Entries with Middle tag

The Museums’ Layout

The Vatican Museums are composed of four principal structures: the Vatican Palace itself, at the end nearest St Peters and the oldest part of the complex; the Belvedere Palace to the north, constructed in the late 1400s by Pope Innocent VIII, as a summer casino amidst the meadows that in those days surrounded this part of the city (and from which the modern neighbourhood, Prati, – “pastures” – gets its name); and the two long galleries built in the 1500s to make passage between the two palaces easier. In the middle of all this are three courtyards : the Cortile del Belvedere at the far end, the small Cortile della Biblioteca in the middle, created by the construction of the Vatican Library and Braccio Nuovo, and, the northernmost of the three, the Cortile della Pigna – titled after the huge bronze pine cone (“pigna” in Italian) mounted in the niche at the end, an ancient Roman artefact that was found close to the Pantheon. In classical times this was a fountain with water pouring out of apiece of its points. Also in this courtyard is a large modern bronze sculpture of a sphere within a sphere, which occasionally rotates – though to an erratic schedule. If you’re on a guided tour, you’ll stop here to be talked through the Sistine Chapel paintings before going in, as it’s forbidden to speak inside. Even if you’re not, it can be worth listening in, if there’s one being given in English, but be discreet.

Until the new entrance is finished, you enter by a main entrance to the museums that was created by Pope Pius XI, in 1932, its huge bronze spiral staircase leading up to the ticket offices above. On it are displayed the heraldic arms of all the popes from 1447 (Nicholas II) to Pius XI’s predecessor (Benedict XV). The staircase is in the form of a double helix, one half ascending, the other descending.

Category: Vatican Museums

Via Portico D’ottavia

The main artery of the Jewish area is Via Portico d’Ottavia , which leads down to the Portico d’Ottavia , a not terribly well-preserved second-century BC gate, rebuilt by Augustus and dedicated to his sister in 23 BC, that was the entranceway to the adjacent Teatro di Marcello . This has served many purposes over the years: begun by Julius Caesar, finished by Augustus, it was pillaged in the fourth century and not properly restored until the Middle Ages, after which it became a formidable fortified palace for a succession of different rulers, including the Orsini family. The theatre has been recently restored and provides a grand backdrop for classical concerts in the summer.

Category: Rome

Piazza Pasquino

Immediately behind the Palazzo Braschi, just south of Piazza Navona, the small space of Piazza Pasquino isn’t quite what you’d expect from the scene of centuries of satire, but the battered torso of Pasquino itself, anonymous poker of fun at the rich and famous during the Middle Ages, still stands in the corner. It’s most famous among a number of so-called “talking statues” in Rome, upon which anonymous comments on the affairs of the day would be attached – comments that had a serious as well as a humorous intent. Pasquino gave us our word “pasquinade”, but nowadays the graffitied comments and photocopied poems that occasionally grace the statue are usually somewhat absent in wit. Via del Governo Vecchio leads west from here into one of Rome’s liveliest quarters, the narrow streets noisy at night, and holding some of the city’s most vigorous restaurants and bars.

Category: Rome

Museo Di Roma

Across the street from the Museo Barracco, the eighteenth-century Palazzo Braschi is the home of the Museo di Roma , which hosts occasional exhibitions relating to the history of the city from the Middle Ages to the present day. The permanent collection contains paintings showing the city during different eras, frescoes from demolished palaces, and the open railway carriage that the nineteenth-century Pope Pius IX used for journeys out of the city.

Category: Rome

Lateran Palace And Baptistry

Adjoining the basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano is the Lateran Palace , home of the popes in the Middle Ages and also formally part of Vatican territory. Next door, the Baptistry (daily: summer 9am-1pm & 5-7pm; winter 9am-1pm & 4-6pm; free) has been carefully restored, along with the side of the church itself, after a car bombing in 1993. It is the oldest surviving baptistry in the Christian world, a mosaic-lined, octagonal structure built during the fifth century that has been the model for many such buildings since.

Category: Rome

South Of The River

South Of The River

The middle of the Ponte di Mezzo , the city’s central bridge, is a perfect spot from which to admire the sweep of Pisa’s palazzo-lined waterfront and the Logge di Banchi on the south side of the bridge. Formerly the city’s silk and wool market, this is now the scene for student gatherings and assignations after dark; it stands at the head of the main Corso Italia , a street that gets progressively shabbier as it nears the train station. On the church of San Antonio, just off Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, is the last work of US artist Keith Haring . Haring completed the vibrant, imaginative mural in a week in June 1989 while seriously ill; he died eight months later. His bendy, cartoonish figures alter colour above what is now the bus station, tragically unregarded, and indeed, quite often obscured by parked buses. A five-minute achievement west of the Ponte di Mezzo is the turreted oratory of Santa Maria della Spina . The little church dates from 1230, but was rebuilt in 1323 in the finest flourish of Pisan Gothic by a merchant who had acquired a thorn ( spina ) of Christ’s crown. The tiny single-naved interior (same hours as Torre Guelfa, above; L2000/¬1.03; joint ticket with Torre Guelfa L4000/¬2.06) has mullioned windows on the river side, but has lost most of its furnishings.

Category: Pisa

Planning A Visit

Florence - FirenzeThree days is the minimum to get a feel for Florence and its trappings. Since many museums close on Mondays, and many churches close to tourists on Sundays, you’d do best to schedule a midweek visit. Watch out, too, for opening-times : some museums only open in the mornings, the Baptistry only opens in the afternoons, and almost all churches close in the middle of the day. The famous sights, notably the Duomo and the Uffizi, can get absurdly overcrowded – on a whistle-stop visit, it makes sense to reject them in favour of the under-visited Bargello, Cappella Brancacci and Cappelle Medicee. Booking entry to museums in advance is strongly recommended .

Category: Florence - Firenze