Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MUSEO CRIMINOLOGICO
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MUSEUM
( 06 6889 9442; www.museocriminologico.it ; Via del Gonfalone 29; admission €2; 9am-1pm Tue-Sat &
2.30-6.30pm Tue & Thu; Via Giulia) Check out Rome's dark side at this macabre museum of
crime. Housed in a 19th-century prison, its gruesome collection runs the gauntlet from tor-
ture devices and murder weapons to fake Picassos, confiscated smut and the red cloak of
Massimo Titta, the Papal State's official executioner who carried out 516 executions
between 1796 and 1865.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
ROME'S FAVOURITE FOOT
It doesn't appear on any tourist brochures and you could easily pass by without noticing it. But the Piè di Marmo
MAP GOOGLE MAP is one of Romans' favourite monuments. A giant marble foot, now on Via di Santo Ste-
fano del Cacco, it started life attached to a statue in a 1st-century temple dedicated to the Egyptian gods Isis and
Serapis. Some 1600 years later it cropped up on the street that now bears its name, Via del Piè di Marmo. It was
placed in its current position in 1878 to clear the path for King Vittorio Emanuele II's funeral procession to reach
the Pantheon.
CHIESA DI SAN GIOVANNI BATTISTA DEI FIORENTINI
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( Piazza dell'Oro 2; 7.30am-noon & 5-7pm; Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II) The last resting place of ar-
chitects Francesco Borromini and Carlo Maderno, this graceful 16th-century church was
commissioned by Pope Leo X as a showcase for Florentine artistic talent. Jacopo Sanso-
vino won a competition for its design, which was then executed by Antonio Sangallo the
Younger and Giacomo della Porta. Carlo Maderno completed the elongated cupola in
1614, while, inside, the altar is by Borromini.
CHURCH
PALAZZO DELLA CANCELLERIA
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( Piazza della Cancelleria; Corso Vittorio Emanuele II) As impressive an example of Renaissance ar-
chitecture as you'll find in Rome, this huge palazzo was built for Cardinal Raffaele Riario
between 1483 and 1513. It was later acquired by the Vatican and became the seat of the
Papal Chancellory . It is still Vatican property and nowadays houses the Tribunal of the
Roman Rota, the Holy See's highest ecclesiastical court.
It is often used to stage exhibitions and if you get the chance you should nip through to
the courtyard to take a peek at Bramante's glorious double loggia.
PALACE
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