Page 209 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Rome

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r Protestant saved from penury by the gift of
Cemetery a bag of gold from St. Nicholas,
the future Santa Claus. The
Cimitero Acattolico, Via Caio Cestio 6. beautiful marble inlay in
Map 8 D4. Tel 06-574 1900. @ 23, the main door, the floor, and
280, 716. v 3. q Piramide. Open the remains of the choir are all
9am–5pm Mon–Sat; 9am–1pm Sun 13th-century Cosmati work.
(last adm: 30 min before closing).
Donation expected. =
The peace of this well-tended u Circus Maximus
cemetery beneath the Aurelian Via del Circo Massimo. Map 8 F2.
Wall is profoundly moving. @ 81, 160, 628, 715. v 3.
Non-Catholics, mainly q Circo Massimo.
English and German,
have been buried What was once ancient Rome’s
here since 1738. In largest stadium is today little
the oldest part are more than a long grassy
the graves of John esplanade. Set in the valley
Keats (died 1821), Detail of carving on sarcophagus in the between the Palatine and
whose epitaph portico of San Saba Aventine hills, the Circus
reads “Here lies Maximus was continually
One Whose Name y San Saba embellished and expanded
was writ in Water,” Via di San Saba. Map 8 F3. Tel 06-6458 from the 4th century BC until
and his friend 0140. @ 75, 673. v 3. Open 8am– AD 549, when the last races
Tombstone of Joseph Severn noon & 4–7:10pm Mon–Sat, were held. The grandstands
John Keats (died 1879); not far 9:30am–1pm & 4–7:30pm Sun. 5 held some 300,000 spectators,
away are the ashes cheering wildly at the horse and
of Percy Bysshe Shelley (died Tucked away in a residential chariot races, athletic contests,
1822). Goethe’s son Julius is street on the Little Aventine hill, and wild animal fights, betting
also buried here. San Saba began life as an furiously throughout.
oratory for Palestinian monks The Circus had a central
fleeing from Arab invasions in dividing barrier (spina) with
the 7th century. The existing seven large egg-shaped objects
church dates from the 10th on it used for counting the laps
century, and has undergone of a race. These were joined in
much restoration. The portico 33 BC by seven bronze dolphins
houses a fascinating collection that served a similar purpose.
of archaeological remains and a In 10 BC, Augustus built the
fresco depicting St. Sabas. Imperial box under the Palatine
The church has three naves in and decorated the spina with
the Greek style and a short the obelisk that now stands in
fourth 11th-century nave to the the center of Piazza del Popolo
Memorial pyramid of Caius Cestius left with vestiges of 13th-century (see p139). A second obelisk,
frescoes of the life of St. Nicholas which was added in the 4th
t Pyramid of Caius of Bari. Particularly intriguing is century by Constantine II, is
Cestius a scene of three naked young now in Piazza di San Giovanni
ladies lying in bed, who are in Laterano (see pp180–81).
Piazzale Ostiense. Map 8 E4. @ 23,
280, 716. v 3. q Piramide.
Open 10:30am first and third Sun of
month by appt (call 06-574 3193).
∑ coopculture.it
Caius Cestius, a wealthy praetor
(senior Roman magistrate), died
in 12 BC. His main claim to fame
is his tomb, an imposing pyramid
faced in white marble, set in the
Aurelian Wall near Porta San
Paolo. It stands 118 ft (36 m) high
and, according to an inscription,
took 330 days to build. An
unmistakable landmark, it
must have looked almost as
incongruous when it was built. Reconstruction of the Circus Maximus in its heyday

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