Monte Testaccio: A Place of Memory and Festivity
Monte Testaccio is an ancient port along the Tiber. In the medieval period, the hill was part of the disabitato within the walls of the city. It was used partially as land for cultivation and partially for the celebration of games and ceremonies. In particular, the hill was the scene of the Ludi di Testaccio, games held as part of the Roman carnival during the Lenten season. These games involved running bulls and pigs down from the top of the hill to the bottom where an armed mob waited to tear the animals to pieces. Before being killed, the animals were paraded through the city in red cloth to symbolize the earthly desires of the Roman people. This sacrifice symbolically cleansed the city of its sins before Easter. In the medieval period, Monte Testaccio was also used during Lent for a procession of crosses to the top of the hill to commemorate Christ's crucifixion.
Brentano, Robert. Rome before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth-Century Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. p 63. Burroughs, Charles. "The Demotic Campidoglio: Ritual, Social Unrest, and a Case of Wizardry." RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, no. 49/50 (2006): 171-87. Ramieri, A.M. "Monte Testaccio." Sign at Via Nicola Zabaglia entrance.
Place
At one end of the Circus Maximus stands a small tower, which tips us off to the fact that this area during the medieval period was a predominantly agricultural area, controlled by prominent families. Called the Tower of Moletta, the tower was likely built by the Frangipani family, who controlled parts of the surrounding area, and was probably associated with a short-lived water mill that they constructed during the 11th-12th century. This mill was powered by a river that had been channeled by Pope Callistus II in 1122 from some streams that had started winding through the valley in the 6th or 7th century. In addition to the tower are the remains of some vaulting from the Roman circus. This vaulting, along with any additional pieces that have since been destroyed, would, like the vaulting of the Colosseum, have been used for medieval houses and shops, starting around the 13th century, when the monastic community of San Gregorio Magno, another controlling influence in the area, gave it over to that purpose. Early in the medieval period, there also would have been a few arches and obelisks still standing from Roman times, though the obelisks would be moved to other locations in Rome (the Piazza del Popolo and St John Lateran) by the 16th century. But the relative barrenness of the modern circus is somewhat representative of the medieval realities of the area. A part of the disabitato, or relatively uninhabited part of medieval Rome, the circus area would have contained, in addition to the few ruins from ancient Rome and the mill and tower of the Frangipani, relatively few dwellings, along with open space and farmland. Antonio Tempesta’s 1593 map of Rome, while neglecting to show the tower, alludes to this usage, portraying the circus area as space filled with farm fields, trees, and a few buildings tucked among those trees.
"American Academy in Rome. “New Discoveries at the Mausoleum of Augustus, Circus Maximus and Aqua Claudia.” February 27, 2014. http://aarome.org/it/news/features/new-discoveries-at-the-mausoleum-of-augustus-circus-maximus-and-aqua-claudia. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. Roma Capitale: Citta Storica Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. “Circus Maximus: Medieval and Modern Stages.” Sign on Via dei Cerchi on Palatine side of Circus Maximus. Speelberg, Femke. “Antonio Tempesta’s View of Rome: Portraying the Baroque Splendor of the Eternal City.” October 23, 2012. http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/now-at-the-met/features/2012/view-of-rome.
Approaching the Teatro di Marcello from the northern portion of the Via del Teatro di Marcello, or perhaps from the Piazza Venezia, it is hard to see anything but the ancient structure, if one does not notice the third and fourth floors. Yet approaching from the southern direction, it is hard to tell that this site is of ancient origins, for it appears to be a large medieval residential building. The teatro was built in the 1st century A.D. as a site of entertainment for the ancient Romans (and, today, it still hosts a summer concert series). The Teatro di Marcello retained its original use for about three and a half centuries, at which point it began to be repurposed. But it remained important -- its ruins constituted one of the major "anchor points" of the geography of medieval Rome and participated in the continued presence of antiquity in the everyday life of the Middle Ages (Krautheimer 187, 243, Brentano 15). In the Middle Ages, the ruins of the Teatro di Marcello served as an important economic site, hosting a meat market by 998 and a butcher shop that remained at least until the 16th century, as well as neighboring an enormous fish market by the 13th century. Indeed, the agricultural and industrial use of this site continued far longer than one might expect -- a twice-weekly cattle market was held in the teatro even into the 20th century! By the end of the 11th century, the Pierlioni family had gained control of the area around the Teatro di Marcello and likely fortified the site as a stronghold and mansion. The Pierlioni are believed to have offered support, protection, and the use of their fortified mansion to Pope Urban II (1088-1099) when he was violently threatened by anti-pope factions in Rome (Krautheimer 105). Eventually, the fortress fell to the Orsini family, who built the Renaissance-era Palazzo Orsini that is still highly visible today. Throughout these chaotic transitions in ownership and moments of factional violence between families, the Teatro di Marcello remained an important site, not just for its strategic position or its economic functions, but as a place of public memory regarding classical Rome.
Brentano, Robert. Rome before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth-Century Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. Messer, William Stuart. "The New Rome and Archaeology," The Classical Journal Vol. 22, No. 3 (December, 1926): 179-188. Minchilli, Elizabeth Helman. "Palazzo for Sale in Central Rome," New York Times. Jan. 5, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/greathomesanddestinations/palazzo-for- sale-in-central-rome.html?_r=0 (accessed May 13, 2015).
In Search of Jewish Temple Relics: the Lateran Basilica and the Arch of Titus
During the Middle Ages, both Jews and Christians held the popular belief that relics from Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem were housed in the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. Benjamin of Tudela, a twelfth century Jewish visitor to Rome, reports that he saw two pillars from the temple in the Lateran. Narrative mosaics from the portico of the western entrance dating from around the 1180s illustrated the destruction of Jerusalem, and a late 13th century apse mosaic inscription catalogued the collection of Jewish relics deposited underneath the basilica’s high altar. Unfortunately the church suffered two devastating fires in 1307 and 1361, and between the fires and later renovations, few elements of the medieval church survive. While the physical evidence of the temple spoils’ presence in the Lateran are gone, the Arch of Titus provides a visual record of the Roman victory over the Jews. Erected in 82 C.E. to celebrate Titus’ military victories, it features depictions of the spoils taken from the temple in Jerusalem after its destruction in 70 C.E. The arch, in addition to being architecturally and historically significant, can help the modern visitor to imagine the purported journey of the temple treasures to the Lateran.
Champagne, Marie Therese. “‘Treasures of the Temple’ and Claims to Authority in Twelfth Century Rome.” In Aspects of Power and Authority in the Middle Ages, ed. Brenda Bolton and Christine Meek, 107-118. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers n.v., 2007. Champaigne, Marie Therese and Boustan, Ra’anan S. "Walking in the Shadows of the Past: The Jewish Experience of Rome in the Twelfth Century" Medieval Encounters 17 (2011), 464-494.
1100s
1200s
1300s
The painting is currently located on the inner façade of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, right above the entrance. The Last Judgement scene was first made to occupy the entire east wall, opposite to the west apse. However, it was later covered up by plaster and a nuns’ choir room was built around it. This architectural design is implied to enclose women and limit female use within church space. The painting was created by a prominent painter in 13th century — Pietro Cavallini. This masterpiece was rediscovered in 19th century and the scene has only been partially excavated: in the middle is the enthroned Christ, to the right and the left are Maria, angels, John the Baptist and twelve Apostles. The work itself should be comprehended as a fusion of arts from Gothic France and Byzantine, contributing to the trend in the 1270s to bring back Roman antiquity. However, the pictorial creativity of Cavallini does not accord very well with the prevailing ecclesiastical taste: for example, the angel wings with colorful shades were interleaved to impart three-dimensionality. The more naturalistic style made it harder for people to read the messages passed through, such as the promotion of papacy, thus this public imagery was considered as a less effective political and religious propaganda.
Brentano, Robert, Rome Before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth-century Rome, (University of California Press, 1991), 67. Bruzelius, Caroline A., “Hearing Is Believing: Clarissan Architecture, ca. 1213-1340”, in Gesta, Vol. 31, No. 2, Monastic Architecture for Women, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 87. Hetherington, Paul, “Pietro Cavallini, Artistic Style and Patronage in Late Medieval Rome”, in The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 114, No. 826 (Jan.), (The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd, 1972), 9. Krautheimer, Richard, Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308, (Princeton University Press, 2000), 225.
Physical Object
Vineyards and Towers: Rome's Caffarella Valley
While the center of Rome can be hectic and claustrophobic, it only takes a short bus ride (30 minutes, to be exact) to reach the Caffarella Valley, a beautifully preserved park that maintains some characteristics of the historically romanticized campagna romana (Roman countryside). Sandwiched between the ancient roads Via Appia and Via Latina, the valley is named after the Caffarelli family, who ruled over and cultivated the land during the 16th century. The picture below shows the Cafferelli family estate. Located along the Almone River, the complex was described as the vigna di Cafferelli, or Cafferelli vineyards, in the Mappa della Campagna romana al tempo di Paolo III by Eufrosino della Volpaia (1547). Going back to the Middle Ages, however, this area was not a serene vineyard. In the middle of the complex, there is a tufa block tower that protrudes from the building. This tower has been dated to the 13th century, thus, the Cafferelli family must have built their residence around the preexisting tower. In fact, this tower is one of five towers that were built along the Almone River by feuding baron families who were staking claims to the surrounding countryside. During the 13th century, as we can learn from Cola di Rienzo, the political families in and around Rome were constantly feuding with each other for control of resources and political hegemony. The foundation of another tower, The Valca Tower, can be found a couple of kilometers upstream from the one that was incorporated into the Cafferelli estate. Although the campagna romana has been romanticized throughout history, during the Middle Ages it was a site for political maneuvering and violent confrontations between the baron families that jostled for power in Rome.
Almagia, Roberto. “The Repopulation of the Roman Campagna.” The American Geographical Review 19, no. 4 (1929): 529-555. http://jstor.org/ (accessed May 13, 2015). Richard Krautheimer. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. Rossetti, Caterina. “Itinerary 4: The Caffarella Valley.” Parco Regionale dell’Appia Antica. http://www.parcoappiaantica.it/en/pdf/itinerario4.pdf (accessed May 13, 2015).
1500s
Restoration and Remembrance at the Basilica of San Crisogono
According to Richard Krautheimer, by 312 CE, approximately one third of the Roman population was Christian or sympathetic to the Christian cause. This is a powerful statistic that, he argues, defines the early history of the Basilica of San Crisogono. The first mention of the church occurs in 499 CE, which suggests that the church was constructed at some point in the fifth century. But the church was not one of the huge, ornate basilicas that we are used to seeing in modern Rome, it was a so-called “House of the Church,” a rather simple building (often a private apartment or mansion) owned by the church and used much in the way that we would use a modern community center. Many of these “Houses of the Church” served as housing for the clergy, administrative centers, classrooms, and places for religious practice – often built specifically to serve these multiple functions, they were completely integrated into the cityscape. Cardinal John of Crema re-founded the church in 1123, razing the earlier basilica and dedicating a new monastic complex. The new church was meant to celebrate and signify John of Crema’s capture and removal of the anti-pope Gregory VIII from Sutri in 1121. Archaeologically speaking, the site is rich. It is a wonderful example of the restoration practices that were characteristic of the 17th century. Cardinal Scipione Borghese was engaged in a feud with his uncle (also a cardinal), and made the competitive move to renovate San Crisogono in 1618-1628 in order to keep pace with his uncle’s equally impressive building program. The restoration project was meant to modernize the basilica, glorifying the existing structure and recalling the magnificence of the late antique church. Thus, Cardinal Scipione Borghese’s renovation project was a restoration, meant to bring the building into the future while simultaneously celebrating the past. The early Christian basilica of San Crisogono is still visible via a small door in the left nave of the modern church. A trip down a set of stairs leads visitors into the cool quiet of what appears to be an active excavation site, where the structure of the original basilica and its surrounding houses is still apparent. Frescoes and sarcophagi abound, as are nooks and crannies featuring artifacts, pottery, and even the occasional bone fragment.
Hill, Michael. “The Patronage of a Disenfranchised Nephew: Cardinal Scipione Borghese and the Restoration of San Crisogono in Rome, 1618-1628.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 60, no. 4 (2001): 432-449. Kinney, Dale. “Rome in the Twelfth Century: Urbs Fracta and Renovatio.” Gesta 45, no. 2 (2006): 199-220. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.
400s
1000s
While a majority of the medieval homes in Rome have been lost to reconstruction projects and over-restoration, a few residential spaces scattered across the city offer insight into the forms and components of medieval houses. An excellent example lies on a corner at the intersection of Via della Lungaretta and Vicolo della Luce in Trastevere. Restored in 1985, this residency retains its original substructure, plan, and decoration, enabling viewers to glimpse into the world of medieval homes. According to Deborah Robbins, this home exhibits the principle characteristics of a middle tier Roman house and was likely owned by a merchant or successful craftsman. Featuring an arcaded portico that extended into both Via Della Lungaretta and Vicolo della Luce and supported by simple but expensive marble columns, the ground level would have been used for the owner’s shop or for storage space. Above the portico sequence of small arches called corbels provided attractive decoration and expanded the available floor space of the second story. The living quarters on the second floor were accessible by an external staircase (located along the wall facing Vicolo della Luce) that was protected by walls and a roof. Therefore, this residence was equipped with a number of features (portico, columns, ornamental frieze, etc.), testifying to its owner’s status as a well-to-do businessperson. Ultimately, this illustrative home highlights many of the features we should be looking for as we endeavor to uncover the medieval city. If you stumble upon an external staircase or band of corbels in Trastevere or one of Rome’s other urban neighborhoods, you may very well be looking at a medieval home. Try to strip away the modern plaster and windows and imagine the original portico protruding into the street from the façade. Although a romanticized depiction of this home, Roesler Franz’s 19th painting helps us do this by shedding light on what the brickwork, shop, and staircase may have looked like in the medieval period. For other examples of medieval residencies consider visiting the house on Vicolo dell’Atleta, the Casa dei Mattei facing the piazza in Pisculina, or the Casa di Fieramosca in front of Santa Cecilia.
Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Hong Kong: Princeton University Press. Robbins, Deborah King. “A case study of medieval urban process: Rome’s Trastevere (1250-1450).” Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1989.
Via Della Lungara: The Walled Long Road of Trastevere
Via Della Lungara has a long history of important constructions in Trastevere, particularly along the walls at the location of the Porta Settimiana. The walls of Via Della Lungara extend from the former Aurelian walls, which once served as fortification to the then smaller Trastevere district. The walls ended at the gate Porta Settimiana, which was built in the third century by the Roman Emperor Aurelian. The Porta Settimiana was destroyed and rebuilt in the beginning and end of the 15th century, and it still stands today as the entrance to the “Long Road”. The urban processes of Via Della Lungara, containing important buildings and constructions that lie along its walls, was especially important at the end of the Middle Ages in the early and late 15th century. The street initially served as a connecting road to St. Peter’s Basilica for pilgrims. Specifically, the road connected pilgrims traveling to Rome by boat, from Tiber Island to the Vatican. As the Middle Ages progressed, the walls of Via Della Lungara served as fortifications to some of the most important residential spaces in Rome. At the beginning of the Renaissance, Via Della Lungara was one of the most significant roads in Rome, and the neighborhood became home to noble families, such as the Riario family who had a villa along the Lungara (Villa Corsini) which once hosted Bramante and Michelangelo. An interesting aspect of its residential history is that even as nobility dominated much of the area, there were also simple, more average homes and apartments in the immediate vicinity. The nobility and history of the Villas and buildings that occupied the street is the likely inspiration for the walls serving as such great fortifications, perhaps to indicate wealth and significance. Today you’ll find many modern and renaissance marvels along the road, including the Porta Settimiana, the Palazzo Corsini, John Cabot University and the Villa Della Fernesina. The constructions along the walls of the Via Della Lungara act as a time capsule of important constructions throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, which has seemingly been hidden by Trastevere’s tourist sites and the very wall itself.
Michael Sanson (2017) Edited by Tim Abbott (2026)
"Porta Settimiana and Via Della Lungara." Porta Settimiana and Via Della Lungara. Accessed May 10, 2015. http://www.romaviva.com/trastevere-gianicolense/porta_settimiana_via_lungara_eng.htm. "Rome's Historical Districts - XIII - Trastevere." Rome's Historical Districts - XIII - Trastevere. Accessed May 10, 2015. http://roma.andreapollett.com/S5/rione13.htm. Robbins, Deborah King. "A Case Study of Medieval Urban Process: Rome's Trastevere (1250-1450)." 9006487, University of California, Berkeley, 1989. http://ezproxy.carleton.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/303675283?accountid=9892. Robbins, Deborah. "Via Lungaretta, The Making of a Medieval Street." In Streets: Critical Perspectives on Public Space, 164-77. Berkely and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1994.
Race in Medieval Rome: The San Tommaso Mosaic
In 1193, the French priest John of Matha had a vision of Christ grasping two men by the arm: one white and the other black. This vision inspired him to create the Trinitarian order at San Tommaso in Formis on the Caelian hill, which was a hotbed of medieval-era ecclesiastical sites. The order’s goal was to free Christian crusader captives from their Muslim captors, which was a pertinent issue. In 1210, shortly before de Matha’s death, this mosaic of his vision was created over the gate of the church. John de Matha’s ecclesiastical career illustrates a tension, common in twelfth-century Christianity, between a desire to engage with the world and the traditional pursuit of piety in monastic isolation. The mosaic captures this tension. Christ is shown resolving a realistic human problem, one of whose subjects is African--indicative of the order’s trans-regional mission. However, the work is located over the gate in the walls of the monastic complex. The urge to separate the activities of a religious order from the world – even if they were engaged with the world – was still strong. Historians disagree on what is depicted in the mosaic—some believe that Christ is freeing both the white and black figures from captivity, while others think that differences in the white person’s portrayal versus the black person’s indicate otherwise. The presence of what appears to be a whip in the black person’s hand shows that he could be the captor, while the unbroken chain around his ankles suggests that he could even a pagan captive being exchanged for a Christian one. In any case, the mosaic represented the mission of the order to free Christian captives, and the presence of the black person shows a worldly awareness that is not obvious in much of the art of the medieval period. However, the scene should not necessarily be understood as an abstract meditation on racial egalitarianism. Among other activities, the Trinitarians purchased Afro-Italian slaves and exchanged them for captive Christians. The mosaic thus brings to mind the founding myth and the public activities of the order. A helpful analogy is a modern-day corporate logo.
Lindsay Brandt (2017), J.M. Hanley (2016) Edited by Julia Tassava (2026)
Brentano, Robert. Rome Before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth-Century Rome. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2006. Epstein, Steven A. Speaking of Slavery: Color, Ethnicity, and Human Bondage in Italy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001.
Santa Maria in Cappella and Its Neighborhood
This is a typical parish church in the densest settlement in between the river and Via della Lungaretta. It is in a prevailing style with an arcaded narthex extending along the façade, a campanile rises within it. The period of eleventh and twelfth centuries witnessed active development centering the city ports, including Ripa Grande, which facilitated merchandise activities around. The adjacency to Ripa Grande would likely make the area close to the church a complex and integrative urban experience within the merchants community. Therefore combined with the function of the church itself, Santa Maria in Cappella could well represent a heterogeneity of the public and private spaces. As you stand in front of the church today, you would wonder how time has shifted commerce away from the river side, modified the local topography and replaced the busy streets with quiet residential houses. In the nineteenth century, as high walls were built along Tiber for flood prevention floods and development of the railroad, the Ripa Grande lost its role in trade and the landscape was altered. However, the church remains as a witness to this transformation of the neighborhood.
Ruyi Shen (2017) Edited by Tim Abbott (2026)
Deborah King, Robin. Streets, Critical Perspective on Public Space, 165, ed. Zeynep Çelik, Diane Fevro, and Richard Ingersoll. University of California, 1978. Deborah King, Robin. A Case Study of Medieval Urban Process: Rome’s Trastevere (1250-1450), 162. University of California, 1978. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308, 167. Princeton University Press, 2000. “Porto di Ripa Grande”, accessed April 23, 2015, http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi97.htm
When one thinks of the Middle Ages, a few images come to mind. Knights in shining armor and princesses, but also castles and towers. In Rome, there are a great many medieval towers. Among these is the Tor Millina, situated just west of the Piazza Navona. This particular tower was likely originally built sometime in the eleventh or twelfth century, but was remodeled into an adjoining mansion sometime around 1490. Today, it stands above the surrounding buildings alone. In the Middle Ages, however, this would not be the case. In the Middle Ages, towers were a part of larger building complexes and were merely a taller part of a cohesive whole. There would have additionally been many of these towered complexes in the area, such that any one tower would have been more or less on the same plane as many of the other towers, leading to a skyline made up significantly of large towers and other noble fortifications. While we cannot speak with any certainty to the specific purpose of the Tor Millina, medieval towers were parts of houses that would have served several roles. One of the most important roles is a product of their elevation; towers allowed their owners to dominate the local area, with towers functioning as a means of control. Additionally, towers were defensive structures, providing a location of safety and shelter for the family that owned them, very much a luxury at the time.
William Fritz (2016), edited by Sam Jackson (2027)
Krautheimer, Richard, Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308, (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ), p 303-308.
Christ between Two Captives at San Tommasso in Formis
This unique mosaic is positioned over the entrance of San Tommaso in Formis, a small church located on the Caelian Hill, a hotbed of medieval-era ecclesiastical sites. The artwork is a legacy of San Tommaso’s Trinitarian heritage. After a dream of Jesus holding a black slave and a white slave, John of Matha founded the order and dedicated it to freeing and rehabilitating Christians held captive by Muslims – an issue particularly prominent in this era of crusades. Simultaneously, John felt the attraction of a monastic lifestyle and eventually retreated to a cloister adjacent to the order’s hospital at San Tommaso. John’s ecclesiastical career illustrates a tension, common in twelfth-century Christianity, between a desire to engage with the world and the traditional pursuit of piety in monastic isolation. The mosaic captures this tension. Christ is shown resolving a realistic human problem, one of whose subjects is African--indicative of the order’s trans-regional mission. However, the work is located over the gate in the walls of the monastic complex. The urge to separate the activities of a religious order from the world – even if they were engaged with the world – was still strong. As for the Cosmati mosaic itself, the scene should not necessarily be understood as an abstract meditation on racial egalitarianism. Among other activities, the Trinitarians purchased Afro-Italian slaves and exchanged them for captive Christians. The mosaic thus brings to mind the founding myth and the public activities of the order. A helpful analogy is a modern-day corporate logo.
Robert Brentano, Rome Before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth Century Rome (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), 14 Steven A. Epstein, Speaking of Slavery: Color, Ethnicity, and Human Bondage in Italy (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001), 194-195
Medieval Frescoes in the Church of San Sisto Vecchio
Along the Via Appia near the Baths of Caracalla is the Church of San Sisto Vecchio, dedicated to Pope Sixtus II. Rebuilt in the early 13th century under the order of Popes Innocent III and Honorius III, the church housed a nunnery founded by Saint Dominic. This nunnery developed into one of the most influential of the order as other medieval Dominican convents often followed the rule established at San Sisto and was home to one of the largest communities of women in medieval Rome. Over the course of its history, the church has been rebuilt and redecorated, however the Middle Ages campanile still remains and acts as a marker for that period of the church’s history. Some medieval frescoes, discovered in the late 19th century, have also survived. A specific part of the frescoes show the scenes from the life of Saint Catherine of Siena, a tertiary (lay member) of the Dominican order. These scenes draw inspiration from the paintings near Catherine’s tomb in Santa Maria sopra Minerva which depict her charity to the poor and her following vision of Christ, as it was the favored story of Catherine in Rome at that time. These images, along with the rest of the frescoes, which could have been viewed by the nuns in their choir, depict aspects important to the Dominican faith.
Joan Barclay Lloyd, “Paintings for Dominican Nuns: A New Look at the Image of Saints, Scenes from the New Testament and Apocrypha, and Episodes from the Life of Saint Catherine of Siena in the Medieval Apse of San Sisto Vecchio in Rome,” Papers of the British School at Rome 80(2012): 189-232. Accessed April 17, 2015. doi: 10.1017/S0068246212000104.
Near the Piazza S. Cosimato, a medieval portico juts out from the sides of a nondescript building. The portico leads to the outdoor atrium of the church of San Cosimato, a part of the former Monastery of San. Cosimato. It began as a Benedictine house for males in the tenth century, and then in the early thirteenth century Pope Gregory IX--a good friend of Francis--gave the complex to the Clares, an order of Franciscan nuns. In Rome there were only three female Franciscan convents, and San Cosimato was the most important. The façade is from the twelfth century, and can be identified as medieval by its incorporation of multiple arches and its use of long and thin bricks. The columns that support the arch are spoils from Roman antiquity, which was common in medieval structures. Since the 900s the complex has been continuously used and built upon (and around). The former monastery was converted in the 19th century to the Hospital Nuova Regina Margherita.
Shaylin Nguyen (2016) Edited by Julia Tassava (2026)
Lowe, Kate. “Franciscan and Papal Patronage at the Clarissan Convent of San Cosimato in Trastevere 1440-1560,” Papers of the British School at Rome, no 68. (2000): 220
A notable setting for Pope Innocent III’s “physical piety,” the Ospedale di Santo Spirito served many functions beyond healing the sick. The hospital also served as a hostel, an orphanage, a maternity ward, and place for fallen women to redeem their sins. Scholars, such as Richard Krautheimer, have debated whether Innocent built the hospital as a way to reconcile the proud, sinful character of the Tor de’Conti. While Innocent’s motivation to build the hospital is unclear, his reasons behind Santo Spirito’s location are obvious. Robert Brentano describes Innocent’s dream of infanticide along the river, where fishermen had nets of not fish, but dead babies, leading the Pope to build his hospital dedicated to foundlings and orphans next to the river. A relic of this time can still be seen in the Foundling’s Wheel, a contraption outside the walls of the hospital that mothers used to abandon unwanted babies. A worker would turn the wheel, taking the child into the hospital to be raised there. Innocent built the hospital as an expansion of the Schola Saxonum compound, a former complex dedicated to the British pilgrims of Rome. The Schola Saxonum had existed since 725, alongside many other similar communities dedicated to pilgrims coming to Rome to visit the tomb of St. Peter. In 1208, after the Norman Conquest effectively put a hold on English pilgrimages to Rome, the complex was officially decreed to be a hospital. Unfortunately, little remains of the original structure, as much of it decayed during the fourteenth century during the Avignon Captivity due to the lack of papal support. In 1474, Pope Sixtus IV completely renovated the hospital, creating the structure we see now. The long, rectangular building is topped by an octagonal bell tower and is also attached to a ward known as Corsia Sistina. The modern hospital is still attached to this structure, which now functions as a conference center and church. The ward, now a courtyard, attaches to another square bell tower. It has been noted that this bell tower survived Sixtus’ reconstruction, implying that it was built in the medieval times, perhaps even in the hospital’s first construction. There are two courtyards between the medieval ward and the modern hospital, that were used to house the monks and nuns who lived and worked for Santo Spirito. Both cloisters have fountains in the center; the fountain in the nuns’ cloister is decorated by charming Renaissance-style dolphins. Today, these cloisters are part of the modern hospital. Despite all of its changes, the Ospedale di Santo Spirito still seems to parallel its medieval form as it continues to serve the people of Rome in different ways.
Madison McBride (2016), Zobeida Chaffee (2019)
Brentano, Robert. Rome Before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth Century Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. Presciutti, Diana. “Dead Infants, Cruel Mothers, and Heroic Popes: The Visual Rhetoric of Foundling Care at the Hospital of Santo Spirito, Rome.” Renaissance Quarterly 64 (2011): 752-799. Priester, Ann. “Bell Towers and Building Workshops in Medieval Rome.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 52 (1993): 199-220.
Ponte Sisto connects the east bank of the Tiber River to its west bank at Trastevere. The original bridge, called Pons Agrippae, Pons Antoninus, Pons Aurelianus, Pons Janiculensis, or Ponte Valentinianus, depending on the source, was an ancient Roman structure. It collapsed sometime between the late 8th and 11th centuries, severing an important physical link between Trastevere and the more heavily settled east bank of Rome. What is fascinating about this site, however, is that it continued to have importance after its collapse. It had a tangible impact on the shipping patterns of the Tiber, because its ruins made the already-narrow channel even more treacherous. Yet the bridge also continued to have a more abstract significance: the standard guidebook of the 11th to 14th centuries, known as the Mirabilia, lists this bridge as one of many extant structures, and references it for geographic orientation. Thus, the site continued to be known during the medieval era. In 1473, Pope Sixtus IV decided to reconstruct the bridge slightly downstream to provide alternate routes of foot traffic for the 1475 Jubilee, and named the ponte after himself. Jill E. Blondin argues that Sixtus undertook his urban restoration work to promote himself, and to communicate "the message of his secular and sacred authority to observers" (1). In her analysis of both the bridge and Sixtus's other public works, Blondin finds that Sixtus emphasized both his own greatness and the greatness of antique and contemporary Rome. Blondin concludes that Sixtus "drew on antique symbols, sculptures, and buildings to create a glorious, new Christian Rome fashioned to represent him squarely in charge of the civic and spiritual dimensions of the city" (24). With Blondin's reminder of the continuing power of ancient Rome throughout the medieval and Renaissance periods, we may begin to imagine the Ponte Sisto as a site that, due to its ancient origins, may have continued to have symbolic significance even when it was in pieces in the Tiber.
Anna Guasco (2016) Edited by Tim Abbott (2026)
Blondin, Jill E. "Power Made Visible: Pope Sixtus IV as Urbis Restaurator in Quattrocento Rome," in The Catholic Historical Review Vol. 90., No. 1 (Jan., 2005): 1-25. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome. Portrait of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. Nichols, Francis Morgan ed. and trans. Marvels of Rome: Mirabilia Urbis Romae. New York: Italica Press, 1986. "
Ponte Sant' Angelo: Tiber Crossings as Agents of Change
The Ponte Sant’Angelo (the ancient Roman Aelian bridge) was one of only four bridges that spanned the Tiber in medieval Rome. Previous Roman bridges, nine of which had crisscrossed the Tiber along the whole length of Aurelian walls, had collapsed by the 11th century. This meant that during the 11th through 16th centuries, the Leonine City, which was composed of the Vatican, the Borgo and the Castel Sant’Angelo, could only be accessed from Rome proper (on the east bank of the Tiber) via the Ponte Sant’Angelo. Because the Leonine walls and the Castel Sant’Angelo were well fortified, the Papacy was able to politically dominate the rest of Rome, both practically and legally. The separation of the Leonine City was exacerbated by the limitations on navigating the Tiber during this period. On account of Roman ruins, the river was not able to support the volume of traffic that it did in antiquity. Although there were some ferries, the bridge was essentially the main way into the Leonine city from the inhabited part of the medieval city, located on the east bank of the Tiber. New construction developed on the east side of the bridge because the bridgehead, on both sides, held such strategic importance. Local nobles built house-fortresses and towers around the bridgehead to protect their influence in the area. This construction was also prompted by the growing spiritual and political importance of St. Peter’s in the Roman and wider European world, as pilgrims and political figures were funneled across the Ponte Sant’Angelo in order to reach St. Peter's Basilica. The medieval context of the Ponte Sant’Angelo was one of a number of factors that allowed for the formation of the modern, politically independent Vatican state of the modern era. Without the isolation that the Ponte Sant’Angelo fostered, the Papacy would have been less able to extricate itself from city politics, though complete isolation was always impossible.
Spencer Dillon (2017) Edited by Tim Abbott (2026)
Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312- 1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.
Walking through medieval Trastevere, it is easy to forget about the classical Roman city that once flourished across the river. This neighborhood, now home to much of Rome’s nightlife and many of its most recognizably medieval buildings, was included in the Emperor Aurelian’s city walls, first constructed in 270-275 CE. Repaired consistently from the Roman period onward, these walls served a practical purpose as well as a symbolic one. The walls served as defensive structures and as delineations of the ancient city. But by the later medieval period, the inhabited part of the city was concentrated around the Tiber, meaning that large sections of the walls’ enclosure were no longer in daily use. Popes and other Roman leaders could have torn down the walls and re-built them in a manner that better fit the changing city. Instead, Popes decided to repair the walls, beautifying and making their personal mark on the city. The rebuilding of the walls also represents a re-emphasis on Rome’s classical legacy in the unstable political climate of the Middle Ages. Archaeological surveys have enabled historians to date the repairs made on the walls based on the materials used in different sections: in the period 750-850 CE, blocks of tufa (the volcanic bedrock of the Eternal City) were used to repair walls and other buildings. If archaeologists can confidently date a church that uses this tufa repair method, they can then date similarly-repaired sections of the Aurelian walls with confidence. Emphasizing the regularity and logistical complexity of these repair programs, Robert Coates-Stephens argues that “the extent of the restorations gives an idea of the efficiency of the papal organization of public building in the early medieval city.” Based on Coates-Stephens’ synthesis of previous archaeological research and his own archaeological surveys, it has become clear that the 19km wall around the city has been consistently maintained and appreciated throughout the medieval era and into the nineteenth century.
Blue Guide to Rome. Somerset: Blue Guides Limited, 2010. 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.
700s
San Saba: A Spiritual Outpost in the Disabitato
Established as a monastery in the 7th century by Palestinian monks who had fled Jerusalem, the current church structure of San Saba dates to the 12th century but has undergone numerous renovations and restorations. After Pope Lucius II gave the church to the order in 1145 it became a monastery for Cluniac Benedictine monks. Between the 13th and 15th centuries, San Saba was isolated, located on a hill called the "Little Aventine" and surrounded by the fields and farms of the disabitato. While much attention has been given to the Eastern influence present in San Saba's original decoration, elements remain from the later medieval period when the Cluniac monks restored much of the church following damage from the 1084 Norman invasion. Most noticeably, the doorway and floor, as well as the bishop's throne have cosmatesque decoration - a distinctive, geometric style of tilework. An inscription on the main doorframe attributes these to Giacomo, the father of Cosma, and dates them to 1205. There are also 13th century frescos in what is known as the "fourth nave" - an extra, shorter aisle on the left side of the church - depicting the Madonna and Child and tales from the life of St. Nicholas.
Armellini, M., Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX, 2 vols, Vatican city (1891, corrected and augmented by Carlo Cecchelli, 1942). 590. See: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/I/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/churches/_Texts/Armellini/ARMCHI*/2/Ripa.html Krautheimer, Richard. Rome : Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton, N.J. , Chichester: Princeton University Press, 2000. San Saba, Informational Sign Outside of Chiesa di San Saba .
1400s
Entering Christian Rome: Porta San Pancrazio
Located on the Janiculum hill overlooking Trastevere, Porta San Pancrazio has been an important entryway into Rome since antiquity. In Ancient Rome, the gate was called Porta Aurelia because it was along the Aurelian wall and allowed access to an important road, the Via Aurelia. Perhaps as early as the 6th century, the name of the gate was changed to the current title, Porta San Pancrazio. The Marvels of Rome, a guidebook dated to the end of the 12th century, notes that the “Porta Aurelia or aurea, that is to say golden…. is now called Porta San Pancrazio.” The gate we see today was built by Virginio Vespignani in 1857 in order to remember the decisive battle that occurred there between the French and populist Roman forces led by Garibaldi in 1849. The change in name, however, is an interesting story that occurred during the Middle Ages. Outside the gate — a five minute walk today — is the basilica of San Pancrazio that was built over the buried body of the martyred St. Pancras, a teenager who according to legend was killed by the Romans for his conversion to Christianity. Additionally, there is an extensive network of catacombs — or underground burial sites — under the basilica. During the Middle Ages, the relic of St. Pancras was an important destination for religious travelers. Thus, due to its proximity to the basilica, the gate was changed from its ancient title, Porta Aurelia, to its Christianized name, Porta San Pancrazio. In the late Middle Ages, then, Porta San Pancrazio would not only have functioned practically, but would have also carried religious meanings for both the pilgrim and Roman walking through its gates. Like many other sites across Rome, the Porta San Pancrazio is an example of how Romans negotiated between their ancient past and new Christian identity during the medieval period.
Richard Krautheimer. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. Robbins, Deborah King. “A Case Study of Medieval Rome’s Urban Process: Rome’s Trastevere (1250-1450).” (PhD diss., University of California, Berkley, 1989). The Marvels of Rome. Translated by Francis Morgan Nichols. New York: Italica Press, 1986.
The Porto di Ripetta was a small port on the Tiber. Pope Clement XI officially built the physical port in 1703, but that spot had been used as a landing for boats since ancient Roman times. Though the port was primarily a well-used riverbank during the Middle Ages, the Roman government collected tolls from people who landed there. The name of “Ripetta” was officially used for the first time in 1389 by Pope Boniface IX. The area around the Ripetta was primarily used to house storage areas for boatmen in the 12th century. During the late 14th century, a group of Slavs made a new home in the port’s surrounding area after being driven out of their native land after the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. They built a church near the port and dedicated it to San Girolamo degli Schiavoni. The church still stands today after being rebuilt in the 16th century, it can be found on Largo degli Schiavoni, close to the banks of the Tiber. The church is very close to the site of the old port, according to a 16th century map by Antonio Tempesta, the church is immediately inland from the Ripetta. Today, a street named “Via di Ripetta,” which runs from the Piazza del Popolo down past the site of the old port, commemorates the Porta di Ripetta.
Clare Hiyama (2016) Edited by Tim Abbott (2026)
Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. Marder, Tod A. "The Porto di Ripetta in Rome." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 39, No. 1 (March 1980), pp. 28- 56. Tempesta, Antonio. Plan of the City of Rome. From The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1645.
The Ripa Grande and The ‘Pilgrim’s Bank’
By the time Pope Leo IV (847-855) fortified Porta Portese (Rome's southernmost gate) with three defensive towers to combat Muslim pirates, the Ripa Grande (depicted on Antonio Tempesta's map of Rome, seen above) had emerged as one of Rome's premiere ports. Strategically located on the west bank of the Tiber River in Trastevere and tapping into the Mediterranean trade network, over the next three centuries the Ripa Grande grew into one of Rome's foremost commercial centers. As a consequence, the port revitalized the city's naval trade, which had waned after the abandonment of the ancient Marmorata port across the river during the 5th and 6th centuries. The port's principal imports included Greek and Spanish wine, grain, and oil, although rice, sugar, and luxury goods also passed through the port. From there, the commodities flooded into Trasteverine markets, as well as other marketplaces across the Tiber, such as the ancient Foro Boario near the Capitoline area of Rome. The Ripa Grande also played a central role in Christian pilgrimage routes to Rome in the medieval period. Travelling up the Tiber River from the port in Fiumicino, pilgrims poured into the Ripa Grande and, most likely, travelled along Via Lungaretta to visit Rome's sacred spaces. Over time, and particularly during Jubilee years, the influx of pilgrims transformed the Ripa Grande from a lively urban neighborhood into a hectic hub of religious and commercial activity. For this reason, the Ripa Grande was appropriately nicknamed the "Pilgrim's bank." Today, unfortunately, nothing remains of this important medieval site. The embankment project in 1880 led to the demolition of the port's ships, docks, and infrastructure. Nonetheless, key locations in the port's history remain intact. The Marmorata Port, for instance, has been remarkably well preserved on the left bank after its excavation in the late 19th century. Additionally, constructed into the Aurelian wall during the ancient period and frequently used during the medieval period, the Porta Portese on Via Portuense still stands. Most importantly, we may walk along the steps in front of the Institute of San Michele complex on Porto di Ripa Grande and imagine the galleys and rowboats that populated the Tiber River and this flourishing harbor, serving as an important reminder of this port's location and medieval past.
Nate Grein (2017) Edited by Tim Abbott (2026)
Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Hong Kong: Princeton University Press. "Ponte Sublicio." Informational panel, intersection at Via Marmorata and Lungotevere Testaccio, by MP Mirabilia. Robbins, Deborah King. "A case study of medieval urban process: Rome's Trastevere (1250-1450)." Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1989. Tempesta, Antonio. Plan of the City of Rome. From The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1645.
800s
Santa Maria in Aracoeli is a basilica that sits at the top of the Capitoline Hill at the site where the Tiburtine Sybil was said to have announced the coming of Christ. The Mirabilia Urbis Romae, a 12th-century guidebook to Roman monuments, claims that it was built on the foundations of the ancient Temple of Juno. Today, however, what remains is the structure that was built in the 8th century, and then rebuilt in the 12th century, as the monastery and church of S. Maria in Capitolio. Approaching the building from the west, visitors begin at the base of 124 steps leading up the hill to the church. In the medieval period, a public market was held in front of S. Maria on the uneven expanse of the hill, cascading down into the piazza below, today known as Piazza Aracoeli. The steps had not yet been built during the 12th century, but one can imagine the crowded market sprawling down the hill where the steps exist today. Although there were medieval steps leading up the east side of the hill to S. Maria from the forum, this market ensured that the main entrance to the church was largely from the west, the primary entrance used by visitors today. Arriving at the top of the steps, take a moment to walk around the top of the Capitoline hill, as it provides one of the best panoramic views of Rome.
Macadam, Alta. Blue Guide: Rome. London: Somerset Books, 2010. Benedict. Mirabilia Urbis Romae. Translated and Edited by Francis Morgan Nicholas. New York: Italica Press, 1986. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.
Purchased by Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici in 1576, the Villa Medici can be understood as a tale of two villas. One is a traditional urban palace with a stoic, regimented front facade (pictured here). The other is a true garden villa demarcated by the building's elaborate back façade, which features multiple Romanesque statues, arches and columns. The Villa was clearly more of an urban palace than a garden villa prior to 1576, as Ferdinando undertook a sizable development project with the aim of more fully integrating the Villa into nature. He enlisted the help of his old friend Bartolomeo Ammanati, who drew inspiration from the contemporary gardens at the Villa d'Este to guide the additions to the Villa Medici. The additions amounted to “the distinctive attic and twin towers, the gallery wing, the Serlian loggia, the elevated appartamento nobile, and the decorated [back] facade” (Andres, 282). What Ferdinando de' Medici achieved through his additions to the Villa were profound aesthetic changes which, in the words of Glenn Andres, “converted a fairly conservative and static mid-century suburban villa into a striking new statement in massing and unity...In short, Ferdinando de' Medici got maximum effect for his minimal effort, radically altering the appearance of the villa and thrusting it to the forefront of contemporary design” (Andres, 283).
Glenn M. Andres, “The Villa Medici in Rome: The Projects of 1576”, Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz, 19. Bd., H. 2 (1975), pp. 277-302.
Though it is now the home to an expansive museum of art as one of the branches of the National Roman Museum, the Palazzo Altemps has a long history of noble occupation. From the time of the ancient Romans the site was one of the largest marble warehouses in the ancient city, just 160 meters up the Tiber from the Ponte Elio, one of the two marble ports of Rome. You can see part of the excavations today in one of the museum’s wings. In 1477, during a period of urbanization on the Campus Martius, Girolamo Riario, nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, began construction of what would become the Palazzo Altemps. Due to their relation to the Pope, the Riario family had significant influence over politics in Rome, and during Sixtus' papacy the Riario family built on a massive scale, with projects including the Cancelleria and Palazzo Corsini. Following the initial construction of the Palazzo Altemps, Cardinal Francesco Soderini purchased the palace in 1511. During his residency he renovated the palace. However his renovations did not last the rest of the century. Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps, who lends his name to the palace today, purchased the palace in 1568 to house his expansive art collection. His art collection included mostly statues in the classical vein. Upon his purchase he commissioned an extreme makeover of the palace, covering the courtyard, the church of Ancietus, and the loggia as they appear today. While Sittico’s collection is featured in some place in some places, the Boncampagni Ludiovisi and Egyptian collections are far more prominent within the museum, both of which are extremely classical in their aesthetics and history.
Lalupa. Roma, Palazzo Altemps: Cortile Maggiore, photo, March 2, 2007. http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Altemps#/media/File:Palazzo_Altemps_-_cortile_1010531.JPG "National Roman Museum: The Palazzo Altemps." Soprintendenza Speciale per il Colosseo, il MNR, e l'Area Archaeologica di Roma. Date Accessed June 3, 2015. http://archeoroma.beniculturali.it/en/museums/national-roman-museum-palazzo-altemps "Palazzo Altemps." Tiscali. Date Accessed May 31, 2015. http://web.tiscali.it/romaonlineguide/Pages/eng/rbarocca/sBHy15.htm "Palazzo Altemps." Rome Guide. Date Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.romeguide.it/ALTEMPS/palazzoaltemps.htm "Palazzo Altemps: Museo Nazionale Romano." A View on Cities. Date Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/palazzoaltemps.htm
The Torre Sanguigna is a medieval tower just north of the Piazza Navona. Despite the large number of noble family towers that once filled Rome, it is today one of the “ill-documented and few” towers that still survive from the inhabited city center of the Middle Ages. An article on medieval masonry is one of the few English-language articles to mention it, and this source, as well, mentions little more about it than its proximity to the Piazza Navona. It does, however, provide a date for the construction of the Torre Sanguigna: the alternating rows of brickwork and small bricks of tufa (a local stone) visible on its lower section suggest a twelfth or thirteenth-century date of construction. Many medieval towers in Rome that survive are often treated as “museum pieces” and are disconnected from its medieval context; the Torre Sanguigna, however, is an exception. It is still integrated into its block of buildings, even if the fortified house—domus—that would have originally been connected to it and housed the noble family that built it is no longer standing or at least visible. Despite the great changes to the city since the Middle Ages, including the widening of the streets and the greater height of the surrounding buildings, the Torre Sanguigna, as currently situated, provides a view of the original place of the tower as part of a larger building complex. Antonio Tempesta’s seventeenth-century map of Rome provides a perspective of the tower midway between its construction and the present day, and it is depicted, then as now, as part of the surrounding city block.
Emma Burd (2015), edited by Sam Jackson (2027)
Barclay Lloyd, J. E. “Masonry Techniques in Medieval Rome.” Papers of the British School at Rome 53 (1985): 225-277. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312 - 1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980. Tempesta, Antonio. Plan of the City of Rome. From The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1645.
The Torre delle Milizie (“Tower of the Militia”) is a large defensive tower from medieval Rome built on top of Trajan's Market. Constructed between the late 1100s and the early 1200s, it was developed in the 1270s under Pandolfo della Subura, creating the massive base and the distinctive three-level outline that we see today. The name "of the militia," which was applied to the tower and to its immediate area, recalls the site's use as a base for Byzantine troops under the Late Roman Emperor Tiberius I Constantine (578-582CE). An earthquake destroyed the top floors in 1349, reducing the tower's height to 50m (165 ft). The tower was part of a larger fortress complex that stood on the boundary between the medieval city center and Rome’s disabitato or "uninhabited" area: it loomed over the city’s visitors as they entered the built-up part of the city. Defensive towers were a statement of family power and wealth during the medieval period. In the hands of the Frangipani family in the 12th century, the tower was controlled by the Annibaldi family in the mid-thirteenth century, and later by the Caetani and Conti families. The Torre delle Milizie is one of the most imposing medieval structures in Rome and is a recognizable landmark from many viewpoints. The tower is also a good reminder that there would have been fortified structures like these scattered throughout the medieval city.
Gracie McNeely (2016), edited by Sam Jackson (2027)
Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1980. Packer, James E. "Report from Rome: The Imperial Fora, a Retrospective." American Journal of Archaeology 101, no. 2 (1997): 307-30. Accessed May 17, 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/506512.
The Torre dei Conti dominates the landscape, just as it once did during the Middle Ages. The tower is named after one of the most powerful families of medieval Rome, the Conti. Notably, this tower stood in the middle of a violent conflict between the Conti family and another powerful family of Rome, the Orsini, at the beginning of the thirteenth century. This conflict was deeply rooted in economic and historical rivalry, which eventually led to a violent attack on the tower as the Orsini tried to turn the city against the Conti. The tower, however, was only one part of a complex the Conti created to protect them. Following a common trend in medieval architecture, this compound-tower apparatus once stood as the grand symbol of the Conti family. Pope Innocent III, a member of the Conti, built the tower as a way to commemorate the family. However, the construction of the tower involved controversy. Scholars have said that Innocent III took money illicitly from the church and gave it to his brother to build the tower. This controversy has led some to believe that the Ospedale di Santo Spirito was built as a way for Innocent to atone for his sin. After an earthquake in the mid-fourteenth century, part of the tower was destroyed. Over time, the tower has undergone more weathering and destruction. However, the remaining base still stands tall among the modern city of Rome. With its own road (Via Torre dei Conti), the legacy of this tower certainly remains prominent across the city’s history.
Madison McBride (2016), edited by Sam Jackson (2027)
Brentano, Robert. Rome Before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth Century Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. 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.
“For the better part of the Middle Ages, Rome must have had [a] hedgehog look.” Hundreds of towers changed and dominated the skyline of Rome in the Middle Ages due to the rise to power of new Roman noble families. Towers were never originally isolated like we see them today; they were always part of a larger complex, which were owned by the great Roman families, and they were a means by which the families could defend their land. One such family, the Pierleoni, fortified Tiber Island in the 11th century and in doing so, built a tower which overlooked the Ponte Fabricio (also called the Ponte dei Quattro Capi)—one of the only two bridges that crossed over the Tiber before the 15th century. Tiber Island was desirable land due to its strategic and hard to reach location. The tower and the fortress that the Pierloeni built held a dual role as a defensive mechanism and as a symbol of the family’s power. The fortified mansion at one point also provided protection for Pope Urban II in 1088 while the anti-pope governed the Vatican. The tower later became known as the Torre dei Caetani, since the fortress fell to the Caetani family, the family of Pope Boniface VIII, around 1300. Eventually, the Caetani family left the site due to flooding. Today, only the tower and part of the mansion remain of the medieval complex.
Shweta Bhatia (2016), edited by Sam Jackson (2027)
Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.