Sts. BARTHOLOMEW AND ALEXANDER OF THE PEOPLE FROM BERGAMO

SS. BARTOLOMEO E ALESSANDRO DEI BERGAMASCHI
Piazza Colonna

1562, renewed 1731 by Carlo De Dominicis (1696/1758)
Restored 1836/39 by Giuseppe Valadier (1762/1839)
Restored again 1902/04 by Giuseppe Sacconi (1854/1905)

“De Dominicis had a vivid imagination and cleverly used the decorative vocabulary of Borromini more than half a century after the death of the master. Along with his contemporary Federico Raguzzini he worked on the formulation of the basic themes of Roman rococo architecture, although in his later years he seems to have rejected these decorative ways in favor of the more classical taste which was then beginning to establish itself in Europe” (John Varriano - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

FAÇADE
1719 G.B. Contini (1641/1723)
Decorated with paintings, stucco and gold in the years 1902/04 by Emilio Retrosi

VAULT
“Virgin Mary and Sts. Bartholomew and Alexander” 1904 by Emilio Retrosi

2^nd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
“Saints from Bergamo refusing to worship idols” by Giovanni Antonio Valtellina

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Altar piece with six different paintings of saints including “S. Anne with the Virgin Mary in her arms” maybe by Marco Benefial (1684/1764)

2^nd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Altar piece “Beheading of St. John the Baptist” 1732 by Aureliano Milani (1675/1749)

1^st CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Wooden sculpture “Christ at the Column” 1569 by Filippo Dal Borgo

SACRISTY
“Beheading of St. John the Baptist” by Girolamo Muziano (1532/92)
“Adoration of the Magi” about 1550 by an anonymous Mannerist artist

ORATORY
Two paintings with the same subject:
“Apparition of the Virgin Mary to Sts. Bartholomew and Alexander” about 1635 Giuseppe Puglia aka Bastaro (about 1600/36) and in 1574 by Durante Alberti (1538/1616)

WEDEKIND PALACE

PALAZZO WEDEKIND

Piazza Colonna 366

1838 Pietro Camporese the Younger (1792/1873) as the Post Office building for Gregory XVI Cappellari (1831/46)

Camporese built it after having demolished a building of 1659 belonging to the Ludovisi family, in turn, built on medieval houses

It was renovated in 1879 by G.B. Giovenale (1849/1934) when it was purchased by the banker Wedekind

It is now the HEADQUARTERS OF THE NEWSPAPER IL TEMPO

This was the approximate area where once stood the TEMPLE OF MARCUS AURELIUS of which no trace remains

Twelve pillars in the PORTICO of which “Eleven ancient columns” in Carrara marble, found in 1817 in the ruins of the city of Veii

The four columns on each side of the main entrance are also ancient and were originally on the sides of the door of the Basilica of St. Paul destroyed by fire in 1823

“In 1880, under the portico was opened the Sommariva Cafè, called 'alle colonne' (at the columns), a meeting place for Romans night owls. The so called Kellerine used to serve here, in imitation of the Viennese Beer Houses, waitresses in Bavarian costume which were a first for Rome. The one of them who was the most successful was a French girl named Hannah. Curious people that did not want to spend for drinks were content to crowd in front of the entrance for the busty girls dressed in black, with cuffs and white apron, moving between the tables smiling, collecting substantial tips” (Cinzia Dal Maso - specchioromano.it)

FERRAJOLI DEL BUFALO PALACE

PALAZZO FERRAJOLI DEL BUFALO

Piazza Colonna 355

Built at the end of 1500s maybe by Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) for Ottavio Del Bufalo

Rebuilt in the years 1626/41 by Francesco Peparelli (active since 1626/d. 1641) for Paolo Del Bufalo

Renovated in 1871 by the marquises Ferrajoli who, in part, still live in the palace

In the COURTYARD there is the “Fountain of Ceres”

PALACE OF THE ROMAN INSTITUTE OF REAL ESTATE

PALAZZO DELL'ISTITUTO ROMANO DI BENI STABILI

Piazza Colonna

1915/22 Dario Carbone (about 1857/1934) in a monumental and celebratory Eclectic style in the area previously occupied by the demolished Palazzo Boncompagni Piombino of the end of the sixteenth century

The Boncompagni were allowed to rebuild their own building in the area of the Villa Ludovisi, the Palazzo Boncompagni, later Palazzo Margherita, now U.S. Embassy

It was completed and modified in 1940 by Alberto Calza Bini (1881/1957)

Better known as GALLERIA COLONNA and, since 2003, as GALLERIA ALBERTO SORDI in honor of the Roman actor who died in the same year

It is surprising for the contrast between the ornate monumental exterior and the vast comfortable interior space of the gallery

“I told myself to respect a principle (of great value to the public): if the people of Rome used to enjoy as public land the existing dirt area, well, it was necessary that the architect would leave just as much area as public passage in the building to be constructed” (Dario Carbone)

On the central pediment sculptures:

“Groups of Industry” by Giuseppe Guastalla (1867/1952)

“Groups of Commerce” by Ercole Drei (1886/1973)

Interior decorated by Ulisse Stacchini (1871/1947)