Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ventura
(The Fortune Teller; 1595), which shows a gypsy pretending to read a young
man's hand but actually stealing his ring, and
San Giovanni Battista
(John the Baptist;
1602), a sensual and unusual depiction of the saint.
A tunnel links Palazzo dei Conservatori to Palazzo Nuovo on the other side of the
square via the
Tabularium
, ancient Rome's central archive, beneath Palazzo Senatorio.
sculpture. In the Sala del Galata, at the head of the stairs on the 1st floor, is one of the mu-
seum's greatest works - the
Galata Morente
(Dying Gaul). A Roman copy of a 3rd-
century-BC Greek original, this sublime sculpture movingly captures the quiet, resigned
anguish of a dying French warrior. Another superb figurative piece is the sensual yet de-
mure portrayal of the
Venere Capitolina
(Capitoline Venus) in the Gabinetto della Venere,
off the main corridor.
Chiesa di Santa Maria
CHURCH
in Aracoeli
(Piazza Santa Maria in Aracoeli; 9am-12.30pm & 2.30-5.30pm; Piazza Venezia)
Atop the 14th-
century Aracoeli staircase on the highest point of the Campidoglio, this 6th-century
Romanesque church boasts an impressive Cosmatesque floor and an important 15th-cen-
tury fresco by Pinturicchio. But its main claim to fame is a much-loved wooden baby Je-
sus believed to have healing powers. In fact, the doll is a copy. The original, which was
supposedly made of wood from the garden of Gethsemane, was pinched in 1994 and nev-
er recovered.
The church, which sits on the site of the Roman temple to Juno Moneta, has long had
an association with the nativity. According to legend, it was here that the Tiburtine Sybil
told Augustus of the coming birth of Christ.
MONUMENT
Il Vittoriano
(Piazza Venezia; 9.30am-5.30pm summer, to 4.30pm winter; Piazza Venezia)
Love it or
loathe it (as most locals do), you can't ignore the massive mountain of white marble that
towers over Piazza Venezia. Known also as the Altare della Patria (Altar of the Father-
land), it was begun in 1885 to commemorate Italian unification and honour Victor Em-
manuel II, Italy's first king and the subject of its vast equestrian statue.
