Presentation of my book in Amsterdam

A photo of the presentation of my book in Amsterdam. Thanks to all the people who attended and a special thanks to the Dante Alighieri association of Amsterdam as well as the School of Italian “Studio Lingua” who actively helped in arranging this beautiful event.

If interested in the book, don’t forget to have a look at the best online bookstores!

Presentation of my book in Den Haag

A big thanks to all the people who attended the presentation of my book "Discovering the Colosseum" at Dante Alighieri's association in Den Haag, The Netherlands. It's been a great evening and plenty of copies got sold! The Dante Alighieri association is the most prestigious cultural association for the diffusion of the Italian culture around the world.

"Discovering the Colosseum" is now available!

My book "Discovering the Colosseum" has been published and it is now available on the best online bookstores like Amazon, Google Playstore, Barnes&Noble etc). If you want to discover the secrets of this wonderful monument as well as the stories about the spectacles and many other curiosities click on the below link and there you can have a better idea of my work. Happy reading!

http://romepoint.blogspot.nl/p/discovering-colosseum.html

To purchase the book click here!

Another exceptional finding

Another exceptional finding: the second arch of Titus. The first one, still in place is at the beginning of the Sacred Way (at one of the entrances to the Roman Forum). This second one has been just discovered close to the Circus Maximus. It was the second one dedicated after the death of the emperor Titus in 81 AD.

http://roma.repubblica.it/cronaca/2015/05/28/news/circo_massimo-115493901/#gallery-slider=115510520

Hadrian villa and Villa d'Este seen by a drone

A wonderful video of Hadrian's villa and Villa d'Este in Tivoli seen by a drone. The Majestic ruins of Hadrian's villa and the splendid Villa d'Este seen under a different perspective.

http://video.repubblica.it/edizione/roma/villa-adriana-e-villa-d-este-viste-dal-drone/199633/198682

Rome seen by a drone

Beautiful video...Rome as a drone would see it, not bad!

http://video.corriere.it/da-piazza-navona-colosseo-spettacolo-roma-vista-drone/b13965f4-ea58-11e4-850d-dfc1f9b6f2f5

An ancient pyramid brought to life

The only pyramid of Rome has been recently brought to a new life thanks to a Japanese tycoon who sponsored its restoration. The colour you can see today has now the same splendour of 2,000 years ago...

http://roma.repubblica.it/cronaca/2015/04/20/foto/marino_inaugura_a_roma_la_piramide_cestia_restaurata-112410188/1/?rss&ref=frct1&_vmx=529048

Ancient Ostia from the sky

Seeing the ruins of Ostia antica from the sky is incredible. A perspective totally different which will let you appreciate this beautiful archeological site even more. Wonderful video!

http://video.repubblica.it/edizione/roma/ostia-antica-l-area-archeologica-vista-dal-drone/198250/197293?ref=HRESS-5

Happy birthday Rome!

Today Rome celebrates 2768 years! According to the tradition, it was founded on top of the Palatine Hill on April 21, 753 BC. That year became the year 0 of ancient times: from that date ancient people reckoned historical events exactly as we do today using the year of birth of Christ. Happy Birthday Rome!

The ancient harbour of Trajan

The ancient harbour of Trajan was a masterpiece of the roman engineers. Built as a perfect hexagon, it could host a huge number of container ships. It is a private property but from April 25th is visitable. Shuttle buses can be taken from Fiumicino airport.

http://roma.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/15_aprile_09/i-bimbi-scuole-fiumicino-mini-guide-porto-traiano-ae30ae42-ded4-11e4-9169-2cdb2836f1f0.shtml

Archeological bus 118

For the people who don't want to miss a wonderful part of Rome normally neglected by tourists yet extremely fascinating take bus 118. From Via dei Fori Imperiali till Villa dei Quintili (the biggest of the villas in the immediate surroundings of Rome) passing through the marvellous Appian Way. The price is just the one of a normal ticket: 1.50 euros.

 http://roma.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/15_aprile_04/da-villa-quintili-fori-imperiali-sabato-nuovo-itinerario-storico-archeologico-bus-118-3d53c6e8-daf4-11e4-8d86-255e683820d9.shtml

Exceptional finding

In Rome they have been working since 15 years to the construction of the third line of the metro (metro C). Aside from some corruption and various delays, the line isn't completed yet. And while they dig they keep finding exceptional things...like the one described in this article (it is in italian). It is saying that during the construction of the metro they found 80 metres (roughly 250 ft) of the original walls built at the end of III century AD. These walls were built to protect Rome from possible invasions of enemies. What they discovered is exceptional because for centuries they thought that part of the walls weren't existing anymore...but they was just buried underground very close to the Basilica of St. John in the Lateran. This part of the walls still preserves also some traces of frescoes.

http://roma.corriere.it/notizie/cultura_e_spettacoli/15_marzo_29/ritornano-luce-mura-aureliane-dimenticate-4203bb84-d636-11e4-b0f7-93d578ddf348.shtml

Vatican Museums for homeless

A wonderful initiative: the pope gives the opportunity to a large group of homeless people to have a free guided tour of the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. At the end of the tour dinner is offered to everybody. I enjoy reading these things: the powerful people who try to help the less fortunate.

http://www.ilmessaggero.it/PRIMOPIANO/VATICANO/papa_barboni_cena_musei_cappella_sistina/notizie/1257405.shtml

Street food festival in Rome

Street food, well...let's spell it properly: streeat food! Many times this means good food at a reasonable price. In few days in Rome there will be a street food festival:

http://www.gamberorosso.it/news/item/1021614-streeat-food-truck-festival-a-roma-il-cibo-di-strada-su-ruote-arriva-alla-citta-dell-altra-economia

Reception inside an horse belly!

The horseback statue of Vittorio Emanuele II at the Vittoriano is 12 meters high and stands out with its mass at the center of the monument itself. To realise it 50 tons of bronze were used. To celebrate the visit of the king Vittorio Emanuele III it was decided to organise a reception inside the immense belly of the horse: twenty people were accommodated inside! It was a memorable reception as the old pictures still display.

The Vittoriano

Dedicated to Vittorio Emanuele II, first king of Italy, is one of the most photographed monuments in Rome. Its gigantic white mass dominates Piazza Venezia fascinating all the ones who take pictures of it. Many romans instead don't like this monument being built with too white marbles compared to what there is around and because of its size: exactly two of the reasons why it is so loved by the tourists!

 

 

The deer of Sant'Eustachio church

Very close to the Pantheon, in a square called Piazza Sant'Eustachio, there is a church where on top of the facade there is a deer instead of the usual cross! According to the legend Saint'Eustace, whose name was Placido before his conversion, was a roman soldier. One day when he was hunting he saw a deer which was looking much nicer and bigger than all the other ones. When he was about to kill him he noticed that he had a cross between his antlers. The following night Placido's wife dreamt what happened to his husband and the whole family decided to be baptized. After the baptism Placido changed his name in Eustace and after a while he and his family were killed for his christian faith. It was the year 130 A.D. and the emperor was Hadrian. 

The origin of the word “money”

On the Capitoline Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome visible today in the way Michelangelo arranged it, it was built the temple of Juno Moneta (from the latin verb monere meaning "to warn" - the warning Juno). This temple was built in the IV century BC and later on close to it the romans built the mint of Rome (where the coins were made). Since the mint was constructed near the temple of Juno Moneta, what the mint was producing (the coins) was started to be called moneta. Still today the coins keep this name in many languages aside from italian. For example: money in english, monnaie in french, moneda in spanish and romanian, moeda in portuguese etc.

The Pyramid of Cestius



The Pyramid of Cestius

Not all the italian cities can boast a pyramid...but Rome does! Close to San Paolo's gate there is the Pyramid of Cestius, which takes its name from Caio Cestio who commissioned its construction in the I century B.C. He was a very wealthy politician who decided when he would pass away to not have just a simple grave but...a real pyramid! Imitating the style of the ancient pharaohs, before dying he asked to his heirs to build a pyramid. But he underlined one important and curious detail: being a wealthy man and being obliged to leave everything to his heirs, he wanted the pyramid to be completed within 330 days! It seems that just to be sure his heirs, attracted by so much money, carried out the construction of the pyramid few days early! The curiosity concerning the construction can be still read in an inscription on the facade of the pyramid itself.

The inscription on the pyramid

The Palatine hill

The Palatine hill is the richest hills of Rome in terms of history. The Palatine stands on one side of the Roman forum and looks upon the Circus Maximus on the other side. On top of it, recent excavations have discovered remainings of huts of XII century BC which witness the very old origins of Rome (but traditionally Rome is born "just" in 753 BC!). After the I century AD the Palatine became the residence of many roman emperors who started to build a huge complex of buildings to be used as their private residences. Many emperors contributed in enriching this complex so that the Palatine became an enormous building and for ancient romans the name of the hill was synonymous with "palace". In fact the word palace (in italian palazzo, in french palais etc.) derives from the Palatine which in latin was called Palatium.