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A Stroll With A Papal Pedigree

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  • A Stroll With A Papal Pedigree

    A STROLL WITH A PAPAL PEDIGREE
    Elisabeth Rosenthal

    The New York Times
    June 29, 2008

    WHEN Romans want to fare una passeggiata (take a stroll), they
    inexplicably tend to head to the Via del Corso, Rome's soulless
    main shopping street. But you can see Zara and Rolex stores
    (not to mention McDonald's) in any city. If it's beauty, history
    and stress-free strolling you're looking for, head to Via Giulia,
    a roughly half-mile-long cobbled street that is lined nearly end to
    end with churches and elegant palazzi. This summer is a perfect time
    to explore the street, which is celebrating its 500th birthday and
    is being feted with various tours, concerts and renovations.

    Commissioned by Pope Julius II (for whom the street is named),
    Via Giulia was built in the early 16th century, part of a plan to
    build a square of roads near the Vatican. The project was never
    completed. But to this day, Via Giulia is lined with an array of
    extraordinary churches and cultural buildings, as well as some of
    the fanciest homes in Rome.

    Via Giulia offers a walk unusual in Rome for several reasons. It is
    wide enough that you are not dodging cars and scooters or inhaling
    their fumes; arrow straight, so you will not get lost; intimate and
    quiet enough to appreciate what you are seeing.

    Via Giulia starts with an ivy-covered arch, designed by Michelangelo;
    it was part of another unrealized plan, this one to connect the
    Palazzo Farnese (now the French Embassy) with the Villa Farnese,
    on the other side of the Tiber. The connection was never made, so
    the arch instead functions as a sort of majestic entryway.

    Just after the arch is the white stone church of Santa Maria
    dell'Orazione e Morta, decorated with skulls and etchings of skeletons,
    home to the medieval fraternity tasked with burying the dead found
    on the streets in Rome. Just beyond that is a gorgeous white palazzo
    belonging to the 16th-century Falconieri family with a sumptuous inner
    courtyard. Remodeled in the 17th century by Borromini, it houses the
    Hungarian Academy.

    After that, from the days when every nation and city-state had to
    have its own church in Rome, there are churches representing Spain,
    Armenia, Siena and Florence, to name just a few. The altar of the
    Sienese church, with painting by Girolamo Genga, has been restored
    for the anniversary.

    EACH church brings a taste of its home base to Rome. The small Armenian
    church, for example, has a delicate iron cross on top and an iron
    fence that would seem more at home in the Armenian countryside. The
    vast white Florentine church at the end of the street, San Giovanni
    Battista dei Fiorentina, reflects the grandeur of the Medici family
    (who had a palazzo just next door). By far the largest and grandest
    church on Via Giulia, it was begun in the early 16th century and took
    more than 200 years to complete and includes work by both Borromini
    and Bernini. As part of the birthday celebrations, the church is to
    host a narrated homage (with music) this weekend to Pietro da Cortona,
    the artist whose paintings adorn the altar.

    Does Via Giulia sound like a movie set? Not at all. Via Giulia is
    very much a street where people -- most very rich -- live. It is
    filled with antiques shops as well as a smattering of more pedestrian
    establishments like hardware stores and nail salons. One of Rome's
    best high schools, Liceo Virgilio, is on the street.

    And, to remind you that all is not saintly in Italy these days:
    Italy's anti-Mafia commission has its imposing offices on Via Giulia
    housed in a vast former jail -- thick bars on the windows speak to
    its prior function.

    While many of the churches and palazzi are closed to the public,
    some will open their doors in honor of Via Giulia's birthday this
    year (check www.viagiulia500.net for a schedule of tours, concerts
    and events). If you see a door open, peek inside. And, if you want
    to live like an aristocrat, there are even short-stay apartments for
    rent there.
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