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Efforts have been underway for decades to create a public park in
order to protect one of the most beautiful and historically
significant areas within the city of Rome. The nascent Parco
della Caffarella includes unbroken stretches of the evocative
Roman campagna, already familiar to many foreigners via the
canvases of Claude Lorrain. Virginia Woolf, visiting this
part of Rome in 1927, had this to say, but naturally she
put it in writing: "I only wish to be allowed to stay
here - for ever and ever - never see a soul ". (And here
in parts of the Caffarella, you can still hope to accomplish this a bit.)
She continues, "We rambled over the Campagna on Sunday. I suppos
e France is all right, and England is all right, but I have never seen
anything as beautiful as this is. Figure us sitting in hot sunshine on
the doorstep of a Roman ruin in a field with hawk-colored archways
against a clear grape-colored sky, silvery mountains in the background."
The 210 hectares (some 520 acres) under consideration extend out from
the Aurelian Walls between the ancient Via Latina and the slightly more
recent and more famous Via Appia Antica. On the southern edge, along the Appian Way, it includes the Tomb of Cecilia Metella and the
Maxentian Complex with its well-preserved circus.Parts of the catacombs
extend underground, although the entrances are found some hundreds
of meters closer to the center of Rome.On the north, the "park"
is bounded by the dense urban neighborhoods that grew up after a second
line of Rome's subway (Metropolitan, Line A) was constructed beginning
in the 70's. This portion of the Caffarella is home to some well-preserved
Roman temples and sepulchres as well as a 16th century manor house, that was
the center of a large agricultural estate. It is, in fact, from the name of
its 16th century owners, the Caffarelli's, that the Valley of the Caffarella
takes its current name.
Given its size, the Caffarella cannot be taken in all at once. It has so
many aspects. On my first visit to the Appian Way, departing from Rome's
center by bicycle, I couldn't help marvelling that at certain points
what I was seeing must be very little changed from what Saints Peter
and Paul or Caton the Elder might have viewed as they went to and
from Rome on foot. Across the valley, one can have the same strange
sensation as when finding oneself in the midst of rocks and forests
in New York's Central Park, you look up to glimpse the wall of
high-rises along Fifth Avenue.Walking towards the neighborhoods
on the northern edge of the Caffarella, there is an intriguing
patchwork of gardens, fenced off by vines or reed fences.
Certain individuals have taken advantage of the unclear situation to
illegally appropritae enviable garden plots. But imagine, that after
all the centuries and waves of haphazard urban sprawling, most of this
prized valley (90%) remains a sheeppasture, albeit it a rather distinguished one.
Is the glass half full or half empty? Clearly, from the point of view of
a group of civic-minded neighbors who banded together to form the Committee
for the Park of the Caffarella in 1984, it is the latter.
On paper at least, the Caffarella has been a public park since 1962.However,
this did not mean that much of any action was taken to realize the project.
It has been a long and discouraging story for the members of the
committee. Since 1967, when the city accepted the concept of a park
including the Caffarella, there have been shifts in zoning plans as well
as strategies for the expropriation of the land. At one point in the
70's, just as the expropriation was about to proceed, the major land owner
successfully challenged the regional government in the administrative court. Legal rangling about the law and the correct price for the land took up much of the 80's. The owner had the bright idea at one point to offer as a gift to the city the central , marshy part of the Caffarella in exchange for development rights to the land on both slopes of the valley, that which encompasses most of the important monuments. Fortunately, this "cunning" plan did not slip by the officials or citizens on guard at the time. In the mid 90's, then, on the eve of the Jubilee
of 2000, the committe finds itself fighting the same old battle, but
perhaps this time in a slightly more advantageous position. Funds have
been appropriated in recent years for the exppropriation, the plan for
implementation is in place. The politicians, as ever, are all in favor
of the realization of the park. Perhaps this time around, with the impetus
of the Jubilee--- more funds available and Rome coming under the
international visitor spotlight --- .there will be enough momentum
to move forward.
With the prospect of the park becoming a reality, an interesting group
has been spun-off from the Committee. Called HUMUS, it is a cultural
association which will be authorized to develop educational and cultural
activites for Roman citizens as well as a limited kind of tourism in
the Caffarella. Beginning with guided tours of the area as it exists,
that is nature walks and visits to the monuments that are currently
accessible, HUMUS plans eventually to organize points for the rental
of bicycles,small cafes or stands to provide refreshment--- all such
activities considered from the point of view of balancing the values
of bringing people into to park to see, learn and enjoy versus the
requirements to protect and restore both the monuments and the natural
emvironment.Proceeds from these activities, which amount to contributions
from "members" supporting thetural association for various periods of time
through participation in the activities, will be turned back to fund the developments needed to implement the plan for the park: uncovering certain
ruins overgrown by brush and weeds, maintenance of trails and bikeways,
security measures to protect monuments, etc. From bitter experience,
however, the Committee and HUMUS are hardly counting on the various
governments agencies involved to carry through on all plans, but there
seems to be a breath of hope that the phantom park may become reality,
with luck or " magari" as they say in Rome, before they are all dead.
If in the future, we can fantasize ourselves picking up a bicycle at
one point, biking over to visit a Roman structure whose acquaintance
we've not yet made, seeking out the right spot for a snack or visit
in the countryside to savor what so appealed to Virginia Woolf, then
dropping off the bicycle at the point which is most convenient for
reentry into everyday life.... for the present there are already
practical ways to visit the Caffarella.
I like to let certain historical figures be a guide. Certainly one of
the more interesting personalities to put a stamp on this area was
Tiberius Claudius Erode Attico. Descended from a very wealthy and
noble Greek family, he was born around 100 AD and lived much of his
life in Rome, becoming a philosoper, tutor to emperors Lucius Verus
and Marcus Aurelius, and eventually governor of Roman territories in
Greece and Asia Minor.He built monuments in all these parts, but in Rome
it was his good fortune to marry Annia Regilla, daughter of a wealthy and
noble, who brought as part of her dowry the estate that extended from the
3rd to the 4th milepost along the Via Appia Antica, that is one of the
most beautiful parts of the Caffarella. The Villa of Erode Attico was
built on virtually the same site that Maxentius would later use for
his imperial suburban villa.
However, when Annia Regilla died in 160 AD, her brother accused Erode
Attico of murdering her. He was acquitted by the court (midst rumors
that he bought the acquittal), and went to great lengths to mourn
conspicuosly. Some of the fruits of this spectascle are happily
preserved to visit. The estate was turned into a Triopio, a sort
of holy area reminiscent of shrines to Demeter in Asia Minor. Here
he constructed a temple, which survives today as the church of St.
Urban, but is in fact an almost perfectly preserved Roman structure
demonstrating the wonderfully refined brickwork which had been developed
to its highest point in the second century after Christ.
he presumed tomb of Annia Regilla, which lies further into the park,
along the Via dell'Almone, is often referred to as the temple of the
Dio Redicolo. This invites us to explore the story of the ancient Roman
religious practices as we hike through the park in search of yet other
remains from the extravagance of Erode Attico. But there were many more
actors, and the Caffarella awaits your visit to discover its history.
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