009 Our Neighborhood

We live on Via Giulia, a street laid out by Pope Julius II as part of the rennovation of Rome beginning in 1508.

Looking down Via Giulia to the southeast from the front of our apartment.

Towards the end of Via Giulia, there is a bridge across the street connecting two of the palaces in that neighborhood.

Via Giulia is about a kilometer long and is one of the few streets in Rome that is so straight and carries the same name for such a long distance.

The Chiesa Nuova, built towards the end of the 16th century, is a large church on the main street near our apartment. It contains three altarpieces by Rubens.

The Chiesa Nuova is not the closest church. The closest is San Giovanni Battisti dei Fiorentini, just over a block away. It is also a large church and sometimes we go to weekday morning mass there.

Within a few blocks of our apartment are several bridges across the Tiber River. All of them are picturesque. The one below is Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II which carries a lot of traffic on the main street near our apartment, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II.

We are walking somewhere every day. Most of the sights in Rome are within a half hour walk — a little more if we walk slowly. Many of the side streets are narrow and have a lot of pedestrians, motor scooters, cars, and trucks. Everyone shares the road.

Not actually in our neighborhood but an interesting church nevertheless, is Santa Maria in Cosmedin. It is some distance past the end of Via Giulia. It is a Greek Orthodox church first built in the 6th century. There always seems to be a long line in front of the church, but very few people inside. Everyone seems to be lined up to put their hand into the Bocca della Verita (Mouth of Truth). It is an ancient Roman drain cover unearthed in the Middle Ages and has a face with an open mouth for the water to drain. Legend has it that the stone mouth will close on a liar’s hand. People get a kick out of verifying that they are truthful.