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

ancient rome

Where did people go to pick up girls in ancient Rome?

In ancient Rome, there were several places where people could socialize and consequently, meet potential romantic or sexual partners. In ancient Rome, social life was full of opportunities to create bonds and cultivate relationships, both romantic and purely social. The city offered a wide range of public and private spaces where people could meet, share moments of conviviality and, often, get close to potential partners. The forums, for example, were the beating heart of city life, meeting places where citizens of all social classes gathered to discuss politics, business or simply to spend time together. In this context, it was not uncommon for glances, conversations and mutual attraction to lead to the birth of personal relationships. The baths also played a central role in daily life. These complexes were not only spaces dedicated to hygiene and relaxation, but real centers of socialization. Here men and women, at separate times or in distinct areas, could converse, observe and establish bonds that sometimes went beyond simple friendship. Another fundamental setting for personal interactions were the banquets and private parties organized by the

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December 3, 2024 6:08 pm
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Bees appear in the Triton Fountain. What do they represent?

The wonderful Triton fountain is another of the many Roman masterpieces by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It was built between the end of 1642 and the first half of 1643. As in the Fountain of the Bees, several curious stylized insects also appear here. Find out why. The fountain is in fact located in the current Piazza Barberini and is fed by a branch of the Felice aqueduct, which passed in the immediate vicinity. It best expresses the new Baroque architectural and artistic conception of space. In fact, the sculptural part completely includes the same architectural structure. The four dolphins with intertwined tails, between which are placed the papal coats of arms with bees, the heraldic symbol of the Barberini family, support an enormous shell, from which the Triton rises imposing and majestic. The symbols carved in the Triton fountain recall the dynastic celebration of the Barberini, the family to which Pope Urban VIII belonged. Bees are the heraldic symbol of the family, and symbolize the triumph of Divine Providence. Dolphins, benevolent animals par excellence, represent the works of charity carried

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April 4, 2023 8:55 am
roman forum

Rome has a secret name, which very few know

Did you know? Rome also has a secret name, which very few know. Rome has also had another secret name since ancient times and it has always been a sacrilege to pronounce it. What was this name and what happened to Ovid who tried to reveal it? Many anecdotes are linked to the names of Rome. According to a widespread tradition in antiquity, a city had three names: a sacred one, a public one and a secret one. The public name of Rome was joined by the religious name of Flora or Florens, used on the occasion of certain sacred ceremonies, the secret one has remained unknown. The reason and the need for this secrecy goes back to another tradition widespread among the ancients (but also in some non-Western contemporary cultures) and which is also found in the history of the origin of writing: the name of an object or entity it expressed the essence and energy of the object or entity it defined. Naming something was equivalent to making it alive and existing and knowing the name meant, in

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March 20, 2023 9:30 am
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The Spanish Steps in Rome

The magnificent stairway of Trinità dei Monti, an eighteenth-century masterpiece, was built between 1723 and 1726 by the architect Francesco De Sanctis. The structure served as a link between the slopes of the Pincio dominated by the church of the Santissima Trinità and the underlying Piazza di Spagna. The stairway, in travertine, is made up of a series of ramps, 11, each made up of 12 steps, which divide and reunite, constantly changing direction. From any position it is possible to enjoy a magnificent panorama of the square De Sanctis managed to get the better of the project presented by Alessandro Specchi after long and heated discussions on how the steep slope on the Pincio side should be connected to the church. The staircase was made famous by cinematography but above all by the love of tourists who, before the Coronavirus emergency, used to crowd it (and not only them) at any time of day. A series of balustrades accompanies the ramps: they interrupt the difference in height and serve as a resting point and to admire the landscape. The

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March 9, 2023 9:36 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
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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

In Rome there is a “particular” restaurant

The place is famous for the insults, swearing and profanity (hence the name) addressed to customers by the service staff and the entertainer. The waiters, with each dish, make compliments and jokes aimed at the customers; the musical animation with guitar and accordion consists of Roman vernacular stornelli, adapted and weighted according to the audience present at the tables. It sounds like a joke and instead it’s a spectacular commercial gimmick. It’s not easy to eat in this place because you are laughing all the time. Traditional Roman cuisine, entertainment and guaranteed entertainment. Stay away from the touchy: a small, warm place, to be booked in advance otherwise it will be difficult to find a place. Must try at least once in your life. The restaurant “Cencio, La Parolaccia” is located in Rome, in Vicolo del Cinque, Trastevere area: since 1941 it has distinguished itself from all the other Roman taverns, for its particular folk entertainment. “Vulgar” entertainment has become their forte. The restaurant, initially called Osteria da Cencio, was opened in 1941 by the spouses Vincenzo “Cencio” and Renata

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January 23, 2023 4:45 pm
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The city walls of Rome: Saint Paul Door

After talking about the Porta Latina and the origin of the word Lazio associated with it, we dedicate our article to one of the most impressive and best preserved of the gates of the Aurelian Walls in Rome. The name is due to the fact that it is located near the exit for the Basilica of San Paolo outside the walls. The Gate has two huge towers with a circular base and originally two arches, it once took the name of Porta Ostiensis because the via Ostiense starts here and reaches the sea of Ostia between via Marmorata and viale Aventino. Over the years the port of Ostia lost its significant role for trade and the name of Paolo was increasingly associated with the port. The collection of the toll for the relative transit took place nearby. (In this regard, the customs scene in the film “We just have to cry” is memorable, where the transit – in another area – is repeatedly asked: “Who are you. What do you do? A Fiorino” filmed at the Castle of Rota ,

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January 20, 2023 10:56 am
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Gladiator fights were abolished in 404 AD

The gladiatorial activity was abolished in 404 by Honorius I. Already the emperor Constantine did everything possible to put an end to the barbarism of the Colosseum, however it was only in 404 that the shows ended completely. The battles were abolished following an accident in which the Greek monk Almacchio (or Telemachus) was killed, who went down to the Arena to protest against these abominable tortures. But who were the gladiators really? What really happened in the Colosseum in Rome and in the other amphitheaters of the Roman Empire and why did these shows get abolished after so many deaths? Did you know? Gladiator fights were abolished in 404 AD. after the killing of a monk. Theodoret narrates (History Eccl., V, 26) that a certain monk Telemachus would have come from the East to Rome to put an end to the cruelty of gladiator fights. One day during a show he went down in the middle of the arena among the fighters, trying to stop the massacre, but the indignant spectators stoned him. The emperor Honorius, informed of this,

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January 11, 2023 9:25 am