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Travel tips, Food, Lifestyle, Street Art, Events and Exhibitions in Rome and all around Italy.

piccolomini street in rome

The optical illusion to see St. Peter’s dome

Did you know? The optical illusion of via Piccolomini: the closer you get to St. Peter’s dome, the smaller it gets. Another of the countless curiosities related to the Eternal City. Rome always offers fantastic views that leave you breathless. via Piccolomini is no exception with its emotion, which is also completely free. In Rome, near the Gianicolo hill, between via Aurelia Antica and via Leone XIII, there is via Piccolomini, a straight and flat road, which ends with a fantastic viewpoint over the city. On the whole avenue the Dome of San Pietro is clearly visible, which seems to float on nothing. As you get closer to the end of the road, where the lookout is located, expect to see the dome get bigger and bigger. But no: the closer you get to the dome, the more it shrinks. On the contrary, moving away from the dome, one can see it grow and get bigger and bigger. The effect is even more noticeable at night. Why does this phenomenon occur? The reason for this architectural illusion has not yet

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November 28, 2022 9:05 am
latin language in ancient rome

Latin was the most spoken language in ancient

If we consider the continents known and closest to us, until the Middle Ages Latin was certainly the most widespread language. Naturally thanks to the hegemony of Rome, which spread Latin, a bit like what happened today for English, which has become the unofficial language of the whole world. The Latin language was the first of all European languages to enjoy an international aura and the status of a universal language. Now declared extinct, Latin was the official language of ancient Rome, then of the entire Western Roman Empire until its fall (which occurred in 476 AD), one of the most powerful empires – and one of the most fascinating – in history. An extraordinary influence, so much so that of all the so-called “dead” languages, Latin is undoubtedly still today the most “alive”, studied by millions of people all over the world and even considered an official language by the Catholic Church. Everywhere it is considered the effective language of Roman antiquity, the very symbol of its history and culture since the earliest times. Latin and Greek were the

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November 25, 2022 8:41 am
the doll hospital in rome

Secrets of Rome. The doll hospital

There is a very particular place in the Eternal City: in the historic centre, in via di Ripetta 29, not far from piazza Navona, there is a shop that seems to come from another dimension. It is called “Restauri Artistici Squatriti”, renamed by the Romans “Hospital of the dolls” but also Shop of terror, due to the presence of hundreds of pieces of ancient porcelain and non-porcelain dolls, which recall those of some “scary” films. In reality it is a shop where the skilled hands of skilled craftsmen repair, adjust and restore old dolls and other ancient toys with care, to give them new life. The shop is tiny (there are very few square meters available, no more than fifteen) and the toys, heads, limbs, headless bodies, are all piled up, to make an impression. LIKE OUR PAGE ON FACEBOOKBut it is not a dangerous place, on the contrary, in truth it is decidedly suggestive to look at, also because it restores dignity to old objects that many of us would surely throw away. But if as a teenager you

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November 23, 2022 8:43 am
rome-Chiesa-del-Sacro-Cuore-del-Suffragio-even-called-small-Duomo-of-Milan

Did you know that in Rome there’s a small “Duomo di Milano” in the heart of the city?

You won’t believe your eyes: you are in Rome but for a moment you will seem to be in Milan. The Romans, who know it well, call it “little Duomo of Milan”. Let’s discover together the many curiosities related to this church. It is located on Lungotevere Prati, in the midst of buildings of a very different architectural style, not far from the Palace of Justice. This is the Church of the Sacred Heart of Suffrage, a small neo-Gothic jewel in the heart of Rome. The nice name given to it is naturally due to the incredible resemblance to the more famous Milanese church. The external facade, in fact, full of spiers and pinnacles, recalls the Cathedral of the Lombard capital. The construction of the church began in 1908 and the project was entrusted to the engineer Giuseppe Gualandi who was inspired, in the choice of style, by the Gothic from beyond the Alps. The building was completed in 1917 and blessed and opened for worship on 1 November of the same year; the following 10 December the parish was

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November 22, 2022 10:34 am
maritozzo-romano

Why is the typical Roman dessert with cream called maritozzo?

The day of one of the tastiest Roman desserts is approaching and let’s go and discover some curiosities. And in December Maritozzo Day in the Capital. For those who live in Rome or travel to the capital for tourism, a stop not to be missed is to eat il Maritozzo, a sweet from Lazio, made up of very soft bread that is slightly sweet and filled with fresh whipped cream. One of the Roman reference points for this dessert is located in via Ettore Rolli: “Er Maritozzaro” is always full of people and you have to queue punctually to be able to bite into one. An originally poor sweet, which in the Middle Ages was a meal for peasants deriving from an old sweet bun that dates back to ancient Rome. The etymology of the word derives from “husband”, in fact during the first Friday of March, the man who wanted to formalize his bond with a marriage proposal, used the sweet to hide a ring to give to the future bride. BOOK YOUR ROME IN A DAY Even the

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November 21, 2022 9:23 am
street-food-rome-pompeii

Did you know? Street food already existed in ancient Rome

Street food already existed in ancient Rome, along the streets of the city it was easy to find the Lixae, or street vendors who offered food to passers-by. Find out what it was. These dishes were very similar to today’s pancakes or sandwiches, served with meat and sausage. Even then Rome was a gigantic metropolis, full of activities and jobs: the lunch break was often very short. A sandwich and go, in that case the products of the lixae (the street vendors of that time) and go, something to eat and then continue with one’s task. The Romans learned from the Greeks: a large part of the population ate their meals standing up, quickly, stopping in semi-open rooms located on the street. FIND US ON FEEDSPOT They were real stalls that sold food, just like the ones you happen to find in the streets of our cities during festivals or village festivals. Important vestiges of these structures remain, for example in Pompeii, Ostia, Herculaneum. Here the taverns and refreshment points were the destination of passing travelers and a place where

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November 16, 2022 9:58 am

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Typical Roman Dishes, The Pajata

A tasty Roman tradition between budella, milk and tomato pasta mentioned also in the film with the great Roman actor Alberto Sordi Typical dishes of Roman cuisine and cinema. The “Pajata” in “The Marquis del Grillo” by Monicelli with Alberto Sordi. Pajata is a particular and typical dish of Roman cuisine. It is part of the “frattaglie” family, in fact it concerns the soft intestine of the milk calfskin which is normally called duodenum and which contains chimney, the curled maternal milk that resembles ricotta that the calf has nourished. A classic recipe with Pajata served accompanied by Rigatoni with sautéed sauce by scaming the onion, carrot and celery, a clove of garlic. Italy Rome Tour Is Affiliated with Vatican Rome Tours The intestine is either left open to further season the sauce or sewn to the nodine. In a scene of the film “The Marquis del Grillo” by Mario Monicelli, Alberto Sordi label as “excrements” the dish, as a gut with in fact content content food in digestion. However, the definition is not exactly correct, as the duodenum is

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March 1, 2023 8:44 am

The Testaccio Carnival has medieval origin

The memory of the Testaccio carnival is linked to the Ludus Testaccie: it was a celebration of the carnival genre, the first traces of which date back to 1256, when he was Pope Alexander IV. The games lasted until 1466 and were particularly cruel: the party participants enjoyed throwing the animals from the mountain; pigs, wild boars and bulls were sacrificed which the lusores then pierced, to kill and eat them. It was a closely contested race to be the first to get hold of the beasts’ flesh. The Testaccio district develops around Monte dei Cocci, an artificial hill born from the accumulation of discarded Roman amphorae. The hill has a perimeter of about one kilometer and is about 50 meters high. The area was then used as a real landfill for the disposal of the amphorae. As Historia Regni reports, the carnival opened on Monday with a race of young people, on Tuesday the Jews ran, on Wednesday the old ones. The runners were always all naked, when there was rain, cold or mud, and this resulted in a

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February 17, 2023 9:47 am
trevi-fountain-ocean

The position of the famous “ace of Cups” of the Trevi Fountain may not be accidental

Despite the notoriety of the work, there may be village stories linked to some elements of the fountain. One would concern “the Ace of Cups”, a large travertine vase positioned on the right end of the fountain. The Trevi Fountain is certainly one of the most popular and well-known works in Rome. Today it is the destination of millions of tourists who come from all over the world and who delight in the famous rite of tossing a coin, a wish for a speedy return to the capital. For the realization of this extraordinary work it took almost thirty years and perhaps we can also understand why considering the fame enjoyed by the fountain. It was 1731 when Pope Clement XII instituted a competition for the construction of a fountain on the facade of Palazzo Poli. It seems it should have been built by a French sculptor, Lambert Sigisbert Adam, but then, due to a series of still unclear circumstances, the task was entrusted to Nicola Salvi. Some hypothesize that the papal preference was for an Italian client, others argue

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February 6, 2023 2:48 pm
Pulcino_della_Minerva

Roman monuments: the obelisk of Minerva

The ancient and particular Egyptian obelisk was brought in the imperial era: it is supported by a small elephant, very dear to the Romans. Let’s discover his curious story together. The Obelisk of Minerva (Piazza della Minerva) arrived in Rome with the obelisk of the Pantheon and that of Dogali, it was found in 1665 in the convent annexed to Santa Maria sopra Minerva and raised in front of the church in 1667 at the behest of Pope Alexander VII , according to a project conceived by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, with a baby elephant in the base. It is one of the nine Egyptian obelisks in Rome, located in the Piazza della Minerva (the square of the basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva). The obelisk is positioned on the back of a marble elephant, sculpted by Ercole Ferrata based on a design by Bernini in 1667. The whole monumental complex is also popularly known as the Pulcin della Minerva: “pulcino” in the dialect of the time stood for “porcino” , “little pig”, referring to the elephant “because of its small

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February 4, 2023 2:01 pm
rome-district-jewish

The Jewish quarter of Rome is one of the oldest in the world

The ghetto of Rome, also known as the Jewish quarter, is one of the oldest in the world and was born about 40 years after that of Venice, which historically was the first. It is located in the picturesque Sant’Angelo district, where the Tiber Island also stands. The word derives from the name of the Venetian district, gheto, where there was a foundry (precisely gheto in Venetian), where the Jews of that city were forced to reside. Another possible etymology traces the origin of this word back to the Hebrew ghet, which means separation. The area that the Romans today refer to as the “ghetto” is bordered by Via Arenula, Via dei Falegnami, Via de’ Funari, Via della Tribuna di Campitelli, Via del Portico d’Ottavia and Lungotevere de’ Cenci. The historic ghetto was, on the other hand, much smaller and more or less located between the current via del Portico d’Ottavia, piazza delle Cinque Scole and the Tiber. On July 12, 1555, Pope Paul IV revoked all the rights granted to Roman Jews and ordered the establishment of the ghetto,

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February 2, 2023 12:29 pm
roman-sweets

Typical Roman sweets. The “Drunkards” of the Castelli

Most of the recipes of Roman cuisine originate from peasant culture. Ciambellette al vino are a dessert typical of the castles of the province of Rome in Lazio and date back to the customs of the ancient Lazio countryside. It was prepared with makeshift ingredients by very poor families, and then became very popular thanks to the lucky flavor, enriched by the pungent taste of the wine. In the Lazio region there are several variations, including the one that involves the use of the must, which returns a sweeter flavor or the use of citrus fruits, cinnamon or fennel seeds. They tend to be consumed throughout the year, generally at the end of lunch or dinner, but there are those who do not mind having them for breakfast, especially during the Christmas holidays. To prepare them you need flour, baking powder, granulated sugar for the dough and covering, seed oil (someone uses olive oil) and wine which can be either red or white. The flour and sugar are mixed with the wine and the oil and then the yeast is

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January 24, 2023 10:51 am