Montaigne would have said that in Roma, he liked to go to la Porta de Popolo when he was bored. He could find there, according to his words, a pleasant garden in which it was nice to sleep, alone or in company, let’s hope the masters would not be in there. Or, he enjoyed listening to the sermons and theological disputes of some scholars in the same place. Or he used to enjoy the conversations of the public women selling these ones and their… Read More

The Coliseum certainly remains one of the most impressive monuments in the antique world.  Located in the East of the Roman Forum, the Flavian amphitheatre, later called “the Coliseum” was initially intended to shelter gladiator fights. History of the Coliseum Rome endows with a permanent structure only in 29. This building comes in much later than in the provincial towns, probably by suspicion for these big places of gathering which… Read More

“Pantheon is the most perfect from the Roman architecture having come down to us!” Stendhal exclaimed (The Walks in Roma).  In fact it is the best preserved monument in the antique Roma, with the Coliseum arousing the admiration through its size and durability. Achieved with the most advanced techniques, Pantheon remains the most important vestige of the Roman architectural genius… In Greek, “pantheon” means “temple of all the… Read More

The origins of the catacombs of Saint Calixtus The Roman law used to prescribe that the dead would be buried outside the towns, that is the way the catacombs of Saint Calixtus sprang up in Roma towards the end of the IInd and the beginning of the IIIrd century, under the pontificate of the Pope Zephirin. The custom to bury the dead underground was already known by the Etruscans, the Jews and the Romans; but with the Christianity sprang up… Read More

Wherever one might find oneself, there is one certainty: one will surely come across a Breton… And Rome is no exception to the rule. In the mid-15th century, the Breton community in Rome, strengthened by the power and independence of its home country, wanted to be seen as a proper sovereign nation. The Bretons of Rome were renowned for their legal knowledge, in the footsteps of their Patron Saint Yves. Thus they were honoured with defining… Read More