Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
KEATS-SHELLEY HOUSE
MUSEUM
( 06 678 42 35;
www.keats-shelley-house.org
; Piazza di Spagna 26; adult/reduced €4.50/3.50; 10am-1pm &
2-6pm Mon-Fri, 11am-2pm & 3-6pm Sat; Spagna)
The Keats-Shelley House is where Romantic
poet John Keats died of tuberculosis at the age of 25, in February 1821. A year later, fel-
low poet Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned off the coast of Tuscany. The house is now a
small museum crammed with memorabilia relating to the poets and their colleagues Mary
Shelley and Lord Byron.
Keats had come to Rome in 1820, on an obviously unsuccessful trip to try to improve
his health in the Italian climate. There are interesting regular talks and tours in English
and Italian (free with your ticket), and occasional creative writing workshops - check the
website for details.
VIA DEI CONDOTTI
( Spagna)
High-rolling shoppers and window-dreamers take note, this is Rome's smartest
shopping strip. At the eastern end, near Piazza di Spagna, Caffè Greco (
Click here
) was a
favourite meeting point of 18th- and 19th-century writers. Other top shopping streets in
the area include
Via Frattina
,
Via della Croce
,
Via delle Carrozze
and
Via del Babuino
.
STREET
GALLERIA D'ARTE MODERNA
GALLERY
( 06 06 08;
www.galleriaartemodernaroma.it
; Via F Crispi 24; adult/reduced €6.50/5.50; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun;
Barberini)
Housed in an 18th-century Carmelite convent, this interesting collection of art
and sculpture from the 20th century was reopened in 2011 after a lengthy closure. There
are works on three floors, as well as in the cloister (amid the orange trees). Highlights in-
clude Gerolamo Masini's voluptuous, boho-looking neoclassical
Cleopatra
, Giovanni
Prini's elegant
Lovers
(1909-13), and de Chirico's painting
Gladiators in Combat
(1930-34).
Views of Rome, painted by Francesco Trombadori and Riccardo Francalancia in the
1950s, are interesting for how they make Villa Borghese and the Colosseum resemble out-
posts of EUR (the Mussolini-built neoclassical suburb). Upstairs there is also a rich col-
lection of still lifes, including works by Giorgio Morandi.
