Piazza della Madonna dei Monti
Why is it significant?
Sit down on the steps of the fountain, like everyone else. Look around: ivy on the walls, a few café tables, a man fixing a scooter, students with beers, a priest crossing the square.
Key Facts
| Place | Piazza della Madonna dei Monti |
|---|---|
| Address | Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, 00184 Roma RM, Italy |
| Geo Coordinates | 41.89490, 12.49090 |
| Part of Walk | Emperors, Saints and Alchemists: Monti & the Esquiline Hill |
| Generated | Generated |
Sit down on the steps of the fountain, like everyone else. Look around: ivy on the walls, a few café tables, a man fixing a scooter, students with beers, a priest crossing the square. This is the Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, and at sunset it is the village square of the most fashionable neighbourhood in Rome.
The fountain behind you was designed in the late 1580s by Giacomo della Porta, one of the busiest architects of his day, the man who finished Michelangelo's dome of Saint Peter's. Water had just returned to these hills, thanks to Pope Sixtus the Fifth and his new aqueduct, the Acqua Felice. For more than a thousand years, after the Goths cut the ancient aqueducts, the hills of Rome had been almost empty, and people had crowded down by the river to drink.
The people who came back to live here were called monticiani, and they were famously proud and quarrelsome. Their great enemies were the trasteverini, from across the river. For centuries, gangs from the two neighbourhoods met for stone-throwing battles in the Roman Forum, which was then a cow pasture. The authorities tried again and again to ban them. Today the rivalry survives mostly as jokes... mostly.
Walk a few steps to the church of the Madonna dei Monti. In 1579, workers clearing a hayloft found an image of the Virgin hidden in the wall, and miracles were soon attributed to it. The pope had this church built to house it, again by della Porta. Monti has always been like that: the sacred and the everyday mixed together, a holy image in a barn.
The streets around you, Via Urbana, Via del Boschetto, Via dei Serpenti, are now full of vintage shops, artisan workshops and tiny restaurants. Have a look, but come back to the main street, because the next stop is a staircase with a very dark family history. Take Via Leonina down to Via Cavour, and look for a narrow stair climbing under an arch.