Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Peter is said to have been crucified. It's a small building, but its classically inspired design
and ideal proportions epitomise the Renaissance
zeitgeist
.
It has a circular interior surrounded by 16 columns and topped by a classical frieze, el-
egant balustrade and proportionally perfect dome. More than a century later, in 1628,
Bernini added a staircase. Bernini also contributed a chapel to the adjacent church, the last
resting place of Beatrice Cenci, an Italian noblewoman who helped murder her abusive
father in the 16th century, and subsquently was tried and beheaded on Ponte Sant'Angelo.
It's quite a climb uphill, but you're rewarded by the views. To cheat, take bus 870 from
Via Paola just off Corso Vittorio Emanuele II near the Tiber.
MUSEO DELLA REPUBBLICA ROMANA E
DELLA MEMORIA GARIBALDINA
MUSEUM
( 06 06 08;
http://en.museodellarepubblicaromana.it
; Largo di Porta San Pancrazio; adult/reduced €6.50/5.50;
10am-2pm Tue-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat & Sun; Passeggiata del Gianicolo)
Housed in the 19th-century Porta
San Pancrazio, which played a major role in the desperate defence of Rome against the
French led by Giuseppe Garibaldi. This small museum gives the background to Garibaldi
and his followers, and their role in Italian history, featuring vivid dioramas and artefacts
including Garibaldi's red shirt.
FONTANA DELL'ACQUA PAOLA
( Via Garibaldi; Via Garibaldi)
Just up from the Chiesa di San Pietro in Montorio, this monu-
mental white fountain was built in 1612 to celebrate the restoration of a 2nd-century aque-
duct that supplied (and still supplies) water from Lago di Bracciano, 35km to the north of
Rome. Four of the fountain's six pink-stone columns came from the facade of the old St
Peter's Basilica , while much of the marble was pillaged from the Roman Forum. Origin-
ally the fountain had five small basins, but these were replaced by a large granite basin,
added by Carlo Fontana, in 1690.
FOUNTAIN
VILLA DORIA PAMPHILJ
( dawn-dusk; Via di San Pancrazio)
Rome's largest park is a great place to escape the relent-
less city noise. Once a vast private estate, it was laid out around 1650 for Prince Camillo
Pamphilj, nephew of Pope Innocent X. At its centre is the prince's summer residence, the
Casino del Belrespiro
, and its manicured gardens and citrus trees. It's now used for official
government functions.
PARK
