Intro - All year round Trastevere is a major attraction for its restaurants, cabaret clubs, movie theaters, arts and craft artisans and picutesque maze of narrow cobbled alleyways. Everywhere during the evenings, cafe and restaurants tables spill out over to the pavement, one area in particular is around Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere. During the morning hours, is better to appreciate the antique charm of Trastevere's unique narrow alleyways.
The Area - Trastevere is the district that stretches along the right bank of the Tiber. Once called "Trans Tiberem" (across the Tiber) was looked upon as a precarious region.
It was said to belong to the Etruscans. Rome conquered it again and gained control and access to the river from both banks. Only one passageway was available through the small "Pons Sublicius" bridge (from Latin: "bridge built on piles") between Trastevere and the rest of the city (Rome). During the Emperor Augustus Trastevere began to be considered part of the city.
During the Republic era in 509, the number of sailors and fishermen making a living from the river had increased, and many had taken up residence in Trastevere.
Then, during the Imperial Age, on the top of Trastevere hill rich romans built some luxury villas and gardens. For example Clodia (which was said to be Catullus lover) lived here, and Julius Caesar with his garden villa called 'the Horti Caesaris' lived here. The flat land below was used to be home for poor people and small.
In the middle ages Trastevere grew in a network of narrow, winding, curly streets; due to the mignani (structures on the front of buildings) the space for carriages to pass was so little that Trastevere had no choice other than this. This is at the root of the strong contrast between large houses of the upper classes and small houses of the poor people.
The streets had no pavement until the end of the 1400s. At first bricks were used, later replaced by sampietrini (cobble stones), which make up the famous narrow maze streets today.
Santa Maria in Trastevere is one of the oldest churches in Rome and probably the first to ever host an open ceremony. This is the queen of all churches in Trastevere and soon became the meeting point for devotion to the Virgin Mary by its people. It is believed that perhaps it was in this church Mother of God was worshiped in Rome. In Santa Maria in Trastevere Square there is an Octagonal fountain that today is a gathering point. Many modifications altered the church in the years but despite of the 18th century additions, it still retains its medieval character.
Today this area still has its own style due to the narrow cobbled streets built in the medieval era. At night, both italians and tourists gather together around its many restaurants and pubs. Trastevere is attracting tourists, locals, artists, foreign expats, and many famous people and it is incredibly charming.
This is where John Cabot American University, The American Academy, the Rome campus of the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts and the Canadian University of Waterloo School of Architecture are. Also the American Pratt Institute School of Architecture is serving as a temporary home to an International student body.
In the 60s and 70s, the American musicians Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum (Musica Elettronica Viva group), lived here in Via della Luce. The director of Spaghetti Westerns Sergio Leone, grew up in Viale Glorioso (you will see a marble plaque to his memory on the wall of the apartment building), and went to a Catholic private school in Trastevere.
As you can see Trastevere is the real heart of Rome! - 15485
The Area - Trastevere is the district that stretches along the right bank of the Tiber. Once called "Trans Tiberem" (across the Tiber) was looked upon as a precarious region.
It was said to belong to the Etruscans. Rome conquered it again and gained control and access to the river from both banks. Only one passageway was available through the small "Pons Sublicius" bridge (from Latin: "bridge built on piles") between Trastevere and the rest of the city (Rome). During the Emperor Augustus Trastevere began to be considered part of the city.
During the Republic era in 509, the number of sailors and fishermen making a living from the river had increased, and many had taken up residence in Trastevere.
Then, during the Imperial Age, on the top of Trastevere hill rich romans built some luxury villas and gardens. For example Clodia (which was said to be Catullus lover) lived here, and Julius Caesar with his garden villa called 'the Horti Caesaris' lived here. The flat land below was used to be home for poor people and small.
In the middle ages Trastevere grew in a network of narrow, winding, curly streets; due to the mignani (structures on the front of buildings) the space for carriages to pass was so little that Trastevere had no choice other than this. This is at the root of the strong contrast between large houses of the upper classes and small houses of the poor people.
The streets had no pavement until the end of the 1400s. At first bricks were used, later replaced by sampietrini (cobble stones), which make up the famous narrow maze streets today.
Santa Maria in Trastevere is one of the oldest churches in Rome and probably the first to ever host an open ceremony. This is the queen of all churches in Trastevere and soon became the meeting point for devotion to the Virgin Mary by its people. It is believed that perhaps it was in this church Mother of God was worshiped in Rome. In Santa Maria in Trastevere Square there is an Octagonal fountain that today is a gathering point. Many modifications altered the church in the years but despite of the 18th century additions, it still retains its medieval character.
Today this area still has its own style due to the narrow cobbled streets built in the medieval era. At night, both italians and tourists gather together around its many restaurants and pubs. Trastevere is attracting tourists, locals, artists, foreign expats, and many famous people and it is incredibly charming.
This is where John Cabot American University, The American Academy, the Rome campus of the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts and the Canadian University of Waterloo School of Architecture are. Also the American Pratt Institute School of Architecture is serving as a temporary home to an International student body.
In the 60s and 70s, the American musicians Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum (Musica Elettronica Viva group), lived here in Via della Luce. The director of Spaghetti Westerns Sergio Leone, grew up in Viale Glorioso (you will see a marble plaque to his memory on the wall of the apartment building), and went to a Catholic private school in Trastevere.
As you can see Trastevere is the real heart of Rome! - 15485
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