Walking to Class in Rome

                Walking to class each morning in Rome is my time to be alone with the Eternal city.  I leave my apartment at Vicolo del Cinque in Trastevere around 9am most mornings.  It’s cool outside, and the street is vacant save for a few city workers cleaning up from the night before.  This is a far cry, of course, from the raging restaurant and bar scene that draws thousands of people to Trastevere each night.  The morning is a time for renewal – a time for restaurant owners and bar patrons alike to take a step back and breathe before jumping back into the fray all over again the next night.   

            As I head north on the rough and jagged cobblestone, I take some time to just open my ears and listen.  Reaching Piazza Trilussa, the small square at the end of my street, I can hear the muffled clang of plates hitting the counter in a coffee bar on the corner.  I also hear snippets of Italian conversation issuing from the other shops and restaurants nearby, most of which are still closed.  And finally, I hear birds chirping loudly from the rafters above.  Every night here, I fall asleep to the sounds of music and singing on my street, and every morning, I wake up to the sounds of the birds.  La Dulce Vida is all about contrast, I suppose.

            After passing through Piazza Trilussa, I cross over the Ponte Sisto, one of the oldest walking bridges in Rome.  The current bridge was constructed in the late 15^th century (1473-1479) under the patronage of Pope Sixtus the Fourth, but the footings still remain from the ancient Roman Pons Aurelius, which was in use more than a millennia before the current structure.  Below me is the Tiber River, which I’ve been told is actually flowing quite swiftly, despite its calm appearance.  To my left, the massive dome of St. Peter’s emerges from behind the trees as I reach the end of the bridge; the crown jewel of the city, keeping watch over the river and the roads. 

Picture I took of the Ponte Sisto from a distance (dome of St. Peter's in the background)

            I reach one such road, the Via Giulia, about five minutes into my journey.  This street, which runs in a straight line from southeast to northwest, was the result of one of the first urban renewal projects of the Renaissance.  Pope Julius II ordered the street’s construction in order to create a main thoroughfare through Rome – something that hadn’t been present in the city since Antiquity.  The project was placed under the direction of Bramante, but one of the most iconic parts of the street, and something that I pass underneath multiple times on a daily basis, is a high-arching bridge planned by Michelangelo and built in the 1540s for the Farnese family.  The bridge was originally intended to connect all the way across the Tiber to Farnese family property on the other side of the river, but the plan was never fully realized.

The Via Giulia (Michelangelo's bridge in the foreground)

            After passing beneath this bridge, I turn back north and start heading alongside Palazzo Farnese, a Renaissance palace of grand proportions that currently serves as the French Embassy in Rome.  The façade of this building was re-done by Michelangelo, and the building also boasts the largest papal stemma in Rome. 

Palazzo Farnese

Soon after passing by Palazzo Farnese, I enter Campo de Fiori, one of Rome’s most famous squares.  This is where Giordano Bruno, the Dominican philosopher, mathematician, poet, and astrologer was burned at the stake in the year 1600 as a heretic.  Bruno is hailed as a martyr for science, and his statue was erected in the square a few centuries after his death to commemorate the spot where he was killed.  Bruno’s statue now broods over a bustling fresh produce market in the morning. 

Bruno's statue broods over the market stalls - gone, but not forgotten

       

            By the time I reach the market in Campo de Fiori, I’ve walked in silence for some 10 minutes.  The hustle and bustle of the vendors in the square is a welcome change of pace.  I usually have to dodge a few morning market-goers at this point, and oftentimes a few motorcyclists that have somehow managed to slip in between the open market stalls. 

            I continue heading northward until I reach Corso Vittorio Emanuele, one of the modern highways that cuts through the center of the old city.  After crossing this street and heading west for about another quarter of a mile, I reach Chiesa Nuova.  Also known as Santa Maria in Vallicella, Chiesa Nuova is a towering white baroque church of the counter-reformation time period.  It serves as an excellent final landmark on my walk to the Rome Center. 

Chiesa Nuova

            After I pass Chiesa Nuova, I continue to head north for a short stretch, until I see the imposing gate below.  This is the main entrance to Monte Giordano, the huge Renaissance palace complex that houses the University of Arkansas Rome Center (along with classroom spaces for other American colleges and universities, including Ohio State, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Tennessee).  Monte Giordano was originally owned by the powerful Orsini family, until it was taken over by the family Taverna 18^th century.  Some of the Taverna family still live in the Baroque wing of the complex, while the UARK Rome Center is housed in the Empire wing. 

Monte Giordano (Palazzo Taverna)

  

            Finally, I walk through a narrow alleyway (just to the left of the gate pictured above) in order to enter from a back gateway, which looks very much like the front one.  The walk takes me about 22 minutes in all, and I enjoy every second of it.  By the time I reach Palazzo Taverna, I feel like I’ve already had a conversation with the city.  The ancient Romans, the Renaissance masters, and even the scientific skeptics have each greeted me in their turn.  Reaching the back gateway, I hold my I.D. card up to the sensor on the wall, the iron gate swings inward, and I head to class.  I don’t look back.  I look out.  I look up.  I look on. 

-Brock