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

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St. Sabina in Rome and the orange tree that San Domenico planted

The Roman church of Santa Sabina, built in the 5th century on the tomb of the Saint, on the Aventine, is one of the best preserved early Christian churches in the city. Santa Sabina was a Roman noble who was martyred after her conversion to Christianity. A very special tree lives in the convent of the basilica. A living monument, an ancient tree considered miraculous that has flourished for more than 800 years and offers its fruits in one of the most beautiful sites in Rome. It was planted by San Domenico himself in the very distant 1220. Let’s find out this particular story together. It is the first orange planted in Italy and is still the oldest in Europe. In fact, St. Dominic brought the orange from Spain (his country of origin, he was a native of Careluega, 1170) and it was transplanted here in 1220 (until the 13th century the orange plant was unknown in Europe). Domenico di Guzman, founder of the Order of Preachers in Toulouse in 1215 (better known as “Dominicans”) lived and worked here. In

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March 22, 2022 10:56 am
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The Chapel of the Madonna dell’Archetto, the Smallest Church in Rome

Roman monuments: the Chapel of the Madonna dell’Archetto, the smallest church in Rome. There are more than 900 churches in Rome, a fact that makes it the city with the most churches in the world; their history has accompanied that of the city for seventeen centuries, marking its religious, social and artistic evolution. There are gigantic, ancient, very important ones and there is one, no less important than the others, which is also the smallest place of worship in Rome. The chapel of the Madonna dell’Archetto is a small oratory in Rome, in the Trevi district, in Via di San Marcello 41b. The official name of the church is church of Santa Maria Causa Nostrae Laetitiae. This chapel was built in the nineteenth century to house an ancient image of the Madonna who was venerated under a narrow archway at Palazzo Savorelli Muti Papazzurri, once Palazzo Balestra. Once the alley was closed, the Marquis Alessandro Savorelli Muti Papazzurri had a small chapel built there where he placed the image of the Madonna causa nostrae letitiae painted on majolica in 1690

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February 28, 2022 3:57 pm
arsacs foundation

Italy Rome Tour Support the Foundation Arsacs

The ARSACS ODV association is one of the associations that have joined the Telethon Foundation’s “Fall Seed Grant 2021” project to finance research projects on Charlevoix-Saguenay spastic ataxia. When you are faced with a rare genetic disease, you have two paths ahead: let yourself be overwhelmed by the loss of orientation or start sowing. Susanna and her husband Paolo have chosen the second path, and since they learned that their second son Edoardo was suffering from ARSACS (or Charlevoix-Saguenay spastic ataxia) they have done nothing but sow small seeds with the hope that sooner or later they will give their fruits. This is why the ARSACS ODV association, of which Susanna is president and which is a reference point for families facing this disease in Italy, has decided to raise funds for the Telethon Foundation’s Seed Grant. It is a decision shared by the whole family: “We want to sow now, we live it as an urgency. Edo is 9 years old and time passes quickly, her disease will progress. We are aware that we could reap the fruits of

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February 25, 2022 5:01 pm
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Travel Rules from March 1st 2022 to enter in Italy

Travel to Italy, no buffer or quarantine for arriving foreigners: the order of Hope from March 1st. The Minister of Health signs the provision that provides for the same rules already in force for citizens of the European Union Foreigners arriving in Italy will no longer have to swab. Health Minister Roberto Speranza signed a new ordinance which provides, starting from March 1st, for arrivals from all non-European countries the same rules already in force for European countries. One of the conditions of the green pass will be sufficient for entry into the national territory: vaccination certificate, recovery certificate or negative test. The test The swab will be necessary for unvaccinated tourists and for those who have been vaccinated with drugs not yet recognized by EMA, such as Sputnik. Easter vacation It is the turning point that the world of tourism has been waiting for for days. Foreigners who want to come to Italy already for the Easter holidays (April 17) will no longer have to deal with the complexity of the rules imposed by the Covid epidemic. JOIN OUR

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February 24, 2022 8:43 am
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What does the Latin acronym SPQR mean?

What does the Latin acronym SPQR mean? How many times have you happened to see this writing? In tHow many times have you happened to see this writing? In the base of a statue, on a wall in Rome, in a mosaic, in a manhole. Or revisited, in modern times, to talk about what was the Roman greatness, as for example in the coat of arms of the city of Rome. SPQR (from the Latin Senatvs PopvlvsQve Romanvs – the Senate and the Roman People) is an abbreviation that contains the figures that represent the power of the ancient Roman Republic: the Senate and the people, the patricians and plebeians who were the foundation of the Roman state. The SPQR acronym is still the coat of arms of the city of Rome today. The abbreviation SPQR was constantly used even after that date that we moderns have conventionally assumed, 476, to indicate the end of the government of Rome. Throughout the early Middle Ages, although in decline, Rome continued to be the most populous city in the West, and to

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February 22, 2022 9:10 am
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Which is the oldest church in Rome?

Two churches on contend for the title of oldest churches in the capital: Santa Prisca and Santa Pudenziana, both linked to the first Christians and to the figure of Peter. It must be said that the first basilicas built by Constantine are San Pietro and San Giovanni in Laterano, even if their present appearance has nothing to do with the structures built by the first Christian Emperor. Lately, however, the idea based on specific studies has been spreading that the oldest Christian church is precisely that of Santa Pudenziana, which houses one of the most beautiful and ancient mosaics in Rome. If the dates hypothesized by historians were true, the basilica would have been built around 380 AD. The mosaic immediately after: between 410 and 417 under the pontificate of Innocent I (pontiff from 401 to 417). Therefore, it would be the oldest mosaic made inside a Christian church in Rome. The mosaics of the Mausoleum of Santa Costanza, in fact, although they are older, were not made in a church but in a mausoleum. Furthermore, they do not represent

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February 12, 2022 5:30 pm
Basilica-Santa-Maria-in-Trastevere

The oldest Fountain in Rome

Did you know? The oldest fountain in Rome, still working, is the one located in front of the basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. This wonderful monument was designed by Donato Bramante starting from an imperial fountain, over time it was then modified first by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and then by Carlo Fontana. Let’s go and discover all the secrets. Over the centuries, Pope Adrian I wanted the pre-existing fountain to be restored and since then documentary traces have been lost until 1450. On the occasion of the jubilee, under the papacy of Niccolò V Parentucelli, a square basin was built on a short staircase. Two circular-shaped basins were placed in the center, one above the other, both supported by a column. Between 1496 and 1501 Bramante put his hand to the fountain. He decorated the remaining upper basin with wolf heads: the water gushed from their mouths to fall back into the lower basin. At the end of the sixteenth century Giovanni Fontana carried out a radical intervention on the same work to change its appearance. The base basin

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February 10, 2022 3:06 pm
zoolander 2

A journey from the classic “La Dolce Vita” to the fun “Zoolander 2”

Famous Movies Locations in Italy Cities, villages and unspoiled locations chosen by the best international directors for famous Italian and foreign movies. Italy is also this. Rome of course, is one of the most loved cities by directors: hundreds of movies have been shoot here, ranging from neorealist ones, to costume dramas and comedy films. The latest is “Zoolander 2” and, if you are lucky you could meet Ben Stiller around the Eternal City, because in these days he is still here, shooting in via dei Fori Imperiali and other locations. Another movie recently shot in Rome is “007 Spectre”, the last episode of the series with Daniel Craig and the Italian bond girl Monica Bellucci, shot in many Roman locations among which Trastevere, Via Nomentana and Ponte Sisto. The Great Beauty of Rome Rome owes its fame also to movies, some unforgettable scenes of the Eternal City consecrated the history of Italian cinema indeed. Just think of the Oscar winning “La Dolce Vita” and “8½” (Federico Fellini, 1960 and 1972); “The Great Beauty” (Paolo Sorrentino, 2014) Furthermore, Rome is

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April 8, 2015 7:11 pm
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Easter weekend in Italy, where can I save money?

The long weekend is becoming the ideal holiday for Italians, eager to relax but also to reduced charges. Given that one of the Passover is coming, the Center for Studies Casa.it has prepared an analysis of the average weekly fee to lease a furnished apartment of 70 sqm for 4 people (February 2013 data) of the main resorts, from coast of the peninsula to the cities of art. The result? Reward especially cities that have lowered the standards of the apartments compared to 2012, with peaks of growth in double digits.The research highlights the location of Liguria and Tuscany, where the apartments showed a cost per square meter in sharp decline compared to 2012, which led to an increase in demand even higher, facilitated by absolute prices fairly low. A trend observed in most of the cities of Liguria, where differ mainly Levanto, which records prices decreased by 5.2% compared to 2012, Diano Marina and Arenzano where the weekly fee of around € 280 is among the lowest in Italy.

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March 25, 2013 5:10 pm

The historical meeting of the two popes, We are brothers

Walk together after dinner crossing their impressions on the priority of the Church. Both excited, they give the “you” feel to be the protagonists of an event unprecedented in history. Then the images of the Vatican Television Center show Francis and Benedict in conversation, sitting in a living room. On the low table that divides them lean a white box with documents and within this there is a sealed envelope. Knelt before the image of Our Lady and prayed together.

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March 23, 2013 8:31 pm