Week 13

Archeology, Architecture

Tweet This week’s Zoom talk is about medieval fortresses, so I took myself for a spin around the biggest of Rome’s castles, the Castel Sant’Angelo to take some photos. After a night of thunderstorms, and lowering skies this morning, the afternoon was glorious. The sun...

Week 12 – Glittering mosaics and ruins: almost normal.

Archeology, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Rus in urbe

Tweet This afternoon I zipped over to the fourth century Mausoleum of Constantina (aka the church of Santa Costanza about which I wrote this) to get some better photos of the mosaics for this week’s talk: the Roman-ness of Christian Art: A Look at Medieval Church...

Spring Testaccio tours with Agnes Crawford and Rachel Roddy: Cocci e Carciofi. 20 March, 3 April & 15 May

Archeology, Off the beaten track, Rome

Tweet I am teaming up once again with Rachel Roddy for three spring Testaccio jaunts. They are on Friday 20 March, Friday 3 April, and Friday 15 May (booking details in links). This time we’ll be talking all about carciofi, every Roman’s favourite...

Cocci e Castagne: an Autumnal Roman jaunt in Testaccio with Agnes Crawford and Rachel Roddy. 25th October 2019

Archeology, Off the beaten track

Tweet Rome was famously founded on seven hills. Just outside the boundary of the most ancient incarnation of the city, beyond these hills, my geological map of the city shows a curious area of cross-hatching. A hill made not of the volcanic detritus of the seven, but...

Santo Stefano Rotondo: Scavenger architecture and Stendhal Syndrome on the Caelian Hill

Archeology, Architecture, Caelian, Off the beaten track, Rus in urbe

Tweet A few Wednesdays ago found me scootering over the Caelian Hill. It is winter, which in the world of the guide means a quieter period, perfect for taking stock, catching up on exhibitions, and not haring between appointments without a moment to spare. So it was...

The Glorious Improbability of via Giolitti

Archeology, Esquiline

Tweet Some weeks ago I stumbled upon a tweet from Paul Cooper whose account is full of intriguing ruminations on the nature of ruins, a subject of which I am very fond. He tweeted an image of this nineteenth century painting of the building usually referred to as the...