Katarina Marcek

24/06/2024

The name of the city is not documented, but it must not have differed much from the form Orcla, handed down from the early medieval forms. The settlement stood on the Via Clodia and occupied a narrow plateau at the confluence of the Pile and Acqualta ditches in the Biedano torrent. The only communication access to the city was used by a road, identified with the Roman Via Clodia, which crossed the hill in its entire length and crossed the Biedano with a three-arch bridge, now in ruins. To then go back in the direction of Tuscania, the Via Clodia was deeply cut into the tufaceous walls of a locality which takes - not by chance - the name of Cava Buia. This stretch of road, although dating back to times, still constitutes one of the most evocative and uncontaminated landscapes of internal southern Etruria.
The oldest nucleus of the Etruscan settlement was on the central part of the plateau and its period of greatest flowering is dated between the end of the 4th century. and the middle of the 2nd century. BC.
The current landscape of the Norchia plateau is dominated by the ruins of the settlement, with the of San Pietro, the castle and the watchtower. The fame of Norchia is closely linked to the spectacular rock necropolises that surround it, which show the display of wealth, linked to the social class of the agrarian aristocracy, which wanted to distinguish itself publicly. The variety of architectural types is vast, the facade tombs are in two or three orders, arranged on steps that are partly natural, partly built, modifying the morphological aspect of the slopes of the plateaus.

11/06/2024

In 1957 the builders of the coastal road between Terracina and Gaeta were protagonists of an exceptional . A few hundred meters from the town of Sperlonga, they came across a series of archaeological remains, which were quickly identified as the Villa of (emperor from 14 to 37 AD).
The villa, whose first nucleus dates back to the late Republican age, was made up of a series of terraces facing the sea. The site is now known to the general public for its fish ponds and the large cave where the famous sculptural groups were found which narrate some events linked to the figure of Ulysses. Among these, the most famous and impressive are the group of Polyphemus and Scylla.

Today, the perimeters of the rooms where the emperor's servants stayed and above all the well-known Cave of Tiberius, a natural cave dug into the rock to which there are tanks used, at the time, to raise fish, are visible. The emperor went to the cave to attend shows and performances.

09/06/2024

Known as the "city of a hundred churches", is a beautiful sea  , at the border between Lazio and Campania, where thousands of tourists spend their holidays every year, especially in the summer season. Rich in history, but not very big, you can see it in a single day, or better in a weekend.

In the past, Gaeta was already populated by the Aurunci when it passed under the influence of Rome and became one of the preferred destinations by emperors, consuls and rich patricians. After the decline of the Roman Empire the inhabitants had to contend with the countless invasions of the barbarians and Saracens.

Around the first half of 110, there was another difficult period for the city. Initially it was contended by Frederick II of Swabia and by the papacy, then the city became a domain of the Angevins and Aragonese, here hid Pope Pius IX after the proclamation of the Roman Republic in 1848 and it was at the center of one of the most important clashes for the proclamation of the Unity of Italy that ended on 13 February 1861 with the yield of Francis II of Bourbon. Even during the Second World War the strategic position of Gaeta played an important role in historic events.

15/05/2024

The exhibition in the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum is entitled 'RARA AVIS Fashion in flight at the Farnesian Aviaries', a triumph of haute couture inspired by birds.

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27/04/2024

In the 11th century the city of was an important diocese.
The church of Santa Maria stands at the foot of the city, along Via Clodia and was its first cathedral; the only one, by ancient privilege, to have an immersion baptismal font. The origins of the building date back to the 8th century, but the church was almost entirely rebuilt between the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century and subsequently renovated to take on its current three-nave shape.
The main portal, the central one, is in white . It has four small columns on each side with Corinthian capitals on which rest the small arches that crown the lunette which features a high relief with the Madonna and Child on the throne, the Lamb of God, the sacrifice of Isaac and the escape into Egypt. The images of Saint Peter and Saint Paul are also sculpted on the sides of the entrance portal. The portals on the right and left are also finely crafted with vegetal motifs, symbolic figures, columns and Corinthian capitals. The interior, with three naves, is characterized by columns and pillars which still retain part of the frescoes and sculpted and decorated Romanesque capitals with monstrous subjects. At the back, each nave corresponds to an apse, with the central one being larger and ending with a superb triumphal arch. Above the arch, although subjected to numerous restorations, a 14th century fresco by Gregory and Donato of Arezzo representing the Last Judgment is still visible.

26/04/2024

25/04/2024

From the medieval walls of , one can enjoy one of the most beautiful in , with rolling hills and countryside largely protected as a nature reserve.

At the end of the 19th century, it was customary to use sarcophagi as street furniture, so it is not surprising to find them in the central Piazza Basile, where the Town Hall is also located, or in some churches and historical buildings. Also worth seeing are Piazza Bastianini, with its 17th-century Grande fountain, the Cathedral, and the churches of Santa Maria Maggiore and San Pietro.

22/04/2024

At the gates of Viterbo, stands on the slopes of the ancient volcanic crater of Vico and dominates the picturesque lake from above, among beech, oak and chestnut woods.
The double soul of Ronciglione is evident from the moment you arrive in the city. On one side, on a large tuff cliff, stands the ancient village, which has survived the passing of the centuries admirably, while on the other side the more modern part of the town center has developed.
Your visit can only start from the historic centre, dominated by the large built in 1671 in honor of Saint Peter and Saint Catherine. Among houses and monuments built in tuff bricks you can admire the Church of Santa Maria della Provvidenza, the small Gothic church of Sant'Andrea and the imposing fortress dating back to the Early Middle Ages.
Ronciglione hosts, throughout the year, many events that attract curious people and visitors from all over Lazio and beyond. In February, the takes place, among the oldest in central Italy, while for the feast of the Patron Saint the Palio of San Bartolomeo takes place, a horse race without a jockey on a track built in the streets of the city.

18/04/2024

Located on the  the church of Sant' Anselmo was built in a simple and elegant Romanesque style despite being from the late 19th century.

Its history begins in 1893, when, on the initiative of Pope Leo XIII, the Benedictine Order entrusted the architect Francesco  on a project by Abbot Ildebrando De Hemptinne for the construction of a complex, which included the place of worship and the adjoining international college. The works finished in 1900, and the church was then dedicated to Sant'Anselmo, Doctor of the Church and Archbishop of Canterbury.

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10/04/2024

Located at the fifth mile of the there is the Villa dei Quintili, the largest residential complex in the suburb of .

Thanks to the discovery of a lead pipe bearing the name of the owners, it is certain that the complex belonged to the brothers Sesto Quintilio Condiano and Sesto Quintilio Valerio Massimo, members of a senatorial family and consuls in 151 AD.

In 182-183 AD, the Quintilii were killed by Emperor   for plotting a conspiracy against him, so the residence was confiscated and became imperial property.
Since then, the same Commodus and other emperors after him lived in the villa. Evidence of their presence can be seen in the grandeur of the architecture, in the richness of the sculptural decorations, and in the refinement of the wall coverings and floors in colored marble slabs, still beautifully preserved.

Originally, you could access the Villa from the Appia Antica, through a large porch garden endowed with a monumental nymphaeum, then transformed into a fortress in the Middle Ages.
Beyond the garden, there is the main nucleus that develops on the hill with a series of courtyards and rooms of representation, a large thermal bath, buildings for spectacles, and rooms of the private residence overlooking the surrounding valley.

07/04/2024

Ok the path of Grand Tour in the best possibile company.

The Via Appia Antica is the old roman Appian way, one of the oldest and most important from Rome. During ancient Roman times, the road was essential in transporting troops down to the port of Brindisi in southeast Italy.

Tourist attractions along the Appian Way include the Catacombs of San Callisto and Catacombs of San Sebastiano as well as various basilicas and tombs.

The stretch close to Rome of the Via Appia Antica is now part of a nature and archaeological park, the Parco Regionale dell'Appia Antica. It makes a lovely day out, particularly on Sundays when the area is closed to traffic.

Its roadway was about 4.10 m wide to facilitate the passage in both directions. Its wide sidewalks were scattered with funerary monuments. The Appian Way was surrounded by lush countryside on which rural villages rose. The settlements were soon replaced by large patrician villas owned by wealthy Romans, who wanted to relax, away from the city chaos. The Appian Way was also very popular for the pilgrims who came to Rome to visit and pray in the Christian sanctuaries built outside the city walls, near the catacombs.

12/03/2024

JACOPO ZUCCHI (FIRENZE (?) 1541 CA. – ROMA 1596 CA.)
Portrait of Clelia Farnese

about 1570

Oil on panel

An elaborate hairstyle adorned with flowers, a lace ruff and a necklace with family crests are the attributes used by Jacopo Zucchi to depict Clelia . Illegitimate daughter of Cardinal Alessandro, one of the most influential exponents of the Roman Curia, the young woman has always lived at the center of the lively social life of the city, made up of feasts and banquets.
Jacopo Zucchi, commissioned by Giovan Giorgio Cesarini, Clelia’s first husband, painted an iconic and timeless image: the beauty of the woman, a dowry for which she had been celebrated as the most lovable lady in Rome by tourists and poets, is rendered noble by the icy look, the delicate red cheeks and the rich dress.
After the first marriage, ended with the death of the groom in 1585, Clelia became the lover of Ferdinando de’ Medici, cardinal protector of Jacopo Zucchi.

12/03/2024

LORENZO LOTTO (VENICE 1480 – LORETO 1557)
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine with Saints
1524

Oil on canvas

98 x 115 cm

The iconography of the Mystic Marriage derives from a medieval text describing Catherine of Alexandria’s conversion to . The text states that after being baptized, the young woman had a vision: in the sky, amid angels and saints, Mary appeared to her with on her lap the infant Jesus, who slipped a ring onto Catherine’s finger, so making her his bride.

Like most of this subject, the three principal figures are seen surrounded by saints. However, compared to the traditional iconography depicting the bestowal of the ring, Lotto’s painting gives us a significant variant: Saint Catherine is already wearing the ring on her finger and receives a rose from the infant Jesus as the symbol of love.

09/03/2024

Portrait of the pope Urban VIII from between 1632-33.
In viewing this work, we immediately grasp Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s extraordinary to elicit a living breath from inert matter. He does this with tiny details that may appear secondary: the slightly parted lips, the hair unshaven on the cheeks, the button partly unfastened on the mozzetta, the irises of the eyes carved with the tip of the drill. These details set the fleeting present moment in stone, seize the instant and instill the portrait with great immediacy and psychological individuality. As the man of letters Leio Guidiccioni observed in 1633, the skillful suggestion of movement in the head and shoulder conveys us the impression we are kneeling before a speaking likeness of the pontiff, who with a benevolent gesture of blessing beckons us to rise.

08/03/2024

Drink as much as you want.

Bacchus and the drinker is an oil painting on , 132×96 cm, by Bartolomeo Manfredi dating back to between 1600 and 1610, preserved in the National Gallery of Ancient Art in Palazzo Barberini in Rome.

The was attributed to until 1925, when critics assigned it to Manfredi for the first time (confirmed in subsequent periods). An important project begun at the end of the 20th century highlighted the technique with which the painter executed the painting, which was particularly slow in the application of colours, with the application of multiple overlapping layers of color in which they were supported from time to time. The details of the figures, totally in contrast with the way of painting of and , who were instead fast in ex*****on.

07/03/2024

Elegant, sexi, provocative, revolutionary. One hundred years after his birth, the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome hosts the extensive HELMUT retrospective. LEGACY, created to celebrate the photographer (Berlin, 1920 – Los Angeles, 2004) and postponed due to the pandemic.

The exhibition itinerary retraces the human and professional life of a man remembered as the author of shots that made the history of photography, which appeared on the most important of magazines, enriched by a corpus of unpublished works that reveal lesser-known aspects of his work.

A journey into his adventurous life through over 200 shots, partly unpublished, magazines and documents, to tell with a new look the and style of a protagonist of the twentieth century who described himself with these words: «My work as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse and entertain."

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07/03/2024

The , designed by Francesco , serves the south wing of the Barberini palace, complementing Bernini’s staircase on a principle which is not just aesthetic but also distributive and functional. Accessed by the external portico, it led to Cardinal Francesco Barberini’s rooms, and was intended for more private use.
The staircase is helicoidal, hence it follows the principle of turning on its rotational axis. It has an oval plan, flattened longitudinally, providing so more easier ascent than staircases on a circular plan. The model was codified in the Cinquecento treatises by Vignola, Sebastiano Serlio and Andrea Palladio.
Each turn comprises 12 Doric double twisted and decorated with small bees (the Barberini family’s heraldic symbol). The main axis measures 9.40 m, and the lesser axis 7.85 m. Light is shed through the oculus above as well as the windows in the façade.
Spiral-shaped structures, with all the problems involved in their design, were particularly congenial to Borromini’s eccentric spirit: he devised them in several drawings and in the architectural details of other works.

06/03/2024

Tradition says that Gian Lorenzo designed the great set in a square shaft as part of the planned extension of Palazzo , purchased by the family in 1625 and intended to be the family’s principal dwelling.
Contrasting with the helicoidal staircase by Francesco , both by its position within the palace and its stylistic approach, Bernini’s project had to reckon with a more complex articulation of levels, since it was to be embedded in the pre-existing northern wing of the Sforza building.
Starting from the lowest level, the grand staircase was meant to connect the main entrance on the Cavallerizza courtyard (destroyed in the 1900s to create Via Barberini) with the existing staircase leading to the garden level, and then rise to the piano nobile and the floor above.
Bernini was able to overcome these difficulties by stressing the monumental proportions and courtly style required by the commission.

28/02/2024

In the heart of the Tuscia Viterbese lies a fascinating village renamed "the land of fairy tales". It is called Sant'Angelo di Roccalvecce and is located about an hour and a half from . It was a village forgotten by time until 2017, when the cultural association ACAS Murales decided to offer it a new life.
Today it is an open-air museum where , and dedicated to the world of tales and decorate the walls of the town that will make you fly on the wings of and return to being a .

27/02/2024

Dispersed on the tufaceous hills of Lazio, between Lake Bolsena and Lake Alviano, 20 kilometers from Viterbo and 14 kilometers from Civita di Bagnoregio, lies Celleno. An ancient that has now become one of the most beautiful ghost villages in Italy and also known as the City of Cherries.
Celleno was an unfortunate village, hit over the centuries by epidemics, landslides and earthquakes which led the inhabitants to abandon it.
Today, walking through its small streets, it is possible to savor its history, admire its castle, small houses and the remains of basalt palaces.

24/02/2024

The Petrossa Treasure was found in Pietroasele, Buzău, Romania, in 1837. It is a late fourth-century Gothic treasure that included some twenty-two objects of gold, among the most famous examples of the polychrome style of Migration Period art. Of the twenty-two pieces, only twelve have survived, conserved at the National Museum of Romanian History, in Bucharest. Their multiple styles, in which Han Chinese styles have been noted in the belt buckles, Hellenistic styles in the golden bowls, Sasanian motifs in the baskets, and Germanic fashions in the fibulae,[2] are characteristic of the cosmopolitan outlook of the Cernjachov culture in a region without defined topographic confines.

21/02/2024

The exhibition Dacia, the last limit, has as its central theme the construction of times and brings together important (including the Glykon Serpent from Tomis, marble depiction of a 'good demon' who heals from epidemics, the gold helmet from Cotofeneşti of Thracian manufacture, with scenes of sacrifice, the Celtic bronze helmet from Ciumeşti, with the crest in the shape of an eagle, the Gothic treasure of Pietroasele from the 4th century AD) which illustrate the historical of present-day Romania, such as the numerous contacts and exchanges that took place thanks to the abundance of resources in the area and its privileged position between Europe and Asia.
In the rooms of the Baths, around 1000 objects from 47 Romanian museums are presented, as well as from the National Museum of History of the Republic of Moldova, exhibited for the first time together with some finds from the  .

The exhibition is divided into four with the common thread that interweaving between the two different , which recurs over the centuries thanks to the abundance of resources and the key position of Romania between Europe and Asia, first with the integration of into the world Roman, then with the persistence of civilization even after the abandonment of the Dacian territory by the army and the administration of Rome, finally the coexistence of the inhabitants of the territory with the migrant populations.

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09/02/2024

The interior of S. Pietro in Vincoli has three naves with apses, divided by columns with Doric capitals: the central nave has a coffered ceiling decorated with a fresco with the miracle of the chains.

08/02/2024

The Basilica of S.Pietro in Vincoli owes its name to the chains (from the Latin vincula, chains) preserved here and which, according to tradition, were used to bind St. Peter during his imprisonment in and in the Mamertine Prison. In the 5th century AD Empress Elia Eudocia, wife of the Eastern Emperor Theodosius II, received as a gift from the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Juvenal, the chains with which, according to the story of the Acts of the Apostles, St. Peter had been imprisoned in Jerusalem. The sent the chains to her daughter, Licinia Eudoxia, wife of the Western emperor Valentinian III, who wanted to personally donate them to Pope Leo I, also known as Leo the Great. The Church was already in possession of the chains used for the imprisonment of St. Peter in the Mamertine Prison, so that, when the placed the two together, they miraculously fused to become only one.

23/01/2024

The Giovanni Barracco is entitled to a rich Calabrian nobleman, that donated his fine Roman sculpture collection of Assyrian, Egyptian, Cyprian, Phoenician, Etruscan, Greek and Roman art to the city of Rome in 1904. Baron Barracco over the course of his lifetime, began to slowly amass pieces of , finding them both in the antique markets and the archaeological that deeply transformed Rome’s urban landscape at the end of the nineteenth century.

As for art, the collection includes remarkable finds, especially of the early dynasties (3000 BC), before the beginning of the Roman age. Particularly significant are the slabs of art, dating back to the reign of Ashurbanipal II (883-859 BC) and coming from the royal palaces of Nineveh and Senacherib in Nimrud. A particularly and rare section for an Italian museum displays Cypriot artworks, including a polychrome chariot and the head of Heracles, dating back to the 6-7th century BC. Greek Sculptures are mostly original copies. Polykleitos and his school ( 5th century BC) are largely represented with their works.

Among the finds of the ancient art, there is a remarkable head portrait of the early roman Imperial Age (1st century BC), representing a young member of the Iulia family. Three slabs coming from the city of Palmyra (Syria), that reached its peak during the 2nd century A.D. display the art of the Roman provinces and it was a vital caravan stop for travelers crossing the desert.The polychrome mosaic coming from Old St. Peter's Basilica (XII-XIII century) is at the end of the exhibition path.

21/01/2024

Just a few steps from the modern street level will take us back in time, to the era of imperial : to the discovery of a large , in the ancient Campus Martius. In the basement of the Barracco are preserved the monumental remains of a building from the Roman-imperial era, which remained buried for almost 2000 years and was discovered by chance at the end of the 19th century, on the occasion of the opening of Corso Vittorio. You have the opportunity to observe an typology typical of the Greco-Roman world, a that runs all around a central open area. With it, the , uses and materials, nature, characteristics, functions of the building, the questions it poses. Inside the house, a cycle of late antique with hunting and fishing scenes was also found, later removed and placed in a room on the ground floor. The most accepted hypotheses trace these underground back to a public building on the Campus Martius (the stabula quattuor factionum for use by the four equestrian factions that competed in Rome), while in a subsequent phase this area became private and was transformed into a noble . All of this, naturally, is part of the great and planning of imperial Rome.

18/01/2024

In the shadow of and of the church San Giovanni a Paolo, overlooked by the ruins of the there is a new park in !
In the garden there are epigraphic and architectural materials from the of Rome at the end of the 19th century, according to a thoughtful arrangement by thematic nuclei which offers visitors a new opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the ancient world.
The materials are organised by thematic areas and offer visitors the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of ancient Rome in everyday life: from the sphere to architectural taste and construction techniques, from the sense of the divine to the contrast between public and private buildings (with large fragments from public buildings and bases of honorary statues) and the administrative presence of Rome in the territory (with boundary stones marking the Tiber riverbed or the areas pertaining to aqueducts). Finally, a nucleus of introduces the theme of reuse and rework, a phenomenon that runs through the entire architectural history of the city.

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