Interesting Attractions in Centro Storico (Rome)

Fontanella della Pigna

The Fontana della Pigna stands in the Piazza San Marco near Piazza Venezia. It represents the large ancient pinecone (now held in the Vatican) after which the district was named. The fountain was designed by Pietro Lombardi who was commissioned to create ten small fountains in 1927 with the aim of beautifying the city. The fountain is made entirely from travertine stone and is formed by a small basin from which two corollas of tulips stretch as they support the pinecone. The water spurts from side jets, falling primarily into the basin and then into a larger tank at ground level.

Piazza Barberini

After Via del Tritone and Via Veneto were opened into Piazza Barberini, the square took on its present aspect. During the 17th Century, it was named after the noble Barberini family that owned a large palace here with gardens that has now become the National Gallery of Ancient Art. The Barberini were also celebrated by two fountains by Bernini commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, the Triton fountain and the Bee fountain; the latter bears the family's coat of arms.

Porta del Popolo

Porta del Popolo was originally known as Porta Flaminia and opened onto the Via Flaminia. It was part of the Aurelian walls and was the most monumental of Rome's gateways. At one time the exterior was restored by Nanni di Baccio Bigio who was inspired by Titus's Arch. The interior was by Bernini who built it to mark the visit of Queen Kristina of Sweden to Rome who had decided to convert to Catholicism. The gateway in the outer façade originally had only a single fornix decorated with columns supporting a Doric architrave and statues of St Peter and St Paul. The inner side of the gate was more richly decorated and bore the welcoming inscription to Kristina. The other two fornices were only opened in the gate at a later date.

Fontana degli Artisti

Where would the Margutta fountain be if not in Via Margutta, the artists' street? It was designed by the architect Pietro Lombardi in 1927 as part of a series of fountains that were supposed to improve the appearance of the city and to replace the unattractive cast-iron fountains. Ornamentation on the fountain is in the form of artists' tools: brushes, callipers, palettes and easels. The two masks from which the water gushes into small square tanks are rather curious. They have contrasting expressions, one cheerful and the other sad, and are supposed to represent the contrasting fortunes of artists.

Fontana di Piazza Colonna

The fountain in the Piazza Colonna is made from a large octagonal marble tank that rests on two steps. The exterior is decorated with lions heads. The restoration it underwent in 1830 saw the addition of two dolphins whose intertwined tails are inserted in two open shells from which the water spurts out. A larger jet plays between these two smaller ones.

Palazzo Venezia

Construction of this palace begun in 1455 for the Venetian cardinal, Pietro Barbi, who made it his residence. Construction of the first palace was completed shortly before his election to the Papacy in 1464 when he adopted the name Paul II. He then decided to amplify the palace and make it a dwelling worthy of a pope. The work continued until 20 years after the Pope's death and it underwent architectural transformations on several occasions over the centuries. In 1916 it was confiscated by the state of Italy which decided to make it the Palazzo Venezia museum, a role it still plays, as well as being the library of the National Institute of Archaeology and History of Art. During the Fascist regime, the palace was made famous by newsreels of the time, showing Mussolini speaking to the crowds below from a window in the palace.

Il Muletto di Villa Borghese

This original monument by sculptor Pietro Canonica was donated to the city council in 1940. The sculpture portrays Scodela, the famous mule awarded with a medal for his bravery, determination and resistance when transporting a small cannon around the battlefields of World War I. Canonica portrayed the mule with the beret of the 'Alpinisti' on his back in remembrance of the soldier who had formed a strong bond with the animal. He was killed in battle. The sculpture is located outside the Museo Canonica, the artist's house and studio, in the Villa Borghese.

Dioscuri del Campidoglio

Statues of the Dioscuri, the twins Castor and Pollux, stand guard over the flight of steps designed by Michelangelo that leads to the piazza del Campidoglio. The twins were the sons of Zeus after he ravished Leda in the form of a swan. In Rome, the inseparable pair is always represented with two faithful horses. In fact, this last pair of statues was commissioned by Pope Paul III to stand guard over the steps of the Campidoglio but their place was won by the current pair that was discovered during that period in the nearby Piazza Cenci: a sign of fate! Since the discovery in the mid-16th century, the two colossal statues have undergone a number of restorations. That of 1744 was undertaken to repair them when the statues were damaged by the crowd that climbed on top of them after spilling over from the Piazza del Campidoglio during the Lottery.

Pulcin della Minerva

The Egyptian obelisk known as Pulcin della Minerva stands in the center of Piazza della Minerva in front of the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The name Pulcin della Minerva (Minerva's Chick) was given because of the obelisk's small size. Its position in front of a church important artistically and historically and behind the famous Pantheon, as well as the fact that it stands on an unusual marble base in the form of an elephant, has made the monument well known. What is not widely known is that the elephant, carved by Ercole Ferrata in 1667, was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (although subsequent modifications made the sculpture rather more bulky.) The choice of an elephant was made to symbolise the epigraph on the monument, which says that only a strong mind can support wisdom (as symbolised by the obelisk.)

Portico d'Ottavia

The remains of Octavia's Portico stand at the end of the road known as Portico d'Ottavia. It was called this, despite being built in 146 BCE by Quintus Cecilius Metellus, because it was rebuilt by Emperor Augustus in the 1st century CE who dedicated it to his sister Octavia. Two centuries later it was renovated by Emperors Septimus Severus and Caracalla but it retained its Augustan name. Initially, the rectangular area was used for promenading and was decorated with sculptures and paintings; some sculptures were also placed at its center where Octavia's library and several temples once stood. During the Middle Ages - up until the destruction of the Ghetto walls - the function of the portico was altered and it was used as a fish market. One of the results was that the church behind the portico was given the name Sant'Angelo in Pescheria. A Latin inscription on the arch at the end of the portico refers to the curious tradition that allowed the Conservatori - the magistrates of the city - to receive the heads of the largest fish!

San Girolamo degli Illirici

Once past Cavour Bridge, the church of San Girolamo degli Illirici stands at the crossroads of Via di Ripetta and Via Tomacelli. It was founded by a community of refugees that came to Rome from Croatia from as long ago as the 15th Century, following the domination of Kosovo by the Turks in 1387. The community built the church and dedicated it to their national saint, St Jerome. It was built during the pontificate of Sixtus IV, rebuilt by Sixtus V and also restored by Pius IX. It still belongs to the nation of Croatia. The late Renaissance façade has a large portal and a wide window; inside the decorations include niches, pilasters, a large typanum and a small but very elegant bell tower.

Villa Malta o delle Rose

The villa took the name of Villa Malta when it became the residence of the Order of Malta in Rome. The nucleus of the central tower, visible from outside with its bluish windows, dates from the Middle Ages. The villa has changed hands and tenants many times. Throughout the 17th Century, it belonged to the Minimi monks of the Trinità dei Monti, but they let it out to artists and members of literary circles (like Canova and Thorwaldsen) and became popular with the German circle in Rome. In the first half of the 20th Century it was bought by the Vatican, which enlarged the building and turned it into a library with five underground floors. The large salon was transformed into a chapel.