Page 155 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Rome

C A MPO DE ’ FIORI  153

The church, designed by a pupil now marked by lawns. The
of Bernini, Carlo Rainaldi, was church was rebuilt in 1599
completed in 1667. The main and restored during the 19th
elements of the lively Baroque century, but the bell tower
facade are the graceful columns, and Roman columns are part
symbolizing the supporters of of the original design.
the true faith.
Inside the church stands a
fabulously ornate, gilded altar
tabernacle with spiral columns,
which was designed by
Della Porta’s graceful Fontana delle Giovanni Antonio de Rossi to
Tartarughe contain the image of the Virgin.
The side chapels are decorated
century after the fountain was by some of Rome’s finest
built, an unknown sculptor Baroque painters: Sebastiano
added the struggling tortoises Conca, Giovanni Battista Gaulli
to complete the composition. (known as Il Baciccia), and
Luca Giordano.
p Santa Maria in
Campitelli
The Theater of Marcellus by Thomas Hartley
Piazza di Campitelli 9. Map 4 F5 & 12
E5. Tel 06-6880 3978. @ 40, 46, 62, Cromek (1809–73)
63, 64, 70, 87, 186, 780, 810. s Theater of
Open 7am–7pm daily. 5 7
Marcellus
In 17th-century Rome the Via del Teatro di Marcello. Map 4 A5 &
plague could still strike fiercely, 12 E5. Tel 06-0608. @ 44, 63, 81, 160,
and there were no reliable, 170, 628, 780, 781. Open 9am–6pm
effective remedies. Many daily (to 7pm in summer).
Romans simply prayed for a
cure to a sacred medieval icon The curved outer wall of
of the Virgin, the Madonna del this vast amphitheater has
Portico. When a particularly supported generations of
lethal outbreak of plague Roman buildings. It was
abated in 1656, popular built by Emperor Augustus
gratitude was so strong that Facade and medieval bell tower of San (27 BC–AD 14), who dedicated
a new church was built to Nicola in Carcere it to Marcellus, his nephew
house the icon. and son-in-law, who had
a San Nicola in died at age 19 in 23 BC.
Carcere The Middle Ages were a
turbulent time of invasions
Via del Teatro di Marcello 46. Map 5 and local conflicts (see p32),
A5 & 12 E5. Tel 06-6830 7198. @ 44, and by the 13th century
63, 81, 160, 170, 628, 780, 781. the theater had been
Open 10am–5pm daily. Excavations: converted into the fortress
call 347-381 1874 for a reservation).
8 & for tours. 5 of the Savelli family. In the
16th century Baldassarre
The medieval church of San Peruzzi built a great palace
Nicola in Carcere stands on the on the theater ruins for the
site of three Roman temples of Orsini family. This included a
the Republican era that were garden that faced the Tiber.
converted into a prison (carcere) The lower arches were later
in the Middle Ages. The temples occupied by humble dwellings
of Juno, Spes, and Janus faced and workshops.
a city gate leading from the Close to the theater stand
Forum Holitorium, the city’s three beautiful Corinthian
vegetable and oil market, to the columns and a section of frieze.
road down to the port on the These are from the Temple of
Tiber. The columns embedded Apollo, which once housed
in the walls of the church many great works of art that
Lavish altar tabernacle in Santa Maria belonged to two flanking the Romans plundered from
in Campitelli temples whose platforms are Greece in the 2nd century BC.

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