FLAMINIA WAY

VIA FLAMINIA
Via Flaminia

 220/219 BC for the censor Gaius Flaminius Nepos the Elder after the conquest of the territory of the Falisci and Capenati

It is the same route of the Cassian Way until the Milvian Bridge
It ended in Ancona but later it was extended through the Furlo Pass until Rimini, where even today the Arch of Augustus f 10 AD marks the end point

In Grottarossa was discovered in 1674 the TOMB OF THE NASONII of the second half of the second century AD, now almost totally destroyed, with frescoes and stucco, removed and taken to the British Museum, that inspired the friezes of Palazzo Albani Del Drago

At 12.7 km (8 miles) there is the MAUSOLEUM LA CELSA. It was part of a vast funerary complex that used to stretch from Saxa Rubra to the River Tiber
“The most difficult and the most picturesque stretch of the Via Flaminia is the Furlo Pass, where the path runs embedded in the mountain at a considerable height above the ravine, until, having no more room to continue outdoors, it enters a tunnel called Intercisa, or Petra Pertusa, or Forulum, which was restored by Vespasian, as the inscription on the Eastern mouth mentions. Shortly after the descent to the plain begins: to span the Metauro bridge the road passes over a large Roman bridge with three arches, known as Colmazzo Bridge; here the battle occurred between the Romans and the Carthaginians led by Hasdrubal” (Giuseppe Lugli – Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani)

FORTUNY'S STUDIO

STUDIO FORTUNY
Via Flaminia 122

1801/1810 Giuseppe Valadier (1762/1839) for Stanislaw Poniatowski grandson of the last king of Poland, Stanisław II August, born Stanisław Poniatowski (1732/98)

The building was the stable of the nearby Villa Poniatowski
It was originally made of a single plan but was raised with an additional plan and converted into a studio by the Spanish painter and engraver Mariano Fortuny Marsal (1838/74) who shared it with his pupil Attilio Simonetti

St. ANDREW ON VIA FLAMINIA

S. ANDREA A VIA FLAMINIA

Via Flaminia 194

1552/53 Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73) for Julius III Ciocchi del Monte (1550/55)

It is also known as S. ANDREA DEL VIGNOLA (St. Andrew by Vignola) the only case in Rome and perhaps in the world of a church who took the name of its architect

“He was perhaps the best known and most representative architect of the late Renaissance. Central figure in the mannerist phase architecture, Vignola was characterized by his innovative and modular way of composing the masses through the application of architectural orders. (...) Simple is the church of St. Andrew (...), the first with a pseudo-central plan due to the use of the ellipse instead of the circle” (Enciclopedia Treccani)

“There is no doubt that Vignola's artistic activity represents a strong reaction against Michelangelo's whims as a sculptor and architect, as well as his followers'. Instead of emphasizing unilaterally the sculptural effect of single elements, Vignola emphasizes again the rhythm and uniformity of the whole. The value of Vignola's work consists in refusing any personal arbitrary idea in favor of the general final result where the main feature is the proportionality of the surfaces. It is obvious that here are shown the same tendencies present in the Roman style of painting lead by the Zuccari's, which was opposing the arbitrary sculptural style of Michelangelo followed on by the Tuscan painters” (Hermann Voss)

Julius III wanted to build it as thanksgiving in memory of his escape on November 30, the day of St. Andrew, during the sack of Rome in 1527 from Palace of the Chancellery, where, still a cardinal, the Landsknechts held him captive

He offered his guards heavily drugged wine and fled with the help of Prospero Colonna

The popes never gave the church a pastoral function. It never had a convent or other ecclesiastical institution, it had no relic or miraculous icon to attract pilgrims and it was in an area that was virtually uninhabited until modern times

It was abandoned in the eighteenth century

Restored 1805 by Giuseppe Valadier (1762/1839) who appreciated the austere style of the church close to his neo-classicism. It inspired his church of S. Maria Porto della Salute in Fiumicino

It was restored again in 1826 and 1828

It is the church of the Coptic community of Rome, the Christians from Egypt

“The Coptic rite is one of the oldest of Christianity, says Father Filippo, pastor of the Coptic Catholic community in Rome. During the Mass, sung entirely in Arabic the life of Jesus is celebrated, from birth, symbolized by the bread, to the resurrection, represented by the chalice emerging from its container, progressively freed from the sheets that cover it representing the shroud of Christ. The faithful always receive communion with both bread and wine” (Sandra Fratticci - www.piuculture.it)

BELL TOWER 1852

INTERIOR

Frescoes “Stories of St. Andrew” by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521/80) and Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527/96), both pupils of Perin del Vaga

MAIN ALTAR

“S. Andrew thanks God for the privilege of the crucifixion” by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta

PEOPLE'S GATE

PORTA DEL POPOLO

Piazzale Flaminio

The original name of this gate of the Aurelian Walls was Porta Flaminia

In the tenth century it was known as Porta di S. Valentino as the Via Flaminia passing under it leads in about 1.5 km (0.9 miles) to the Catacomb of S. Valentino venerated for centuries by pilgrims

It was called Porta del Popolo probably for the nearby church of S. Maria del Popolo built in 1099 by Pasquale II Raniero Blera (1099/1118) with a more or less voluntary subscription of the Roman people

The gate is now about 1.5 m (5 feet) above the ancient level of Rome

It was rebuilt in 1561/62 by Giovanni Lippi aka Nanni di Baccio Bigio (about 1513/68) to whom the work was subcontracted by Michelangelo Buonarroti, who had been assigned the job by Pius IV Medici (1559/65)

Four of the six columns were taken from the ancient Basilica of St. Peter

The original towers with circular bases were replaced by two massive square watchtowers and the whole building was equipped with battlements

In 1658 between the two pairs of columns were inserted by the will of Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67) the statues of “St. Peter” and “St. Paul” about 1639/52 by Francesco Mochi (1580/1654)

They had been originally made for the Basilica of St. Paul but they were refused. Since 1980 there are copies and the originals are in the Museum of Rome at Palazzo Braschi

INTERNAL FAÇADE

1655 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) for Alexander VII on the occasion of the arrival in Rome of Queen Christina of Sweden celebrated in the inscription

The side arches were opened only in 1887

Near the door was found a “Measuring Stone for Customs” dating back to 175 AD, a type of measurement also found by other gates

VAGNUZZI'S HOUSE

CASINA VAGNUZZI

Via Flaminia 118

In the sixteenth century it was called Casino Del Monte as part of the complex of Villa Giulia for Pope Julius III Ciocchi Del Monte (1550/55)

Restored in 1810 by Giuseppe Valadier (1762/1839) for Stanislaus Poniatowski, nephew of the King of Poland, who had bought it in 1807 and sold it in 1822 to his friend Luigi Vagnuzzi

Renovated again in the years 1825/44 by Luigi Canina (1795/1856) for Luigi Vagnuzzi

In 1870 he became an industrial tannery

Since 1939 the mansion and the adjoining park are owned by the Municipality of Rome and it is the seat of the Accademia Filarmonica Romana (Roman Philharmonic Academy) which organizes shows and concerts in the garden

In the porch on the left there are frescoes attributed to Baldassarre Peruzzi (1481/1536)

"The residence of Pope Julius III on the slopes of the Parioli Hills was justly celebrated for the variety of buildings, for the breadth and richness of the park, for the collection of ancient sculptures. Dismembered immediately upon the death of his patron and divided among several owners, soon lost its identity. (...) Villa Giulia stretched all the way to the Tiber River, as documented by some maps of the sixteenth century (...), and the current Casina Vagnuzzi was the first building that the pontiff would have faced when, from the Vatican, 'used to go back to his winery'" (Alberta Campitelli – Verdi Delizie; le ville, i giardini, i parchi storici del Comune di Roma)

INTERIOR

On the ground floor ceiling with grotesque and in the center "Meeting of King Solomon with the Queen of Sheba" maybe 1550/55 by an anonymous sixteenth century artist in Raphael style

On the first floor frescoes of the first half of the nineteenth century by Angelo Zecchini