Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
VILLA ALDOBRANDINI
If you're in need of a breather around Via Nazionale or are in search of somewhere for a picnic, then take Via
Mazzarino off the main road and walk up the steps, past 2nd-century ruins, where you'll find a graceful,
sculpture-dotted garden (open dawn until dusk), with gravelled paths and tranquil lawns, raised around 10m
above street level. These are the grounds of
Villa Aldobrandini
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
, overlooked by the house
built here in the 16th century by Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini to hold his extensive art collection. Today the villa
is closed to the public and houses the headquarters of an international law institute.
San Lorenzo & Beyond
BASILICA
BASILICA DI SAN LORENZO FUORI LE MURA
(
www.basilicasanlorenzo.it
;
Piazzale San Lorenzo; 8am-noon & 4-7pm; Piazzale del Verano)
This is one
of Rome's four patriarchal basilicas and is an atmospheric, tranquil edifice that's starker
than many of the city's grand churches, a fact that only adds to its breathtaking beauty. It
was the only one of Rome's major churches to have suffered bomb damage in WWII, and
is a hotchpotch of rebuilds and restorations, yet still feels harmonious.
St Lawrence was burned to death in AD 258, and Constantine had the original basilica
constructed in the 4th century over his burial place, which was rebuilt 200 years later.
Subsequently, a nearby 5th-century church dedicated to the Virgin Mary was incorporated
into the building, resulting in the church you see today. The nave, portico and much of the
decoration date to the 13th century.
Highlights are the Cosmati floor and the frescoed portico, depicting events from St
Lawrence's life. The remains of St Lawrence and St Stephen are in the church crypt be-
neath the high altar. A pretty barrel-vaulted cloister contains inscriptions and sarcophagi
and leads to the Catacombe di Santa Ciriaca, where St Lawrence was initially buried.
CIMITERO DI CAMPO VERANO
CEMETERY
( 06 4923 6349;
www.cimiteridiroma.it
;
Piazzale del Verano; 7.30am-6pm Apr-Sep, 7.30am-5pm Oct-Mar;
Piazzale del Verano)
The city's largest cemetery dates to the Napoleonic occupation of Rome
between 1804 and 1814, when all the city's dead had to be buried outside the city walls.
Between the 1830s and the 1980s virtually all Catholics who died in Rome (with the ex-
