TRAM ITINERARY ON LINES 19 AND 13
written by Sergio Caggìa with Paul Gwynne for © Nerone the Insider's Guide to Rome

 

One idea, perhaps, for either a lazy or a busy day, depending how enthusiastic you are feeling and how hot the day is, could be to make an itinerary around the city using a single bus ticket and hopping from one tram to another. This itinerary can be used whole or in part, as you wish, depending on time and inclination. Of course the itinerary can be followed in reverse, over two days, or however you prefere. It is advisable to buy a day-pass for the pablic transport (which includes the trams). This costs 6.000 lire and can be bought from tobacconists, the main bus stations and automatic machines (when they function). So, let's start our itinerary at Piazza Risorgimento, the capolinea (terminus) of the number 19 tram. Our tram will travel towards the river and cross the Matteotti bridge, having passed through an area of Rome called Prati (lit. "Meadows") because, believe it or not, this busy suburb was once- and, more to the point, not a long time ago -only green fields. As you cross the river you'll see on your left the Naval Ministery, noticeble for the huge anchors outside the main doors and the sailor boys loitering around. After a few hundred metres up the Via Flaminia the tram turns right and stops in front of the modern church dedicated to Saint Egidius, built between 1943 and 1950.    Despite its offensive modern facade, the church contains some interesting modern art, including a series of bronze reliefs of the Via Crucis (the Stations of the Cross) cast by a number of modern Italian artists including among their number Giacomo Manzu' (Stations 11 to 14). This could provide an aperitif foa a visit to the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna later in our itinerary. Having visited the church, we will now walk along the Viale delle Belle Arti to the Etruscan Museum in the Villa Giulia. The Villa was built in the mid sixteenth century as a retreat from the summer heat for Pope Julius III. The Villa now contains perhaps the finest collection of Etruscan art in the world (the Museum is, however, undergoing a through reorganization and some room is temporarely closed). Finds from the excavations at Veio, from the necropoli of Cerveteri, Tarquinia, and other sites are all on display. In the summer months the gardens are also used for concerts of Classical music (see posters around town). We will now continue our itinerary by walking from the Villa Giulia towards the National Gallery of Modern Art. Our walk takes us through the Valle Giulia, by many of the foreign Academies in Rome, such as the British School, whose facade recalls the British Museum; the Japanese Academy (again on your left hand side), as well as (on your right) the Academies of Romania, Belgium, Egypt, of the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.    The National Gallery of Modern Art can be found on our left at the top of an impressive flight of stairs. Inside there are wonderful things to be seen, although it should be noted that the attitude of the curators towards which rooms are open tends to be somewhat cavalier and unpredictible. By climbing other steps opposite the Museum (on the other side of the busy main road) we arrive at the park of Villa Borghese. I would suggest taking a left at the top of the stairs and walking through the Giardino del Lago (the garden of the pond). It's a lovely shady spot for a picnic after a hectic morning's sightseeing. Beyond this garden you arrive at the Piazza di Siena, the site of the so-called Roman palio (or gymkhana, certainly not to be confused with the rather more exciting Sienese counterpart). This Donkey Derby takes place in May. The Piazza is also the site of concerts of Classical music and Opera in the summer months. By following the signs you'll easily arrive at the Borghese Gallery (now covered in scaffolding and under restoration. On the ground floor, however, there still can be seen the great early works of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, such as the David, Apollo and Daphne, and Pluto and Proserphine , as well as the marble statue of Napoleon's sister Pauline by Canova. The painting collectio, including the recently cleaned "Sacred and profane love" by Titian (1527) have been temporarily removed to San Michele a Ripa, near the Porta Portese in Trastevere. Let's now take the number 19 tram again either from the near Viale Rossini or Viale Regina Margherita (corner Via Salaria). We are now on our way to the Basilica of Saint Lawrence. It's worth having a look at an unusual, and indeed grotesque, area known as the Quartiere Coppede' after the architect who built it. All the buildings recall houses featured in Hollywood B-movie horror films of the 1950s. Get off at Piazza Buenos Aires and take Via Tagliamento and the Via Dora to Piazza Mincio, the heart of this wierd complex.    Let's take the tram again. We now arrive at Piazzale Verano (pasing the University Campus on our right). In the Piazza we have the entrance to the much restored Basilica of Saint Lawrence and the adjacent cemetery (Cimitero Monumentale al Campo Verano). The Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the walls has suffered over the years, most recently in an allied arrade at the end of the Second World War. However, the little cloister next door is still worth a visit. As Georgina Masson says in her wonderful "Companion Guide to Rome"...the peace of past centuries still fills its surrounding arcades while shafts of sunlight stream down between the classical and medieval columns, which are so appropriately mingled in this place where memories of pagan, early Christians and medieval Rome are fused together. Next door is the huge Campo Verano cemetery, the burial ground of most catholics who die in Rome with the exeption of the Pope. Indeed it is worth pointing out that the Basilica of Saint Lawrence is often occupied by a funeral. For those of you with the more bid sense of curiousity the cemetery it self is worth a visit, if you are that way inclined. Back on the tram on to Porta Maggiore where the imposing Claudian acqueduct, built in A.D. 52, can be seen. We must all alight here to change trams. For those who want, there is an interesting walk under the double arches of the gates leading out of Rome to the ancient Via Prenestina and the Casilina. Here can be seen the famous reliefs depicting life in a Roman bakery at the end of the Republican era. On to the number 13 tram...our itinerary tekes us towards two of the most famous basilicas in Rome, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme and San Giovanni in Laterano. Your guidebooks will fill you in on all the details. However, I do recomand looking at the recently restored mosaics by Melozzo da Forli' in Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.    It is also worth having a look inside the Museum of Musical Instruments next door. A short walk along the Viale Carlo Felice take us to Piazza di Porta San Giovanni past the monumental bronze statue of Saint Francis of Assisi and his disciples arriving in a wretched state to seek conformation of their little order from the Pope. There's so much to see in this area: the imposing Basilica with its charming cloister, the adjacenct baptistry, the biggest obelisk in town and the Scala Santa over the way. There's now a choice, either hop back on the tram and continue on to the Colosseum, or for those of you who prefere to walk the Via di San Giovanni in Laterano takes you to the amphiteatre of the Flavians (the Colosseum) past the Basilica of San Clemente. Another pedestrian itinerary, perhaps for another time, would be a walk over the Celian Hill starting and ending at the Colosseum. This would take you past some of the most charming smaller churches in Rome, along quiet streets and shady parks. I would suggest, in brief, the following route (this will be expanded in a later edition): Colosseum, Vis di San Giovanni in Laterano to San Clemente, take a right up the sloping Santi Quattro to the truncated church of Santi Quattro Coronati. Continuing along the same street towards the Lateran Basilica turn right into Via Santo Stefano Rotondo at the end of which lies this curious round church. Over the busy Via della Navicella is the church of Santa Maria in Domnica. Left of the church, facing the facade, is a quiet track which leads onto the park of the Villa Celimontana (perfect for a picnic, although the entrances to the park are somewhat difficult to find). Our itinerary now takes us out of the park through a little door on to the Piazza San Giovanni e Paolo where the Clivio di Scauro descends under an array of flying buttresses supporting the nave of the church. The view under these arches towords the Palatine hill is one of the most picturesque in Rome. At the foot of this gentle slope there lies the grand mass of the baroque church of San Gregorio Magno. Below the steps to the church the Viale del Parco del Celio leads off on the right towards the recently opened Antiquarium. A few paces further on and we are back at the Colosseum. The 13 tram continues from the Colosseum, past the Circus Maximus towards Porta San Paolo recognisable by the white Pyramid of Cestius. Next to thir is the Protestant's cemetry where both Keats and Shelley are buried among others.    Tram 13 now drives on along Via Marmorata towards the Tiber river which it crosses at Ponte Sublicio and then enters Trastevere at Porta Portese, where our itinerary is almost finished. By getting off the tram at Porta Portese and taking the Via San Michele we pass on our right the deconsacrated convent of San Michele where the government offices of Sopraintendente delle Belle Arti play host to the painting collection from the Villa Borghese. Further along and into the heart of Trastevere, on the left is the charming church of Santa Cecilia, under the main altar of which can be found the melancholy statue of the martyr virgin by Carlo Maderno (1600). By now, tired and hungry, it is time to feed the stomach as well as the soul. Why not try any of the numerous, picturesque trattorie in this charming part of town where the flavour of medieval Rome can still be found...howz about that then!