which in part protected the markets in the Foro Boario and Foro Olitorio, and the 3rd century Argentari Arch, which was a gift from the bankers of the market and indicated the entrance to the Foro Boario. The Chiesa di San Giorgio in Velabro represents a blending of ancient and medieval decorative styles. The surviving antique-style components include eight spoliated columns and the 13th century apse fresco, which mirrors the Early Christian apse program of SS. Cosma e Damiano and depicts both Saint George and Saint Sebastian with Christ in heaven. This fresco is attributed to Pietro Cavallini due to stylistic similarities with his other work. The church also underwent several additions in the medieval period that were more congruous with contemporary style. These additions include the 12th century campanile and the 13th century narthex constructed according to what was then the standard type. This narthex features ionic capitals and trabeated colonnades. These capitals were damaged in 1993 by a bombing orchestrated by the Mafia, but were left unrepaired after an extensive restoration effort to serve as reminders of the offense.
creator: Connor Dale (2016)
source: Vaughan Hart and Peter Hicks, Palladio’s Rome (New Haven: Yale University, 2006), 42, 70. Richard Krautheimer, Rome. Portrait of a City, 313-1300 (Princeton: Princeton University, 1983), 222, 251. Ministero Per I Beni E Le Attiva Culturali, Chiesa di San Giorgio al Velabro (Plaque outside of S. Giorgio in Velabro). John Tagliabue, “Bombed Church is Resurrected in Rome as Testament to Faith,” New York Times, August 4, 1996, accessed June 2, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/04/world/bombed-church-is-resurrected-in-rome-as-testament-to-faith.html?emc=eta1.&nbsp,

The Tomb of Alfanus at Santa Maria in Cosmedin
subject: Neighborhoods
description: The Tomb of Alfanus is located on the porch of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Attributed to a wealthy, twelfth-century noble, this tomb is one of the best examples of twelfth-century tombs in Rome. Although perhaps unremarkable to the untrained eye, John Osbourne identifies this tomb as a visible turning point for tombs in the medieval period, speaking primarily to its past, but also to its future. The Tomb of Alfanus exemplifies early medieval tombs in several ways. First, the tomb is situated within the urban perimeter on the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, as most tombs were after the sixth century when it was no longer mandatory to bury the dead outside the walls. Second, its shape and construction, which includes a sarcophagus, a canopy, and an enclosed mural, follows a formula that reaches back through the medieval period to the late classical period, demonstrated by findings of this same formula in the catacombs of earlier centuries. Although the mural is somewhat damaged, this formula for construction can still be easily identified in this tomb. However, the tomb also begins to indicate a shift towards the 12th century renovation in which Romans began to evoke antiquity in their art. In what seems to be an evolutionary step away from earlier tombs, the Tomb of Alfanus attempts to create a Corinthian capital and has carved foliage running around the edge of the sarcophagus, both of which recall antiquity. In this way, Osbourne suggests, the tomb demonstrates the newly developing vocabulary of finery and luxury products for Roman tombs in the 12th century that would continue to develop in the years to come.
creator: Liza Peterson (2016)
source: John Osbourne, “Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome, and Its Place in the Tradition of Roman Funerary Monuments.” Papers of the British School at Rome (1983): pp. 240-247.
coverage: 1100s

The Persistence of The Statue of Marcus Aurelius
subject: Cola’s Rome
description: The statue of Marcus Aurelius now rests on the hilltop of Piazza Campidoglio. While the original statue is inside of the Capitoline museum, a replica of the statue stands at the center of Piazza Campidoglio. The statue is the only surviving statue of the 22 equestrian statues of ancient Rome. The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius built the statue likely towards the end of his reign from 161-180 AD. He was revered for his efforts to fend off barbarian and Persian invasions, and built the statue as a reflection of his military prowess. However, the statue and legacy of Marcus Aurelius was close to being lost forever, due to the statue being moved, and being associated with many different names. The location of the statue’s origin is highly debated due to the different purposes it held throughout the Middle Ages, however it is known that the statue was located at the Lateran Hill as early as the 10th century. During the 9th and 10th centuries its name underwent a series of changes that caused the statue’s true historical origin to become lost for quite some time. It was first documented as a representation of Constantine in the 10th century, when it was given the name “The Horse of Constantine”. It was believed that the Senate dedicated the statue to Constantine, which in turn prevented it from being melted down as recyclable bronze. However, later historians found that this was actually not the case. In many medieval representations of Rome, depictions of the horse and rider were quite common, and was thus associated with Constantine by the populace. Furthermore, the name “The Horse of Constantine” is the same name given to the sculpture inside the Forum. The interchanging name of the two pieces has caused much confusion for modern day scholars, however it is noted in historical writings, like John Wright’s The Life of Cola Di Rienzo that the medieval idea that the statue of Marcus Aurelius being the statue of Constantine was a mistake, which allowed it to survive destruc…
creator: Michael Sanson (2017)
source: Macadam, Alta, and A. B. Barber. Rome. London: Somerset, 2010. Nichols, Francis Morgan, and Eileen Gardiner. The Marvels of Rome = Mirabilia Urbis Romae. New York: Italica Press, 1986. Wright, John Henry. The Life of Cola Di Rienzo. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1975.
coverage: 900s

The Column of Flagellation at the Basilica di Santa Prassede
description: Upon entering the San Zeno Chapel, located in the Basilica di Santa Prassede, a dark marble object, spotted with white, lies in a niche to the right (Figure 1). The object appears to be an oddly large chess piece, but is allegedly the column upon which Jesus Christ was flogged in his final years. During the medieval crusades, it was very common to take spoils from Jerusalem and bring them back to Rome. Some were then placed in churches as relics—such as the column itself, the crown of thorns (now in Notre Dame in Paris), or the bones of St. Jerome (now in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore). The relic was taken from the Holy Land and brought to Rome in 1222 by Cardinal Giovanni Colonna the Younger—a member of the powerful Colonna family during the 13th century. Given to him by the King of Jerusalem after the Fourth Crusade, Colonna brought the column back to Santa Prassede, his cardinalate church since 1212 (the church that is given to a cardinal). The history of the column before 1222, however, is unclear. At the top of the column was a metal loop, where Christ was bound to during his flagellation. Before its move to the Chapel of San Zeno in 1699, the column was not completely visible by the pilgrims, and would only appear on feast days. Currently, the column is housed in a reliquary made of bronze, designed by Duilio Cambellotti in 1898. The column is also incorporated in other Roman monuments, such as the relief sculpture in the Chigi Chapel, located in Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pace, and one of the angels located on Ponte Sant’Angelo (Figure 2). While many scholars are skeptical of the true history that this column, it is a great example of translating relics from the Holy Land to Rome during the Crusades.
creator: Gracie McNeely (2016)
coverage: 1200s

The Heart of Medieval Rome
subject: Neighborhoods
description: As the city of Rome regained both population and prominence in the late middle ages, built up areas that had retained population slowly linked together to form a single coherent inhabited area that became known as the abitato, or inhabited area. The presence of an important draw for pilgrims and administrators alike in St. Peter's basilica drove the development of accommodations, commerce, and housing in the bend of the Tiber river from the eleventh century onwards, in an area known to the Romans as Campus Martius. From Trastevere to the core of the abitato across the river, dense housing and narrow streets defined the medieval landscape, two features which can still be observed today. Except for the long period in the fourteenth century when the papacy was based in Avignon, papal processions would have frequently wound through the streets of the abitato. Wealthy families such as the Colonna and Orsini were important occupants of the area, and many palaces and towers built by these families dot medieval maps. As the city of Rome began to grow in the 12th and 13th centuries, the abitato emerged as the beating heart of populated Rome.
creator: Ben White (2017)

A Medieval House from Street Level
description: The beautiful late medieval house at this site retains features that demonstrate the fundamental style of medieval architecture, although later construction has decreased their prominence. The dual arches, filled by a later added material, are representative of the surface view of medieval houses. These would have provided the main entrance to the house from the road, now replaced by two wooden doors inset in the arches. The use of a column as a supporting element is also a feature of this period. The portico created by these arches, when coupled with similar porticoes at other houses along the street, might have created a continuous portico allowing cover for passersby. The multiple stories of this house are accurate to its medieval incarnation: the ground floor of medieval houses might have been used as a shop or workspace, with upper floors reserved for residential purposes. Oftentimes, skinny facades meant that buildings were more developed in depth. Altogether, the row house template seen in the house would have been a common staple of the abitato of medieval Rome.
creator: Ben White (2017)
source: Krautheimer, Richard. Rome : Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton, N.J. , Chichester: Princeton University Press, 2000.

Columns and Colonnades as Spolia
description: The house at this site presents an intersection of medieval and ancient Rome. The colonnaded portico, clearly distinct from the otherwise modern appearance of the house's exterior, is an excellent example showing the practice of using ancient marble spoils taken from ruins or other buildings in the construction of medieval houses. Ornamentation of medieval structures using spoiled elements was a consistent feature in Rome, but this was not always the fate of Roman marble - architectural features and statuary frequently was fed to the lime kilns during the medieval period. For those pieces which survived, Richard Krautheimer argues that without the threat of paganism, these spoils could be viewed appreciatively as "quotations" of the craftsmen of the past. Colonnaded porticoes specifically appear to have become a feature of upper class housing in high medieval Rome, with columns and architraves almost always being spoils. When rows of houses with porticoes were built, the continuous portico along the street would have provided some shade or protection from rain for pedestrians. In this house, a fragment of an ancient frieze is also an ancient spoil, featuring magnificent lion heads and palmette decoration.
creator: Ben White (2017)
source: Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.

13th-Century Flood Marker
description: Walking along the bank, the Tiber gives the impression of a formidable river. During the flood season the current is swift — carrying branches and other debris down the river— and the water level can rise above the bike paths that are now populated by bicyclists, runners, and pedestrians. For the modern Roman, however, the ominous Tiber is restrained by the massive walls on each bank, the construction of which began in 1876. Medieval residents were not so lucky — vulnerable to the whims of ‘Father Tiber,’ Rome was devastated by a series of floods throughout the medieval period. While Rome no longer has to worry about floods, traces of past devastation remain in the form of flood markers. The earliest surviving flood marker can be found under an archway on the Via dell'Arco dei Banchi, across the river from the Castel Sant'Angelo. A marble slab is embedded in the side of the now heavily-restored archway and records the height of a flood that occurred on November 6, 1277. While the script is stylized, one can clearly make out the words Huc Tiber accessit ("To here the Tiber came") right above the line indicating the flood level.
creator: Francesca Arcidiacono (2016) and Tyler Spaeth (2016) Edited by Tim Abbott (2026)
source: Aldrete, Gregory S.. Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome. Baltimore, MD, USA: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Accessed May 30, 2015. ProQuest ebrary. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome : Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton, N.J. , Chichester: Princeton University Press, 2000. pp. 64, 237 Squatriti, Paolo. "The Floods of 589 and Climate Change at the Beginning of the Middle Ages: An Italian Microhistory." Speculum 85, no. 04 (2010): 799-826.
date: November 6, 1277
type: Physical Object
coverage: 1200s

Porta San Paolo
subject: The City's Edge
description: Just northeast to the Pyramid of Gaius Cestuis, Porta San Paolo now serves as the entrance into the Museo della Via Ostiense. However, entry through the Porta San Paolo brings one to a very different setting--back in the Middle Ages. As an important gate along the Aurelian Walls, this porta sat on the Via Ostiense, one of the major highways used to get into medieval Rome. The Museo now inside the gatehouse is dedicated to this roadway and its history. The porta itself was built during the first construction period of the Aurelian Walls from 309-312. During 402 and 403, when the walls were reconstructed, Porta San Paolo lost one of its original archways and its towers were made taller. This is the building we see now. According to medieval guidebooks to Rome, Porta San Paolo took many names, including Porta Ostiense and Porta Trigemina. Porta San Paolo’s significance goes beyond Rome. This is demonstrated in its use in Christian imagery in other places. One such image, painted in the 1300s by Jacopo di Cione of Florence, uses the Porta San Paolo as a geographic reference in his fresco retelling a traditional story regarding the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul. According to tradition, St. Peter and St. Paul were martyred on the same day in different parts of Rome. However, before being led to their sites of death, the two Apostles said good-bye to each other somewhere along the Via Ostiense. In his painting, Jacopo di Cione places Peter and Paul, surrounded by Roman soldiers, underneath the Porta San Paolo as they part ways. Porta San Paolo as it’s depicted here is quite large, taking up about three-fourths of the frame. Jacopo also paints the tower with its top, a cylindrical structure with two small slit-like windows and a cylindrical pyramid-shaped roof. This could be how the tower looked during the medieval period following the second construction phase of the Aurelian Walls. The inclusion of the Porta here is crucial in revealing how medieval beliefs shaped the way …
creator: Madison McBride (2016)
source: Finch, Margaret. “Petrine Landmarks in Two Predella Panels by Jacopo di Cione.” Artibus et Historiae 12 (1991): 67-82. Hart, Vaughan and Peter Hicks, trans. Palladio’s Rome. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. Nichols, Francis Morgan, trans. and ed. The Marvels of Rome: Mirabilia Urbis Romae. New York: Italica Press, 1986.
type: Place
coverage: 1300s

The Monte Mario as a Portal to the City
description: "Monte Mario was the first overlook of the city for all travellers and pilgrims coming south along the old Via Cassia and then the Via Francigena into Rome. It was the first chance for those who had survived long and arduous journeys to finally look upon their destination. Though the Via Cassia does not exist as it did then, it is still possible to see what those pilgrims would have seen from the crest of the hill. The modern view is also obscured by development. Rome was, and still is to some extent, famed for its campanila, and the view from the Monte, as pictured, gives a very clear view of the city, affording those on top an excellent view from the northern perspective. Master Gregorius, a 13th century English visitor to the city, said that he “strongly recommend[s] the wonderful panorama of the whole city [from Monte Mario]. There is so great a forest of towers, and so many palatial buildings, that no one has counted them.” The view was in fact so spectacular that it was often sketched. Given how unbelievably difficult pilgrims’ journeys often were, such a view could only have come as a welcome sight. Pilgrims’ journeys were often severely constrained by the contemporary political climate, and while pilgrims were supposed to be given free food and shelter along the way, almost all pilgrims to Rome until the Renaissance wrote out their last will and testament before going as a safeguard.
creator: Spencer Dillon (2017)
source: Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312 – 1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press: 1980 Master Gregorius. The Marvels of Rome, trans. John Osborne, Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1987. Olsen, Katherine. “Welsh Pilgrimage and Travel to Rome c. 1200-1350” in The Welsh History Review, Vol. 24, No. 2, (2008): 1-40. Raju, Alison. Via Francigena: Pilgrim Trail Canterbury to Rome, vol 2. The Great St Bernard Pass to Rome. Milnthorpe: Cicerone, 2014.
type: Place
coverage: 1200s

Bramante's Tempietto
subject: Neighborhoods
description: On top of the Gianicolo Hill (also known as the Janiculum) in Trastevere sits San Pietro in Monotorio, built most likely by Baccio Pontelli. Inside a small courtyard Bramante’s high renaissance architectural masterpiece, The Tempietto (1502-1510), was constructed. Ferdinand and Isabella, the monarchs of Spain at the time, commissioned the structure. At the time of construction it was believed to be the location St. Peter has been crucified on an upside down cross and the Tempietto was to be part of a memorial for the saint. Currently the San Pietro in Monotorio complex is part of the Spanish Royal Academy in Rome. Bramante intensely studied classical architecture before creating his masterpiece but it is clear he made some renaissance alterations to the classical rule. Some scholars believe that his use of circular plan is a reference to the ancient Temple of Hercules Victor, which is in what is now the Piazza Bocca della Verità in Rome. However, his deviation from the traditional corinthian column capital seen on the Temple of Hercules Victor to the simple Doric order is an important distinction. Bramante’s original sketch included a plan for a circular courtyard to continue the strong concept of harmony seen throughout the work of architectural art, however it is placed in a plain rectangular space that makes the grandeur of the Tempietto feel somehow out of place.
creator: Shaylin Nguyen (2016)
source: Partiridge, Loren. The Art of Renaissance Rome 1400-1600. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Laurence King Publishing Limited, 1996. Rosenthal, Earl. “The Antecedents of Bramante’s Tempietto,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 23:2 (1964): 55-74.
type: Place
coverage: 1500s

Landscape Imaginaries at the Villa Farnesina
description: Today, the Villa Farnesina is known for its impressive set of frescoes. These frescoes feature imagery of astrological time-telling symbolism, ancient mythology, precious materials, and pastoral landscapes. Diane Spencer suggests that some of the less ostentatious landscape-focused frescoes (particularly those along one corridor connecting the south wing to the loggia and the hemicycle on the ground floor), prime the visitor to take a semi-literal promenade and to "to look thoughtfully through the wall to the real villa's environs" (Spencer, 150). A particularly interesting room for thinking about the relationship between the villa, frescoes, and imagined and real landscapes is the Sala delle Prospettive (The Room of Perspectives). Peruzzi painted this room between 1516 and 1518. In the Sala, marble floors blend seamlessly into wall frescoes of an imagined portico extended over an idealized, semi-pastoral, semi-antique, semi-late-medieval landscape of Rome, bordered on top by mythical scenes. Beyond the incredibly realistic marble columns and other faux-architectural structures, one can see Rome's countryside on the western wall (which faces western Rome's countryside) and a more built Rome on the eastern wall (which faces Rome's urban core across the river). Looking closely at the eastern wall, one can see features of medieval Rome -- campanili (bell towers), medieval houses, and churches -- in addition to the classical and pastoral features expected of Renaissance paintings of imagined landscapes. Oliver Grau describes this room and the almost subliminal experience it allowed its sixteenth-century visitor as the best Renaissance example of virtual reality, or the "idea of transposing the audience into an enclosed, illusionary visual space" (Grau, 366). Today, this room transposes its contemporary audience not just into an imagined classical and pastoral past, but also into an imagined late medieval and early Renaissance Rome. Through the fresco cycles and the actu…
creator: Anna Guasco (2016)
source: "Villa Farnesina." Reference document from the Villa Farnesina. Date of production unknown. Received May 16, 2015. http://www.romasegreta.it/trastevere/via-della-lungara.html Grau, Oliver. "Into the Belly of the Image: Historical Aspects of Virtual Reality." Leonardo, Vol. 32, No. 5, Seventh New York Digital Salon (1999): 365-371. Jones, Mark Wilson. "Palazzo Massimo and Baldassare Peruzzi's Approach to Architectural Design." Architectural History, Vol. 31 (1988): 59-106. Spencer, Diana. "VI Spaces and Places." Greece &amp, Rome, suppl. Roman Landscapes: Culture and Identity 56.39 (Oct 2009): 135-171. Quinlan-McGrath, Mary. "A Proposal for the Foundation Date of the Villa Farnesina." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 49 (1986): 245-250. Quinlan-McGrath, Mary. "The Villa Farnesina, Time-Telling Conventions and Renaissance Astrological Practice." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 58 (1995): 52-71.
type: Place
coverage: 1500s

Villa Farnesina
description: The Villa Farnesina is a beautiful Renaissance building near the entrance to Trastevere. Across the river from central Rome and its namesake family's main residence: The Palazzo Farnese, the contemporary museum and gallery provide an excellent opportunity to envision architecture, art, and landscapes in early modern Rome. Although the villa the bears the name of the Farnese family (who bought the estate in 1577), it was commissioned by nouveau-riche Sienese banker Agostini Chigi as a testament to his own wealth, importance, and artistic patronage. He employed a young Baldassere Perruzi to design the building, and brought in an impressive team of master painters, including Raphael, Sodoma, del Piombo, and Bazzi (as well as Perruzi) to create elaborate fresco cycles. In its early days (constructed from approximately 1506 to 1511, with various fresco cycles completed later), the villa hosted many of Chigi's ostentatious, Gatsby-esque banquets. At one of these events, Chigi and his group of close, well-educated friends horrified his guests by instructing his servants to throw his guests' soiled silver and gold plates into the Tiber River -- but the dishes were not wasted, for Chigi had planted a net along the banks in preparation for this trick.
creator: Anna Guasco (2016)
source: "Villa Farnesina." Reference document from the Villa Farnesina. Date of production unknown. Received May 16, 2015. http://www.romasegreta.it/trastevere/via-della-lungara.html Grau, Oliver. "Into the Belly of the Image: Historical Aspects of Virtual Reality. " Leonardo, Vol. 32, No. 5, Seventh New York Digital Salon (1999): 365-371. Jones, Mark Wilson. "Palazzo Massimo and Baldassare Peruzzi's Approach to Architectural Design." Architectural History, Vol. 31 (1988): 59-106. Quinlan-McGrath, Mary. "A Proposal for the Foundation Date of the Villa Farnesina." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 49 (1986): 245-250. Quinlan-McGrath, Mary. "The Villa Farnesina, Time-Telling Conventions and Renaissance Astrological Practice." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 58 (1995): 52-71.
type: Place
coverage: 1500s

The Hospital-cum-Monastery at San Tommaso in Formis
description: Perched about halfway up the Caelian Hill is San Tommaso in Formis, built into the side of the Aqua Claudia. The history of the complex begins with John of Matha, a Provencal priest. Shortly after his ordination, he was inspired to found a religious order dedicated to ransoming captives from the Crusades. Innocent III confirmed John’s request. The new order – the Trinitarians – was the first of the major religious orders that would be founded over the course of the 13th and 14th centuries.The remains of the church were refurbished and a hospital was constructed next to it. The adjacent Arch of Dolabella – once part of Rome’s Servian walls – was also brought into service. John of Matha, after establishing the order, had become drawn to a life of monastic isolation. He retreated to a room over the arch until his death in 1213. In many ways, the establishments of such “caritative” orders functioned more like franchises than outposts. Trinitarian branches, for instance, were responsible for funding themselves, which made them less inclined to obey central authority. San Tommaso was less a headquarters and more a working hospital. Nevertheless, the church’s location – immediately next to the major cardinal churches of San Stefano Rotondo and Santa Maria in Domnica, and a short walk from papal residence at the Lateran – seems unlikely to be a coincidence. Though the reason remains unclear, international missionary work was a top priority of Innocent III. As pope, he had some authority over the order, and would later influence staff appointments within the order itself. It is possible that the pope himself picked the location to easily observe and influence the order’s actions. Finally, John of Matha’s decision to retreat to isolation testifies to a common tension in the early thirteenth century. He began a trend of activist religious orders, yet opted personally to live like a religious hermit of an older tradition. San Tommaso offered a unique space for this: Trinitarian…
creator: J.M. Hanley (2016) Julia Tassava (2026)
source: Brentano, Robert. Rome Before Avignon. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990. Brodman, James W. “Community, Identity, and the Redemption of Captives: Comparative Perspectives Across the Mediterranean.” Anuario di Estudios Medievales 36 (June 2006), 241-252. Brodman, James W. “Crisis in Charity: Centrifugal and Centripetal Influences upon Medieval Caritative Orders.” Imago Temporis. Medium Aevum 5 (2011): 163-173
type: Place
coverage: 1200s

Medieval Gardens: Cloister of SS. Quattro Coronati
description: The restored garden in the cloister at SS. Quattro Coronati is a beautiful, private, natural space tucked within the walls of a monastery. This type of garden was often very common in the Middle Ages in a variety of settings. In the late 13th and early 14th century, the Italian lawyer Pierdo De Crescenzi from Bologna wrote a twelve-book treatise on gardens at the time, including pleasure gardens and agricultural practices. Crescenzi names three types of pleasure gardens: small herb gardens, “medium-sized gardens for large and moderate landowners,” and gardens for extremely wealthy individuals, such as kings and wealthy lords. Based on the expense and space that large gardens required, small herb gardens would probably have been the most prominent type. A small herb garden, according to Crescenzi, is built on a flat piece of land and is surrounded by aromatic and flowering plants and herbs. There would have been at least some seats around the edges of the garden. Cresenzi also recommends including a stream through the center of the garden, which would be both decorative and functional as a cooling element for humans and a hydrating feature for the plants. These gardens were popular not only because they could provide refreshment for the senses as a very different kind of vista than an urban area would usually be able to offer, but also because they were a place with an abundance of fresh air. The health benefits of fresh air were a significant part of medieval medical dogma, and a small pleasure garden’s primary responsibility was to supply that kind of air to its patrons. The use of small pleasure gardens were slightly different from larger pleasure gardens, since those had room for orchards of fruit trees or large game for hunting. The small gardens were meant more for walking and sitting. Visitors who would like to get a feel for small medieval herb gardens should visit cloisters—keep an eye out for walking paths, streams and fountains, and flowering plants.
creator: Clare Hiyama (2016)
source: Bauman, Johanna. "Tradition and Transformation: The Pleasure Garden in Piero de' Crescenzi's 'Liber ruralism commodorum'." Studies in the History of Gardens and Landscape Design 22 (2002): 99-137. Calkins, Robert G. "Piero de' Crescenzi and the Medieval Garden." In Medieval Gardens, edited by Elisabeth Blair MacDougall, 157-173. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 1986.
type: Place
coverage: 1200s

The Acqua Paola: Roman Remains in a Baroque Landscape
subject: Neighborhoods
description: Overlooking a beautiful view of Rome, the Acqua Paola is an imposing structure that dominates the hillside between San Pietro in Montorio and the Piazza Garibaldi. But this fountain sits on top of the remnants of a long history of Roman waterways. The fountain began as the Aqueduct of Trajan, and still uses its water supply. However, none of the original aqueduct is visible now, as this Baroque masterpiece (or monstrosity) completely erased evidence of the underlying structure. It was constructed in honor of Pope Paul V in 1612, using columns from Old St. Peter’s and marble from the Forum of Nerva. But the history of the water running through the fountain began much earlier. In the sixth century, Belisarius “repaired the aqueducts at the top of the Gianicolo...to have the water drive the mills on the slope of the hill” (Krautheimer). Pope Honorius followed suit in the early seventh century, regularizing the restorations of the aqueduct that made it more useful for the changing city. The Lombard siege in 756 caused massive damage to the city’s four major aqueducts (the Claudio-Anio Novus, Traiana, Jovia, and Virgo), and Pope Hadrian I worked at the end of that century to repair them. Archaeological evidence of massive reconstructions to the city’s aqueducts in the eighth and ninth centuries shows that huge sections of the aqueducts were completely rebuilt “up to a height of 20m, and for a distance of many kilometers” (Coates-Stephens 177). In the ninth century, Trajan’s aqueduct was the primary water supply for much of Trastevere and the Vatican. In the medieval period, and especially when the papacy moved to Avignon and ceased major construction works in Rome, the aqueducts fell out of use and into disrepair. The aqueducts were gradually phased out of use and replaced by water mills in the Tiber, which explains why Trajan’s Aqueduct has survived only as an underground channel covered by Pope Paul V’s passion project - the Acqua Paola.
creator: Nora Katz (2016)
source: Coates-Stephens, Robert. “The Walls and Aqueducts of the Early Middle Ages, AD 500-1000.” The Journal of Roman Studies 88 (1998): 166-178. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.
type: Place

Santa Maria in Porta Paradisi
description: The Chiesa di Santa Maria in Porta Paradisi, located in the Campo Marzio district and in existence since the 9th century, was rebuilt and given its name in 1523 as part of the extension of an adjoining hospital, which in turn was part of the urbanization of the northern area of Campo Marzio. This hospital, San Giacomo degli Incurabili was built in 1326, its proximity to the great northern gate of the city, the Porta del Popolo, and its position on the Via del Corso, the main north-south thoroughfare of Rome, ensured a constant stream of patients. This hospital was constructed during, perhaps, one of the worst centuries for Rome in its entire history—Pope Clement V had moved the papacy to Avignon in 1309, and without the stability effected by the papacy the city devolved into chaos, witnessing Roman nobles attack each other with increasing frequency. In 1519, the hospital underwent a major renovation, which coincided with two major events: the larger urbanization of Campo Marzio, which included the construction of two major roads, the Via del Babuino in 1523 and the Via di Ripetta in 1516, as well as the influx of sick individuals suffering from syphilis. The hospital actually received the additional name, degli Incurabili (of the incurables), in reaction to the syphilis outbreak, as there was no cure the disease at the time—patients were often treated with mercury, which usually harmed as much as it helped. Santa Maria Porta Paradisi can be seen as the conclusion of the renovation and extension of the hospital—indeed the moniker Porta Paradisi—Gate to Paradise—may have been given for those dying in the adjacent hospital.
creator: Tanner Fliss (2016)
source: Anthony Majanlahti. The Families Who Made Rome: A History and a Guide. (Milan: Villardi, 2006) Alessia Muliere, Chiese e Palazzi di Roma in età moderna: Santa Maria Portae Paradisi. Università degli studi di Roma “La Sapienza” Facoltà di Filosofia, Lettere, Scienze Umanistiche, Studi orientali.
type: Place
coverage: 1500s
coverage: 1300s

San Biagio: Benedictine Rule to Franciscan Control
description: Founded in the 10th century by the Benedictines, the San Biagio Hospice was built near the edge of the Roman city wall. It was a part of the San Cosimato Monastery complex during the Benedictine rule (the two are separated by only 250 meters). San Biagio functioned as a hospice and hospital for the poor and pilgrims. Saint Francis of Assisi in his lifetime paid more than six visits to Rome starting in 1209, and always stayed at San Biagio, thanks to the arrangements made by a faithful friend of his, Giacoma Frangipane de’ Settesoli (later known as “Fra Jacopa”, who we discuss in stop #3). During his 1219 visit, Saint Francis and his followers began to support the hospice of San Biagio to host pilgrims, who arrived from the nearby harbor of Ripa Grande. In the early 13th century, St. Francis stayed at San Biagio while in Rome to seek approval for the Franciscan order by the pope. Pope Gregory IX ordered the Benedictine monks to hand over control of San Biagio to the Franciscans in 1229, three years after Francis’s death.
creator: Shaylin Nguyen (2016), Russell Li (2019), Rebecca Margolis (2021) Edited by Julia Tassava (2026)
type: Place
coverage: 1100s