Page 197 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Rome

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3 Arch of Dolabella the site of an ancient Roman salami, cheese, an egg, and two
firemen’s barracks, which later apples. The garden, now owned
Via di San Paolo della Croce.
Map 9 A2. @ 81, 117, 673. v 3. became a meeting place for by the city of Rome, still makes
q Colosseo. Christians. In the 16th century an ideal place for a picnic. In
Pope Leo X added the portico summer it hosts an excellent
The arch was built in AD 10 by and the coffered ceiling. jazz festival.
consuls Caius Junius Silanus and In the apse behind the
Cornelius Dolabella, possibly on modern altar is a superb 9th-
the site of one of the old Servian century mosaic commissioned
Wall’s gateways. It was made of by Pope Paschal I. Wearing the
travertine blocks and later used square halo of the living, the
to support Nero’s extension of pope appears at the feet of the
the Claudian aqueduct, built to Virgin and Child. The Virgin,
supply the Imperial Palace on surrounded by a throng of
the Palatine Hill. angels, holds a hand kerchief
like a fashionable lady at the
Byzantine court.

5 Villa Celimontana
Piazza della Navicella. Map 9 A2.
@ 81, 117, 673. Park: Open 7am–
dusk daily. Park of Villa Celimontana
The Dukes of Mattei bought this
land in 1553 and transformed 6 San Sisto Vecchio
the vineyards that covered the Piazzale Numa Pompilio 8. Map 9 A3.
hillside into a formal garden. As Tel 06-7720 5174. @ 160, 628, 671,
The restored Arch of Dolabella well as palms and other exotic 714. Open 9–11am & 3–5:30pm daily.
trees, the garden has its own ^
Egyptian obelisk. Villa Mattei, built
4 Santa Maria in in the 1580s and now known as This small church is of great
Domnica Villa Celimontana, houses the historical interest, granted to
Italian Geographical Society. St. Dominic in 1219 by Pope
Piazza della Navicella 12. Map 9 A2. The Mattei family used to Honorius III. The founder of the
Tel 06-7720 2685. @ 81,117, 673. v 3.
q Colosseo. Open 9am–noon & 3:30– open the park to the public on Dominican order soon moved
6pm daily (to 7pm in summer). 5 7 the day of the Visit of the Seven his own headquarters to Santa
Churches, an annual event Sabina (see p206), San Sisto
The church overlooks the Piazza instituted by San Filippo Neri in becoming the first home of the
della Navicella (little boat) and 1552. Starting from the Chiesa order of Dominican nuns, who
takes its name from the Nuova (see p126), Romans went still occupy the monastery. The
16th-century fountain. Dating on foot to the city’s seven major church, with its 13th-century
from the 7th century, the churches and, on reaching Villa bell tower and frescoes, is also
church was probably built on Mattei, were given bread, wine, a popular place for weddings.

Apse mosaic of the Virgin and Child in Santa Maria in Domnica

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