Everyone is waiting to begin my Rome Walking Tour
If you do not join us on this short, but heavily sight-packed walk, you won’t get to meet these beautiful, smiling police ladies along the way!
And, the guys in the sunglasses are wondering what the hold up is…they’re ready to go, and NOW.
So, let’s get going!!!
Summary of Today’s Short walk
In today’s Central Rome Walking Tour article, we start our walking tour. However, we hit only three of its highlights today, as follows:
The Spanish Steps
The Museum and Crypt of the Capuchin Friars
The Trevi Fountain
“A decision is needed by you as to whether you will want to see the first site of our walking tour. If you are particularly squeamish, then a decision definitely needs to be made.”
We will catch up with the remainder of the Central Rome Walking Tour in the next installment of my Italy, Our Italy blog articles.
Yes, today’s the day that we start our walking tour of the central part of Rome. Let me say at the beginning that this walking tour is based on Rick Steves’ “Rome” by Rick Steves and Gene Openshaw. However, I will start us off in the opposite direction. I do that because we had our breakfast this morning only a few steps from the Spanish Steps. So, if you have not had breakfast, before we start our walking adventure, step THIS WAY to see a wonderful dining establishment.
And here is a one-photo refresher of our wonderful breakfast at the Antico Caffe Greco.
The pastry selection at Antico Caffe Greco
[Please remember that all photos can be viewed full-screen by clicking/tapping on the photo]
The Spanish Steps
Aerial image of The Spanish Steps
The Spanish Steps are dead-center in the photo, marked by the red pointy-dot thingie.
The steps form a connection between the lower Piazza di Spagna, and the upper Church of the Holy Trinity of the Mountains. This church, which is seen in the upper part of this aerial Google photo, was constructed in 1502 by Louis XII of France.
By the way, if you are not familiar with how I got this aerial photo from Google maps, I will cover that soon in an article about the benefit of using Google maps for your trip planning. It can be both fascinating and informative.
And the Piazza di Spagna (Piazza of Spain) owes its name to the Palazzo di Spagna, the seat of the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See.
Here is my photo of the front of this Palazzo.
By the way…here’s the original snapshot that I had to transform for you to get the nicer photo of the Palazzo entrance.
The original photo
One often hears people talking into their cellphone as they walk the streets of Rome, “We’ll meet you at the Spanish Steps". It is a very traditional meeting place, which is why we chose to meet there this morning after breakfast. It is within walking distance of anywhere in central Rome, which you will see as you continue to read below.
This is our view as we approach the Spanish Steps from just a few feet away at our Antico Caffe Greco dining place on Via dei Condotti…a shopping street for the well healed.
The fountain that sits proud on the piazza is called the Fontana della Barcaccia, or Fountain of the Boat. If you want to know more about the fountain than just what is looks like, you can check it Here.
Side view of the Fontana della Barcaccia
End-on view of the Fontana della Barcaccia
The Spanish Steps is not only a meeting place for us humans, but the equine folks like to gather here to horse around a bit.
(get it? “a bit”!
Here are folks of the human variety that you may recognize…
If you do not recognize these humans, they are from left to right: Jonathan, Sue, Jason, Marsha, Ellen and me, myself, and I
Here are a couple of photos of the sites of Piazza di Spagna…
The Column of the Immaculate Conception
And this beautiful column is to celebrate the Immaculate Conception, and is coincidently called The Column of the Immaculate Conception.
This marble column is 40 feet high and 5 feet in diameter. To say it weighs a ton is an understatement, and it took 220 firefighters to raise this marble column on December 8, 1857. This started a firefighters’ tradition of paying homage to the Virgin with a wreath of fresh flowers each December 8th.
At the top, that’s the Virgin Mary, who stands 13 feet high.
At the base you see two of these four biblical personalities: Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel and David.
I would guess that the gentleman to the right is King David, as he is wearing a crown, which none of the other three would dare to do.
On the left? My guess is a Ten-Commandments displaying Moses.
A BEGINNING-OUR-WALKING-TOUR DECISION
Yes, a decision is needed by you as to whether you will want to see the first site of our walking tour. If you are particularly squeamish, then a decision definitely needs to be made. We first visit the Museum and Crypt of the Capuchin Friars.
Recently, I brought to you a blog article titled A Significant Transformation - Involving "Danger of Death". In that article, we were not exactly sure what the danger of death was about. However, in our first stop on our walking tour, there is no mystery about the death aspects of this historical stop. The skeletal remains of 3,700 mostly monks’ bodies are artfully arranged for your viewing pleasure. Various rooms depict like skeletal parts artfully arranged.
We’ve been to this museum twice, and we’ve had no squeamishness at all. By the way, there is no odor at all, as these bones are hundreds of years old.
To help you make your decision, pictured here is a bit of the Crypt of the Skulls. If this photo offends you, then do not visit the Capuchin crypt.
More will be said below when I cover this first stop in more detail.
If you opt out, you will have no problem at all with finding your way without enduring this stop.
La Nostra Mappa di Navigazione di Roma
[Our Rome Map of Navigation]
I think that it is wonderful that the major sites of central Rome can be taken in within less than an hour and just a bit more than a mile. Of course, you have to add time to look at what you came to look at and not just stride by those sites. And having lunch in the latter half of the trip will be an enjoyment.
So, is it Capuchin, or no Capuchin? If it is “no” to the ancient bone art, then go below to The Trevi Fountain. If it is a “yes”, then follow the burnt-orange line above to the crypt of the capuchin friars.
What Was Your Decision Regarding the Crypt?
If you decided to take the Capuchin Friars Museum tour, then keep reading immediately below. If you’ve opted out, then you can skip down to “If You Skipped the Capuchin Crypt”…but, you might as well read until you get there, so you can see what you’ve missed…and perhaps when you go to Rome in real life and not just reading about it, you may decide to give the crypt a go.
The Museum & Crypt of the Capuchin Friars
In Italian, that would be “Museo e Cripta dei Frati Cappuccini”.
This is a good place to have a ‘Speaking Italian’ lesson. Notice that in English, we say “Capuchin”, where the ending of “chin” is just as we would say “chin”…that thing below your lips. Expressed in Italian, you see that the ending is “cini”. A “ci” in Italian is pronounced as ‘chee’. And, when you see a “chi” in Italian, it is not ‘chee’, but ‘key’. Zucchini is a good example of the ‘key’ sound as we say zoo-key-knee. And ‘cini’ is pronounced ‘chee-knee’.
Let’s Begin Our Walk to the ‘Museo e Cripta’
As we are at the Spanish Steps, let’s check out the steps themselves. We walk to the top of the stairs to the plaza in front of the church. Take a right at the church and we will immediately encounter a fork in the road. The left fork is Via Sistina, and the right fork is Via Gregoriana…we want the left fork of Via Sistina, which is a one-way road with traffic coming at you, but as we are walking, all is well.
Enjoy the sites and shopping along Via Sistina as you travel only 1/4 mile to Via dei Cappuccini…convenient, yes?
Here are just a few of the things you will see, like Ellen outside a shop of “Articoli de Regalo”, which simply translates to “Gift Items”. And then, there are the ubiquitous motorcycles and motor scooters of Rome.
At the first major intersection, you are suddenly walking with, rather against, the vehicle traffic…how does that work? The next street should be Via dei Cappuccini, and we take a left there. It is now just two short blocks to the Capuchin, with our destination building always visible ahead of us. That is our destination in this photo, which was captured using Google street view.
Just walk up the stairs and enter the building
The price of entry should be about 10€, which is much less than you wanted to spend walking down the Via Sistina. But, you did well not to make large purchases along the way, as you do not want to be carrying those things for the rest of your walking tour…come back later for those items…or maybe have them sent to your hotel.
Enjoy your visit to the museum. There is more to see than just the bones of friars. You can catch a glimpse of the exhibitions HERE.
There’s a current everyday use of the term “capuchin”, as in capuchino, as in a barrista produced coffee with a light tan foamy head of the Capuchin friars…yes, that’s the origin of the coffee treat’s name. See the tan hood of the monk below…now, enjoy your cappuccino knowing that 3,700 monks helped to create it.
All done now. As you exit the museum, walk left down the street (literally down the hill) along Via Vitorio Veneto. At the northeast corner of the intersection of Via Vitorio Veneto and Via di San Basilio you will see a nice little shell shaped fountain called the Bee Fountain. To see it in more detail, check out my older article HERE. Now keep going down a few feet to Piazza Barberini, where you will see this interesting fountain…but it will be daytime for you. Those fish seem to be upset about their day and night job of holding up that shell with their tails. I can sympathize with them, but not empathize.
It is now about 1/3 mile to our next destination, which is the famous Trevi Fountain, site of the 1954 movie titled, “Three Coins in the Fountain”.
If You Skipped the Capuchin Crypt
I’ll let you in on the point of the crypt and bones. As you are gaping at the artistic assemblage of bones, there is a sign along the way that says something like, “As you see us now, you will one day be”…I don’t remember the exact wording. But, the friars point is that you will die one day as they have, and you should be prepared for eternal life by finding Jesus Christ, just as they did and are now experiencing. Fair warning, my friend.
As you head south from the Spanish Steps, you will pass to the right of the Column of the Immaculate Conception (the purple star on the map)
Bear right onto the Via di Propaganda.
Bear right after crossing Via di Capo le Case onto Via di Sant' Andrea delle Fratte
Turn left at Via de Nazareno
Cross Via del Tritone at the crosswalk and bear right onto the narrow Via della Stamperia
Continue straight until you come to the Trevi Fountain on your right
If You Went to the Capuchin Crypt
I hope you enjoyed the unique art of the crypt. Fascinating, wasn’t it? After you headed down the street as you left the museum and you then passed through the Piazza Barberini, passing through the piazza with the fountain on your left, you will come to a major intersection.
From Piazza Barberini, the street that you are looking directly down to the west is Via del Tritone and that is the street you want.
Walk Via del Tritone for a block-and-a-half and then angle left onto Via dei Serviti, which is a very narrow street with traffic coming at you.
At Via del Traforo, cross the street and continue straight onto Via in Arcione. This street, which translates to “Off on Horseback”, is a very narrow walking street, but you may encounter some vehicles.
As you cross Via della Panetteria, the green guard box to your left and up the hill denotes the street to the Italian equivalent to the US White House.
Keep straint on Via in Arcione, which mysteriously changes name to Via del Lavatore. About mid-block, you will see a very small park on the right. That is where I took the photo that you can see in my blog article titled, “Transforming L’Uomo della Pizza”. The restaurant has changed dramatically since I took the photo 13 years ago. It’s just a few more steps to the Trevi Fountain.
THE TREVI FOUNTAIN
The Trevi Fountain (Fontana Trevi) is iconic Rome. It is possible that no one has ever been to Rome without visiting the Trevi Fountain.
The plot-site of the movie “Three Coins in a Fountain”, it is obvious from this next photo why visiting the Trevi is popular.
You too can take a photo from this same vantage point…see how below
PHOTO TIP: To get a view like the one above where there are no people blocking your view of the fountain, here is what you do. Surreptitiously go up to the second floor of the United Colors of Benneton store and there you have it.
Thank you Sue Lee for that photo tip!
The Trevi Fountain is the terminal point of the Virgo aqueduct, the only ancient aqueduct in continuous use to this day
The Aqua Virgo was one of the eleven Roman aqueducts that supplied the city of ancient Rome. It was completed in 19 BC by Marcus Agrippa, during the reign of the emperor Augustus
It has been suggested that when the Apostle Peter baptized saint Mark, he did so in this Aqua Virgo
In 1732, Pope Clement XII announced a competition in which the greatest artists of the time participated. Among the various projects submitted, that of the architect Nicola Salvi was chosen .
So, what do you do at the Trevi fountain besides gawk at it? You toss in coins. Everyone does it, and you are part of that illustrious group. Here you see Jason and Marsha doing just that.
Here you see Debbie tossing in a few coins.
So, it’s not like the fountain at the mall with the sign that says not to toss in coins.
The other thing you do at the Trevi Fountain is have your photo taken. Again, Marsha and Jason are into it!
And apparently, if you don’t have friends there to take your photo like I did for those above, you might ask a nice policeman to do it for you.
OK folks, it will soon be time to move on to the Piazza Colonna to see a true marvel of ancient craftsmanship…please don’t miss it. But, you will have to wait until we get together next time at your Italy, Our Italy blog.
But, I give you one parting shot from the Trevi Fountain. I grabbed this photo while standing at the fountain. This undressed gentleman seemed to be reading his Sunday paper. I just couldn’t pass this one up.
So, once again it’s ciao for now…but I’ll figuratively see you next time right here, as we move on through the heart of Rome and its marvelous sites.
Steve