TRASTEVERE - BOHEMIAN ROMAN CHIC

I'd read about the Trastevere district in one of the Inspector Zen novels. It lies west of the River Tiber and south of the Vatican and its a fascinating area of narrow alleys and tightly packed domestic buildings. It used to be an area occupied by artisan and working class families but these days its a "cool" place to hang out and a major destination for many visitors who come to stroll round its atmospheric streets and visit its many bars and restaurants. We decided to go there on the beautiful sunny morning of December 26th and took a bus from Piazza Barberini to Piazza Venezia. It's a relatively short walk south from there down the Via di Torre Argentina, though one can take a number 8 tram from nearby Lago Argentina if desired. We crossed the Tiber over the Ponte Garibaldi - a late 19th century bridge designed by Angelo Vescovali and dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi - father of the Italian unified state. Crossing over it there's a good view of the dome of St Peter's to the right and on the left a view of Isola Tiberina- one of only two islands in the Tiber river. The other, a larger one, is near the Tiber estuary at Ostia.

ISOLA TIBERINA FROM THE GARIBALDI BRIDGE - DECEMBER 2014

ISOLA TIBERINA - 16TH CENTURY PRINT

Tiberina island, whose shape resembles a ship, has been connected to both banks of the Tiber by bridges since ancient times and still is today. The bridge linking it with the Ghetto on the east side, the Ponte Fabricio and built in 62BC, is Rome's oldest intact bridge. The other, the Ponte Cestio which can be seen in the photo and connects the island to Trastevere, dates from the 1st century BC. In early Rome the island was used to isolate unfortunates who had contracted contagious diseases and this early chapter in its history is linked to the building of a temple on it dedicated to Aesculapius, the Greek God of medicine, in the 3rd century BC. The healing and medicinal theme connected with the island was continued by the building of a hospital on the island in 1584.

THE NARROW ATMOSPHERIC STREETS OF TRASTEVERE

After absorbing these views it was onwards to our destination and about 100 yards beyond the bridge we turned right in to the narrow alleys of old Trastevere in search of the church I knew about in the Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere. We couldn't resist an espresso in one of the many atmospheric cafes and it was interesting to watch market stall holders setting up their pitches to catch the post-christmas tourists. Another of my junk collections, which gets larger every year, was added to by the purchase of  pinocchio christmas tree ornament - a colourful rendition of the late 19th century Tuscan puppet boy whose nose got longer every time he told a lie.

THE LATEST ADDITION TO THE CHRISTMAS DECORATION
COLLECTION BOUGHT FROM A STALL IN TRASTEVERE

One of the earliest Christian churches in Rome can be found in this district and its a cracker. Though work on a church may have started as early as 220AD records indicate the church was founded by Pope Julius I in 337AD, allegedly on the site of a miracle fountain of olive oil that appeared on the day of Jesus Christ's birth and symbolic of the coming of the grace of God. It was rebuilt in the early 12th century during the reign of Pope Innocent II - a member of the Papereschi - a prominent Trastevere family. Though its had a replacement portico designed by Carlo Fontana much of the original building survives through to the present day without the Baroque additions added to many earlier Roman churches in the 17th century. In this sense it is representative of what many medieval Roman churches probably looked like before the counter Reformation.

SANTA MARIA IN TRASTEVERE

The main thing to look at on the front elevation lies above the three windows at first floor level. There can be found a wonderful band of 12th century mosaic work depicting the Virgin Mary and Jesus with 10 ten lamp carrying attendants. Many books indicate these are visual representation of the wise and foolish vestal virgins described in Jesus's Parable set out in the book of Mathew, chapter 25, verses 1-14. More recently this theory has been discredited on the basis that several of the maidens look more like male figures and only 2 are carrying unlighted lamps - not the 5 mentioned in the New Testament.

12th CENTURY MOSAIC FRIEZE ON THE FRONT ELEVATION
OF SANTA MARIA IN TRASTEVERE

Many guide books suggest coming here in summer in the evening so that when the sun goes down the mosaics glisten in the fading light. That's a good enough reason surely to come back at another time of year?

Inside the church is no less impressive and I was first of all struck by the magnificent lines of columns to be found either side of the main nave - these are said to have been recycled during the 12th century from excavations of the Roman Baths of Caracalla.

ROMAN COLUMNS USED IN THE BUILDING OF THE 12TH CENTURY
NAVE AT SANTA MARIA IN TRASTEVERE

The next glory to be seen in this beautiful church is the 12th century mosaics to be found in the apse above and behind the altar.

The apse mosaics are truly stunning. Those in the upper section depict the glorification of the Virgin where she sits amongst Jesus and the Saints and they were done at a similar time to the ones on the outside. They also show a revived interest in classicism on the part of late Byzantine Greek craftsmen. There's an interesting mixture of iconic and human features in the depiction of the figures which I'd also seen in the wonderful mosaics of  Saint Apollinare Nuovo church in Ravenna viewed earlier in the year. The depictions in the lower section of the apse, which show scenes from the life of the Virgin, were completed at a later date, about 1290, and were executed by mosaicist and painter Pietro Cavallini. They show some interesting stylistic differences to the earlier examples. If you manage to get to this church it's worth looking at all of them in detail and making a comparison between the two sets of work.

APSE MOSAICS FROM SANTA MARIA IN TRASTEVERE

After being used to seeing so much Renaissance and Baroque art in Rome in previous visits it was refreshing to discover this gem of a church. It would be yet another Roman treasure to put on the list for another visit at a different time of year.

TRAVELLER'S TIP
Whilst many churches in Rome throw open their doors to the public and often like this one don't make a charge, remember that the Christmas holidays can be disappointing to those visitors expecting everything to be open the day after Christmas Day - it isn't. After visiting Santa Maria in Trastevere we walked the short distance to Villa Farnesina to find it closed so we should have checked beforehand.

Oh - I also wanted to say that it's a good idea to take a small pair of binoculars to look at details high up from ground level. They can be an invaluable aid and I wish I'd had mine with me in the church just described. It would have made such a difference to viewing the details in the mosaics!