Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(
www.archeodomani.com
;
Vicolo del Puttarello 25; adult/reduced €3/1; 11am-5.30pm Wed-Fri, 11am-7pm Sat &
Sun; Barberini)
The little-known excavations of Vicus Caprarius (the name of the ancient
street), include a Roman house and a Hadrian-era cistern that connected with the Aqua
Virgo cistern. Eight metres deep, they lie just a few paces from the eternal hubbub of the
Trevi Fountain - the spring waters that once fed these waterworks now gush forth from
the fountain.
This is a chance to appreciate the many layers that lie beneath present-day Rome; mo-
saics and decorations discovered during the excavations are displayed in a small museum.
TOP SIGHT
GALLERIA NAZIONALE D'ARTE ANTICA - PALAZZO
BARBERINI
The sumptuous Palazzo Barberini is an architectural feast before you even consider the National Art Collection
that it houses. This huge baroque palace was commissioned by Urban VIII to celebrate the Barberini family's rise
to papal power. Many high-profile architects worked on it, including rivals Bernini and Borromini; the former
contributed a large squared staircase, the latter a helicoidal one.
The palace houses part of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica and has many beautifully painted ceilings, most
spectacular of which is the ceiling of the 1st floor main salon, the
Triumph of Divine Providence
by Pietro da
Cortona. Amid the collection, don't miss Hans Holbein's famous portrait of a pugnacious Henry VIII, Filippo
Lippi's luminous
Annunciazione e due devoti
, and works by Tintoretto, Titian, Bernini and Caravaggio.
Another must-see is Raphael's
La fornarina
(The Baker's Girl), a portrait of the artist's mistress. She appar-
ently proved such a distraction that Raphael failed to complete commissions.
DON'T MISS…
»
Pietro da Cortona's painted ceiling
»
Raphael's
La fornarina
»
Works by Caravaggio
PRACTICALITIES
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