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Vatican / Prati

The Vatican, situated on the site where S. Peter was martyred and buried, became the residence of the popes in the 5th century. The Vatican is mainly composed of St. Peter’s Square with the famous Basilica, the Vatican Palaces and their beautiful gardens. St Peter’s church has 450 statues, 500 columns, 50 altars and can hold 60,000 people!

A defensive wall to protect the Vatican Basilica against the Saracens was erected by Pope Leone IV between 848 and 852. Today what is left of this wall is the “Passetto” and its corridor links the Vatican Palace to Castle Sant’Angelo.

Castel Sant’Angelo, was built by the Emperor Hadrian (117-138) as a mausoleum for himself and his successors and was completed in 139 A.D. by Antonius Pius. According to a legend, during a procession led by Pope Gregory the Great in 590, an angel appeared on the top of the mausoleum in the act of putting his sword back in its sheath, whose gesture was interpreted as a divine sign of the end of the plague. A chapel was built on the mausoleum and a statue of the Archangel Michael was placed on the castle’s top in memory of the miracle. Part of Emperor Aurelian’s city wall, it has functioned as a medieval citadel and prison, and as the residence of the Popes. It has a museum, the Barberini apartments, a lovely café and spectacular views.

Ponte Sant Angelo, the bridge leading to the castle, is decorated with statues of St Peter and St Paul which were erected by Clement VII in 1530, and ten Baroque angels designed by Bernini under Clement IX’s pontificate.

Rione Prati is named for the fields or meadows which dominated this part of Rome until the 1870s. Due to arguments between the ruling class and the Pope, the street layout of Prati doesn’t allow views St Peter’s dome. Similarly, the main street of the new quarter was named after Cola di Rienzo (1313-54) who had attempted to restore a sort of Roman Republic.The word “Borgo” means town. Rome’s Borgo, on either side of Via della Conciliazione, is where the first pilgrims to St Peter were housed in hostels and inns.

Palazzo di Giustizia on Piazza Cavour, was built between 1889 and 1910 to house the National Law Courts. Its riverside façade is crowned with a bronze chariot and fronted by giant statues of the great men of Italian law.

Sacro Cuore del Suffragio on the Lungotevere Prati just near Ponte Cavour is truly an architectural oddity. It is called “il piccolo (little) Duomo di Milano” because of its pinnacles. The church was designed by Giuseppe Gualandi in 1893 for Victor Jouet, a French missionary, who founded a brotherhood especially devoted to prayers for the Purgatory souls.

Monte Mario above the Vatican is a gorgeous place to take a walk. There in Parco Di Madama you’ll find the Renaissance Villa di Macchia Madama, built in 1515 by Cardinal Giulio de’Medici from plans by Raphael and completed by Sangallo the Younger.

There are several nice Jazz clubs and bars in the Prati area including Alexanderplatz on via Ostria, 9 (off via Leone IV near to Metro Ottaviano), The Place on via Alberico II, and on Borgo Angelico there are Vecchio Borgo and New Mississippi Jazz Club.

It is difficult to orient yourself in Rome at the beginning. Like New Orleans, Rome has a serpentine river and the normal directions of north and south don’t seem to apply. It is however, quite easy to walk to most areas in the center. A walk along the river from the Vatican, crossing Ponte Sant’Angelo and following Corso Vittorio Emanuele will find you in Campo dei Fiori in a leisurely 20 minutes.

If you start from Piazza Risorgimento near St Peter’s and walk along the excellent shopping street via Cola di Rienzo, you will cross the river at Ponte Margherita and arrive directly in Piazza del Popolo. From there it’s a short walk to the Spanish Steps (Piazza di Spagna).

If you take a quick detour before Ponte Margherita on via Virginio Orsini is the fabulous and eclectic Villino Cagiati built in 1913-1918 by the architect Garibaldi Burba.