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images : awl images |
HISTORY
Relics , cloisters , sacred shrines and monuments are abundant in the city that was , according to myth , founded by brothers Romulus and Remus . Avoid the crowds by heading out early on a 2.5-mile walking tour led by art historian and fitness instructor Isabella Calidonna of ArcheoRunning . The first stop is the foot of the Spanish Steps , where Isabella points out the Fontana della Barcaccia (‘ Fountain of the Boat ’), a work started by renowned sculptor Pietro that was completed , after his death in 1629 , by his son Gian Lorenzo . The marble vessel marks the spot where the flooded River Tiber deposited a fishing boat on Christmas Day in 1598 .
Continue on to Via dei Condotti , one of the most fashionable streets in Rome , home to a wealth of luxury boutiques and highend stores , with celebrated Italian brands represented here including Prada , Gucci , Salvatore Ferragamo and Dolce & Gabbana . At 86 Via dei Condotti is Antico Caffè Greco , the oldest coffeehouse in Rome , which , over the years has hosted such literary luminaries as Mark Twain , Hans Christian Andersen , Ralph Waldo Emerson and James Joyce .
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On your way to Piazza Navona and its trio of baroque fountains , stop to admire open-air archaeological site Largo di Torre Argentina , home to four temples dating to the second and third centuries BCE . Covering a city block , its crumbling columns , decaying frescoes and a bust of the fertility goddess Feronia can be seen from a sidewalk vantage point . The campus doubles as a sanctuary for a contingent of Rome ’ s stray cats . Conclude the tour at Piazza Navona , which is home to the ruins of the Stadium of Domitian , which once upon a time hosted Olympic-style competitions . Make a leisurely loop to behold its spectacular centerpiece , the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (‘ Fountain of the Four Rivers ’), designed in 1651 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini , as well as the beautifully carved Fountain of Neptune and Fountain of the Moor .
ART
For more Bernini , head to the Galleria Borghese art gallery . Housed in the 16thcentury former Villa Borghese Pinciana , set in the sprawling Borghese Gardens Park , the collection features important works by both Bernini and painter Caravaggio .
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From left : Interior of Saint Peter ’ s Basilica , Vatican City ; Pons Fabricius , the oldest Roman bridge in Rome Previous pages , from left : Villa Borghese gardens ; Fountain of the Moor , Piazza Navona |
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spring 2025 • 79 |