Breadcrumbs
Blog
- Details
- News
Tiziano’, Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome
March 1st – June 16th 2013
Eagerly awaited, this exhibition is one of the grandest to grace Rome in recent years and pulls in masterpieces from across the globe: ‘Concert’ and ‘La Bella’ from the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Flora (above) from the the Uffizi, the Gozzi Altarpiece from Ancona, Danaë and the Shower of Gold from Capodimonte, Charles V with a Dog and the Self-portrait from the Prado.
- Details
- News
L’Età dell’Equilibrio. Traiano, Adriano, Antonino Pio, Marco Aurelio” (The Age of Balance. Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius), a five year exhibition project dedicated to the timeless story of Rome, from the Republican Era to Late Antiquity.
Read more: The Age of Balance Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius
- Details
- News
- Details
- News
From 22nd November 2012 until 6th January 2013 a visit to Rome can be completed with an unforgettable experience that will get you completely absorbed in the atmosphere of Christmas in the Eternal City. We’re talking about the exhibition 100 Presepi: a journey through crafts, traditional art and spirituality.
The show is an exhibition of 100 Nativity Scenes born in 1976 and, by now, established as an international Christmas event. To the fascinating and evocative installations on the theme of the Nativity is dedicated a space of exception, that will make its effect: the Sale del Bramante, in the basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo, Piazza del Popolo. The three rooms that were the famous Renaissance architect’s studio.
The opening time to visit the exhibition 100 Presepi 2012-2013 ranges from 9.30 to 20.00, for the whole duration of the exhibition. The cost of the full ticket is € 7.50. Over 65 ticket cost is € 6.50, while children under 10 years are charged € 5.50. For group visits (minimum 25 persons) there is a special ticket, but reservations is required.
The exhibition 100 Presepi 2012-2013 is one more reason to spend Christmas in Rome and discover this amazing city festively decorated.
- Details
- News
The exhibition “The Weapons of the Romans” is developed on the two levels of the Museo delle Mura di Porta San Sebastiano.
Models and findings are on display on the first floor of the Museo delle Mura. This floor will also display military helmets of the end of the first century AD and the beginning of the second, with particular reference to the period of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius.
In the right tower leading figures from various periods of the Roman army from the end of the first century AD until the fourth century will be compared.
In smaller windows, are on display the famous bronze gladiator helmets, used in ceremony or parades, before the munera.
Tuesday-Sunday: 9.00 am - 2.00 pm;
Monday: closed;
Last admission 1/2 hour before closing time.
Adults: € 6,50
Concessions: € 5,50
Roman Citizens only (by showing a vaild ID):
- Adults: € 4,00
- Concessions: € 3,00
Free of charge for visitors provided for by the current legislation.
- Details
- News
The first ever Etruscan pyramids have been located underneath a wine cellar in the city of Orvieto in central Italy. A team of Italian and US archeologists are working to uncover the remains of what has turned out to be an amazing discovery.
They discovered pyramids dating to at least the 5th Century BCE carved into the rock of the Tufa plateau ( a sedimentary area that is a result of volcanic activity) on which Orvieto stands, the subterranean structures were largely filled. Only the top-most modern layer was visible.
The archaeologists and students uncovered a series of Etruscan tunnels, 5th century BCE Etruscan pottery, as well as material dating back to 1200 BCE. George believes the subterranean pyramids were likely tombs or part of a sanctuary. He says there are no parallels to this anywhere in Italy.
“We know its not a quarry or a cistern; the walls are too well dressed to be a quarry and there is no evidence of mud which would point to a cistern. That leaves just a couple of things, some sort of a religious structure or a tomb, both of which are without precedent here,” says George.
At the time of their discovery, the structures were filled, covered by a top floor that had been modified for modern use, most currently, a wine cellar. Upon noting some Etruscan construction techniques in the stone stairwell, Drs. George and Bizzarri obtained a permit to dig deeper.
As they started digging, David B.George of the Department of Classics at Saint Anselm and co-director of the excavation Claudio Bizzarri of the Parco Archeologico Ambientale dell'Orvietano noted that the cave's walls were tapered up in a pyramidal fashion. Intriguingly, a series of tunnels, again of Etruscan construction, ran underneath the wine cellar hinting to the possibility of deeper undiscovered structures below.
Excavation of the site began on May 21 where the group dug through a mid 20th century floor reaching a medieval floor. Immediately beneath this subfloor, George and Bizzarri with their team excavated a layer of fill containing materials and artifacts ranging from the middle of the 5th century BCE to 1000 BCE.
Digging through this layer, the archaeologists found 5 feet of gray sterile fill, which was intentionally deposited from a hole in the top of the structure.
"Below that material there was a brown layer that we are currently excavating. Intriguingly, the stone carved stairs run down the wall as we continue digging. We still don't know where they are going to take us," Bizzarri told Discovery News.
The material from the deepest level reached so far (the archaeologists have pushed down about 10 feet) dates to around the middle of the fifth century B.C.
"At this level we found a tunnel running to another pyramidal structure and dating from before the 5th century B.C. which adds to the mystery," George said.
According to Bizzarri, there are at least five Etruscan pyramids under the city. Three of these structures have yet to be excavated
According to George, the underground pyramids could represent some sort of a religious structure or a tomb. In both cases, it would be a discovery without precedent.
"Most likely, the answer waits at the bottom. The problem is we don't really know how much we have to dig to get down there," Bizzarri said.
The site will sit idle until May 2013, when Drs. George and Bizzarri return with their crews.
Etruscan tribes are one of the biggest mysteries of antiquity for the scientists.
The Etruscans were a pre-Roman civilization who lived in Etruria, in what is now western Umbria, southern Tuscany, and northern Lazio. They created a well-developed culture, which exerted great influence on the Roman civilization. The Romans borrowed engineering art from the Etruscans, a part of religious ceremonies and even gladiator fights.
Known for their art, agriculture, fine metalworking and commerce, they flourished atound 900 B.C. and started to decline during the fifth century B.C., as the Romans grew in power. By 300-100 B.C., they eventually became absorbed into the Roman empire.
One of the top Etruscan places to visit today is Cerveteri and the surrounding area.
- Details
- News
- Details
- News
The United Nations have announced that Thursday September 27 2012 will be World Tourism Day.
In accordance with World Tourism Day the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel in Rome will give free entry. The Museums are open from 8.30 AM until 6.00 PM. Final entrance is at 4 PM. If you do not like crowds, it might be an idea to pick a different day for your visit: World Tourism Day falls in the middle of the high season so it will be very busy at the Vatican Museums.
- Details
- News
The work will be funded by private money from ‘Italian shoe magnate’ Diego delle Valle. Eighteen months after first getting the green light to restore the Colosseum and despite bureaucratic glitches and an investigation by the Court of Auditors and Rome’s public prosecutor, it looks like Diego Della Valle, chairman and chief executive officer of Tod’s SpA, will finally be able to see work begin on the historic amphitheater. A press conference to kick off the project, solely sponsored by Tod’s, will be held July 31 at the monument.
The mayor declared this ‘a great victory for Rome and for culture’ and it would appear that there have been no modifications to the originally submitted plans and schedules. There are six distinct building sites/projects, each of which is expected to take 24 to 36 months each to complete – three will be running alongside each other at a time. So that means 4 to 6 years of work, it would seem.
At no time has there been any mention of any part of the Colosseum being closed to visitors, so take the opporunity to discover the Colosseum and the rest of the Ancien City with one of our Tours.
- Details
- News
Noises are being made in the Vatican about a possible Consistory for the creation of new cardinals in autumn or possibly later, in the first few months of 2012
his would confirm Benedict XVI’s tendency to never leave the College of Cardinals overly weakened, in case of a possible conclave. Benedict XVIwas 84 last April; he carefully guards his energies and is continuously monitored by his medical team (who found some of his numbers inching too high over the past few weeks, and advised him to start eating a special diet), so it’s reasonable to think that his reign will continue. But he is still well past 80 years old, with a spotty medical history.
The maximum number of voting cardinals (that is, those who are not yet 80) is 120. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the number of voting cardinals will be 105 by the end of the year – within six months. That number will drop to 99 by June 2012, and 92 by the end of 2012. This is why it is extremely likely that Pope Ratzinger will distribute a certain number of berrettas, the traditional headgear of short-term cardinals.
Also because of the most recent Consistory of 20 November 2011, he left several names, countries, and continents on the waiting list. The biggest question mark is over some excellent names and dioceses. For example: New York, Turin, Florence, Toledo, and Quebec. It was the Holy See’s running policy (though not always respected) not to make the head of a diocese a cardinal if his predecessor, no longer governor of the diocese itself, is not yet 80 years old and therefore excluded from the list of those who might choose the next pope.
In Italy, this policy is not always respected. When a new Archbishop of Genoa - Angelo Bagnasco – was appointed, he received the berretta even though his predecessor, Tarcisio Bertone, was well under 80 (and still is) and worked in the Vatican as Secretary of State to Benedict XVI. However, in the last batch of cardinals Giuseppe Betori, Archbishop of Florence, was not elevated to cardinal, even though his predecessor Ennio Antonelli held an important position in the Vatican. An analogous situation is that of Gerard Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec - Marc Quellet, his predecessor, is the Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops. Similarly at Toledo, Braulio Rodriguez Plaza has a predecessor cardinal, Canizares Llovera, who is, however, at the Vatican leading the Congregation for Divine Worship. If the rule applied to Bagnasco and Bertone is judged applicable for them as well, it could trigger possible appointments. The situation of Cesare Nosiglia of Turin is more complex - the former Savoy capital already has a cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus Severino Poletto, who will be 80 years old in 2013. Meanwhile, it is quite likely that Timothy Michael Dolan, the pugnacious Archbishop of New York and President of the Conference of Bishops, will receive the berretta. It is true he has a predecessor in the diocese, Edward Michael Egan, who will turn 80 in April of 2012. And the sympathy with which Benedict XVI regards the American Church - and Dolan in particular – is well-known. The archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols and his predecessor Murphy O'Connor found themselves in the same position as Dolan and Egan. It looks likely that Nichols too will be receiving a biretta.
A nearly certain appointment in the next Consistory is that of Ricardo Ezzati, the Salesian Archbishop of Santiago, as well as that of Bechara Rai, the newly-elected leader of the Maronites in Lebanon. Another likely candidate is the Archbishop of Managua, Leopoldo José Brenes Solórzano. But not counting the Curia, where some old and new heads of departments await the berretta (a sure thing for Brazilian João Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life), Taiwan and Thailand expect a cardinal, and in Africa, some countries that are without a cardinal - Angola, Mozambique, Uganda, Ivory Coast and Cameroon – can have some uncertain hope.