Tag: Unsure on details (26 total)
Urban Processes in the 15th Century: The Streets of Trastevere & the Banks of the Tiber
Medieval Rome’s systems of urban governance mirrored those of other medieval Italian cities but were somewhat less centralized. In the 14th century, when the papacy left Rome for Avignon, the municipal government had to grow in order to fulfill…
Palazzo Cesi
Although nothing remains of the original Palazzo Cesi and its surrounding gardens next to St. Peter’s Square, standing in the place where it would have been still gives us insight into the site’s setting in relation to the Vatican and the other…
Immigrant Labor on the Via Sacra
The Via Papalis or Via Sacra is a set of streets throughout Rome that connects the Lateran Complex all the way until St. Peter's square, passing through the Castel Sant’Angelo, the Capitoline Hill, and a series of prominent marketplaces along the…
The Hospital of St. Thomas of Canterbury and Margery Kempe
In the early 15th century, the Roman building that is now the Venerable English College was the Hospital of St. Thomas of Canterbury. This particular hospital was famous for housing Margery Kempe at the beginning and end of her stay in Rome, from…
The Hospitallers and the Order of Santo Spirito
Guy de Montpellier, a Templar Knight from France, founded the Order of the Holy Spirit in 1170 and the hospital Saint-Esprit in 1174. The Hospitallers (also known as the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem) were a religious order that adopted a version…
The Disabitato: Farms, Families, and Open Space
Throughout much of the medieval period, Rome’s population was a fraction of the one million residents it had at its peak in Classical Antiquity. With much of the medieval population clustered near the banks of the Tiber River, there lay a vast…
The Savelli Ruins on the Aventine Hill
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…
Borgo prostitutes' races
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…
Capo di Bove
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. In the 14th century Pope Boniface…
The Heart of Medieval Rome
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…
A Medieval House from Street Level
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…
Columns and Colonnades as Spolia
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…
13th-Century Flood Marker
Before the embankment project of the late 19th century, flooding of the Tiber river was a fact of Roman life. Built on a natural floodplain, Rome would experienced catastrophic floods at least twice per century. Waters would engulf houses and…
A Hole in the Walls: The Hospital-cum-Monastery at San Tommaso in Formis
Perched about halfway up the Caelian Hill is San Tomasso in Formis, built into the side of the Aqua Claudia. The history of the complex largely begins with John of Matha, a Provencal priest. Shortly after his ordination, he was inspired to found a…
Monte Testaccio: A Place of Memory and Festivity
An ancient port along the Tiber. In the medieval period, the hill was part of the disabitato within the walls of the city and was used partially as land for cultivation and partially for the celebration of games and ceremonies. In particular, the…
In Search of Jewish Temple Relics: the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran and the Arch of Titus
During the middle ages, it was popularly believed by both Jews and Christians that relics from Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem were housed in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran. Benjamin of Tudela, a twelfth century Jewish visitor to Rome, reports…
Vineyards and Towers: The history of 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…
Medieval House: Vicolo della Luce, 6
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…
The Tor Millina
When one thinks of the Middle Ages, a few images come to mind. Knights in shining armor and princesses, but also castles and towers. And in Rome, there are a great many medieval towers. Among these is the Tor Millina, situated just west of the Piazza…
The Medieval San Cosimato Portico
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 S. Cosimato. San Cosimato began as a…
Trastevere's Aurelian Walls
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…
The Porto di Ripetta
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 mostly a just a well-used riverbank…
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…
The Villa Medici: A Tale of Two Villas
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…