Advertisement
Published: October 10th 2017
Edit Blog Post
This is an adage referring to the need for time to create great things. It is the usual English translation of a medieval French phrase, “Rome ne fu pas faite toute en un jour”, from the collection
Li Proverbe au Vilain, published around 1190. The founding of Rome goes back to the very early days of civilization. It is so old, it is today known as 'the eternal city'.
It is our last day in Rome, and we met up with our friends Liz and Darrol to undertake one final tour of the Eternal City. Liz had booked four tickets for a timed tour of the famed Galleria Borghese prior to leaving Australia, and our tour commenced at 11.00am. We decided to walk to Galleria Borghese, a distance of some four kilometres. Arriving early, we took a walk through the Villa Borghese Gardens, enjoyed a coffee, and then lined up for our entry to the Villa.
The Galleria Borghese is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. Lonely Planet Guide states if you only have time for one art gallery in Rome, make it this one.
It houses a substantial part of the Borghese collection of paintings, sculptures and antiquities, begun by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the nephew of Pope Paul V (reign 1605–1621). Scipione Borghese was an early patron of Bernini and an avid collector of works by Caravaggio, Titian, Raphael and Rubens. Cardinal Borghese used (and abused) his position of power within the Vatican to acquire massive wealth and a significant art collection, which he housed in his personal residence. In 1808, Prince Camillo Borghese, Napoleon's brother-in-law, was forced to sell the Borghese Roman sculptures and antiquities to the Emperor. The result is that the Borghese Gladiator, renowned since the 1620s as the most admired single sculpture in Villa Borghese, must now be appreciated in the Musee du Louvre.
The main floor is mostly devoted to classical antiquities of the 1st–3rd centuries AD, including a famous 320–30 AD mosaic of gladiators found on the Borghese estate at Torrenova, on the Via Casilina outside Rome, in 1834. With audio guides in hand, we wandered through the Galleria’s twenty rooms across two floors, and were impressed with the quality of the Borghese legacy.
After leaving Galleria Borghese, we headed
for the nearby Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, where we enjoyed lunch at the restaurant attached to the Galleria. Next stop was theSpanish Steps, which lead up to the Villa Borghese Gardens. The 1953 film Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck made the Spanish Steps famous. The steps have been included in many popular songs, and the British Poet Keats resided for many years next to the steps.
From there we headed to the Trevi Fountain, hoping this time to find the fountains working. We were in luck. Photos taken, we then headed to the Altare della Patria or "Altar of the Fatherland", a monument built in honor of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy. It is a massive structure that reaches a height of 81 mtrs and has a total area of 17,000 square mtrs. The structure dominates the city landscape, such that Romans have given it a number of humorous and somewhat uncomplimentary nicknames, including
la torta nuziale ("the wedding cake ") and
la dentiera ("the set of false teeth"). The building does though afford good views over the city of Rome.
One last stop on our way
back to our apartment, a final photo opportunity at the Colosseum as the darkness gathered. We said goodbye to Liz and Darrol, who have one more day left in Rome, before flying home to Australia. We are leaving tomorrow morning to catch a flight to Munich, from where we will pick up a hire car and drive to St Wolfgang in Austria.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.351s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 8; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0728s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb