Page 178 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Rome

176  ROME AREA B Y AREA

6 Arch of Gallienus
Via Carlo Alberto. Map 6 D4.
@ 16, 71, 714. q Vittorio Emanuele.
Squashed between two
buildings just off Via Carlo
Alberto is the central arch of an
originally three-arched gate
erected in memory of Emperor
Gallienus, who was assassinated
by his Illyrian officers in AD 262.
It was built on the site of the
old Esquiline Gate in the
Servian Wall, parts of which Roman ruins at the center of Piazza Vittoria Emanuele II
are visible nearby.
church is a small column against 8 Piazza Vittorio
which Bibiana is said to have Emanuele II
been whipped. Her remains,
along with those of her mother, Map 6 E5. @ 4, 9, 71. v 5, 14.
Dafrosa, and her sister, Demetria, q Vittorio Emanuele.
who also suffered martyrdom,
are preserved in an alabaster urn Piazza Vittorio, as it is called for
below the altar. In a niche above short, was once one of the city’s
the altar stands a statue of Santa main open-air food markets. The
Bibiana by Bernini – the first fully market has moved around the
clothed figure he ever sculpted. corner to new, covered premises
He depicts her standing beside and is now called Nuovo Mercato
a column, holding the cords Esquilino (see p344). The arcaded
with which she was whipped, square was built in the urban
apparently on the verge of a development undertaken after
deadly swoon. the unification of Italy in 1861. It
was named after Italy’s first king,
but there is nothing regal about
its appearance today. However,
Arch erected in memory of the garden area in the center of
Emperor Gallienus the square has been restored. It
contains a number of mysterious
ruins, including a large mound,
7 Santa Bibiana part of a Roman fountain from
the 3rd century AD and the
Via Giovanni Giolitti 154. Map 6
F4. Tel 06-446 5235. @ 71. Porta Magica, a curious 17th-
v 5, 14. q Vittorio Emanuele. century doorway inscribed with
Open 7:30–10am & 4:30–7:30pm alchemical signs and formulae.
Mon–Sat; 7:30am–12:30pm &
4:30–7:30pm Sun. 5 7 9 Museo Nazionale
The deceptively simple d’Arte Orientale
facade of Santa Bibiana Via Merulana 248. Map 6 D5.
was Bernini’s first foray into Tel 06-4697 4832. @ 16, 70, 71, 714.
architecture. It is a clean, q Vittorio Emanuele. Open 9am–
economic design with 2pm Tue, Wed & Fri; 9am–7:30pm Thu,
superimposed pilasters and Sat & Sun. & 7 ∑ museorientale.
deeply shadowed archways. beniculturali.it
The church itself was built
on the site of the palace The museum occupies part of
belonging to Bibiana’s the late 19th-century Palazzo
family. This is where the Brancaccio, home of the Italian
saint was buried after being Institute of the Middle and Far
flogged to death with East since 1957. The collection
leaded cords during the ranges from prehistoric Iranian
brief persecution of the ceramics and sculpture from
Christians in the reign Afghanistan, Nepal, Kashmir, and
of Julian the Apostate Early sculpture by Bernini of the martyr India to 18th-century Tibetan
(361–3). Just inside the Santa Bibiana (1626) paintings on vellum. From the

US_176-177_EW_Rome_US.indd 176 15/03/17 4:20 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.9)
Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm