Did you know that Rome is the city with the highest number of Egyptian obelisks? Excluding Cairo, of course.
Today we offer you this bizarre tour, a walk in the Egyptian side of the city, are you ready?
Torlonia Obelisk (Villa Torlonia, Via Nomentana)
Let's start with a false!!
Villa Torlonia,became a public park in 1977, arose in the early nineteenth century as a property of Torlonia, a rich family of bankers whose heritage obscured that of all the Roman nobles.
Villa Torlonia,became a public park in 1977, arose in the early nineteenth century as a property of Torlonia, a rich family of bankers whose heritage obscured that of all the Roman nobles.
Renovated several times, between the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth century, it is characterized by thirteen buildings that simulate mysterious and fairy-tale environments not typical of Rome.
The obelisk is not Egyptian but is a faithful imitation.
On 6 July, 1842, it was raised in the presence of Pope Gregory XVI and King Louis I of Bavaria, in a great party for everyone, rich or poor, among fireworks , firecrackers, music and great drinks.
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| Villa Torlonia - Photo by Nuok |
From this location to the next use public transportation: Bus n 66 or 82
Dogali Obelisk (Via delle Terme di Diocleziano)
An other obelisk from Heliopolis and used by romans to bedeck the Isis's temple. This monument has a strange story, it was dicovered in Via di Sant'Ignazio in 1883 and it was resrored and used as memorial for the fallen soldiers in the Battle of Dogali, in Ethiopia (1887). The artist Francesco Azzurri, created a base for it and placed in ront of the Termini station.
The final destination was decided in the 1925. You can also see the Judah's Lion ( symbol of Ethiopia) conqured during the the Abyssinian campaign by Mussolini's troops.
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| Terme di Diocleziano street |
Let's go to step 3
It's not so far , 6 minutes of walking ... 500 meters
Esquilino Obelisk (Piazza dell'Esquilino)
This is the second false, a roman imitation of an egyptian obelisk !!
You find it in front of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. It was found broken in San Rocco's street. It has a twin ( Obelisk Quirinale). they were located ot the entrance Mausoleum of Augustus.
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| Piazza dell'Esquilino - photo by Fontana Resort |
Let's go to step 4
From this location to the next use public transportation: Bus n 16 or 714
Lateranense Obelisk (Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano)
This is the oldest Egyptian obelisk existing in Rome, as well as the highest: measure, in fact, 32.185 meters . This obelisk was in front of the Temple of Amun in Thebe and it was dedicated Pharaoh Tutmosis III . It's red granite. In the 357 A.D. Constantius II brought in Rome and i wanted place in the Circus Maximus.
It's a masterpiece and it has a twin in Istanbul, the "brother" is in the Hippodrome of Constantinople and since then it has never been moved: we can still admire it in the center of Sultanhamet Square, in the heart of the city
It was abandoned and buried for centuries, when it was found it was broken in three sections,
Pope Sixtus V, in 1587, instructed the architect Domenico Fontana to fix it and the Fontana ercected it iin front of the rear entrance of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano.
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| Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano - phto by Roma per il Giubileo |
It's not so far , 10 minutes of walking ... 900 meters
From this location to the next use public transportation: Bus n 81 or 714 or 792
Mattei Obelisk (Villa Celimontana, Via della Navicella)
It became a public park in 1925 and Italian Geographical Society reside here, in the Casino. This obelisk comes from Heliopolis and it was bult by Pharaoh Ramses II. and dedicated to the Sun . It was placed near the Aracoeli, in Campidoglio, where there was the Isis's temple. It stayed here until 1952. The Mattei's Obelisk ( Mattei's family was the former owner of this villa) also know as " Capitoline Obelisk" and it has been restored and now we can admire it in all its beauty
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| Mattei's obelisk - Photo by Marco Gradozzi |
Let's go to step 6
From this location to the next use public transportation: Bus n 81
Pantheon Obelisk (Piazza della Rotonda)
It was erected in Heliopolis in 1200 BC, we don't know when it was brought in our city but it dedicated Isis and Serapis erected in Campo Marzio. All around its base there is the famous fountain, Pope Gregorio XIII ordered to build it to Giacomo Della Porta.
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| Piazza della Rotonda |
Let's go to step 7
It's not so far , 2 minutes of walking ... 200 meters
Minerva Obelisk (Piazza della Minerva)
This is my favourite,, i have to admit, so I'll be a little long-winded, sorry. Its name come from the Minerva's temple (Domitian age). On this temple Santa maria sopra Minerva' church was erected and you can watch it behind the obelisk.. This masterpiece was found in Campo Marzio, nearby the Isis' temple.
The obelisk was erected to glorify the pharaoh Apri in the 700 BC in the city of Sais. The actual base was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and built by Ercole Ferrata.
Pope Alexander VII Chigi reccomended Bernini to place the monolith directly on the elephant's back.
The writing shows the following sentence :
This is is the smallest obelisk in Rome.
The writing shows the following sentence :
SAPIENTIS AEGYPTI
INSCVLTAS OBELISCO FIGURAS
AB ELEPHANTO
BELLVARVM FORTISSIMA
GESTARI QVISQVE HIC VIDES
DOCVMENTVM INTELLIGE
ROBVSTAE MENTIS ESSE
SOLIDAM SAPIENTIAM SVSTINERE
This is the meaning :
Whoever you are, you can see here that the figure of the skilful school Egypt on the obelisk it is supported by an elephant, the strongest animal: you understand the admonition, only a strong mind can sustain solid wisdom ".
This is is the smallest obelisk in Rome.
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| Piazza della Minerva |
Let's go to step 8
It's not so far , 7 minutes of walking ... 500 meters
From this location to the next use public transportation: Bus n or
Montecitorio Obelisk (Piazza di Montecitorio)
Pharaoh Psammetico II built it in the VI century BC in Heliopolis. Emeperor Augustus used as sundial in Campo Marzio, in the nort side of the Parlamient square.
In 1748 Giovanni Antinori found it broken in five pieces, he restored and fixed with fragments of red granite from the Antonine Column.
It was erected and showed in the 1792.
There is a ball on the op and a ray of of sunlight should pass through at midday, today it lost its efficiency.
Curios fact : this obelisk with the Vatican one are used as solar indicator, the only ones.
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| Piazza Montecitorio - Photo by Zloris |
Let's go to step 9
It's not so far , 7 minutes of walking ... 600 meters
Agonale Obelisk (Piazza Navona)
Welcome to Rome's living room, a splendid place, an open-air masterpiece.
Have a break and admire the wonder of this square!!
Tell the truth !! It is a breathtaking view.
Ok, let's come back to our obelisks.
This one was placed at Circus of Maxentius on the Via Appia. Bernini moved it for his work.
Obelisk is located in the center of the square, above the Four Rivers Fountain, created and built by Bernini. The four rivers are Nile, Ganges, Danube and Rio de la Plata respectively sculpted by Giacomo Antonio Fancelli, Claude Poussin, Antonio Raggi and Francesco Baratta.
On the top you can see a dove, Pamphili's family symbol. This animal was assumed as the Holy Spirit emblem, the spirit spread its influence in the four regions of the Universe (symbolized by the four sides of the obelisk) and in the four continents (represented by the four rivers.
Let's go to step 10
Have a break and admire the wonder of this square!!
Tell the truth !! It is a breathtaking view.
Ok, let's come back to our obelisks.
This one was placed at Circus of Maxentius on the Via Appia. Bernini moved it for his work.
Obelisk is located in the center of the square, above the Four Rivers Fountain, created and built by Bernini. The four rivers are Nile, Ganges, Danube and Rio de la Plata respectively sculpted by Giacomo Antonio Fancelli, Claude Poussin, Antonio Raggi and Francesco Baratta.
On the top you can see a dove, Pamphili's family symbol. This animal was assumed as the Holy Spirit emblem, the spirit spread its influence in the four regions of the Universe (symbolized by the four sides of the obelisk) and in the four continents (represented by the four rivers.
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| Piazza Navona - Photo by Danny Zantos |
Let's go to step 10
It's not so far , 18 minutes of walking ... 1500 meters
From this location to the next use public transportation: Bus n 628 or 30 or 70 or 87 or Metro A
Flaminio Obelisk
(Piazza del Popolo)
From Heliopolis, Pharaohs Seti I and Ramses II erected it in in front of the Temple of the Sun.
Augustus decided to import two obelisk to celebrate victory over Egypt and he placed an the Circus Maximus, year 10 BC.
In 1589 Pope Sixtus V moved this in the actual position, using blocks removed from the demolished Settizonio for pedestrians.
On the faces of the base there are four inscriptions:
The first one, an hieroglyphic inscription on the facade shows the following message :
"The Gods heaven is satisfied for what Seti I, son of the Sun , did with he spirits of Heliopolis, and the Sun loved him"
The meaning of the third incision is the obelisk is pleased to stand up in front of the sacred Colei's temple, where the Augustus's was born under the Sun of justice.
The last one Sixtus V recalls the victory of Augustus over Egypt while the opposite one, facing the famous Trident, and he dedicated the obelisk to the Holy Cross.
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| Piazza del Popolo - Photo by Servajero |
Let's go to step 11
It's not so far , 8 minutes of walking ... 500 meters upward
Aureliano Obelisk
(Giardini del Pincio, Piazza Bulgaria)
Napoleon Bonaparte wanted the Pincio Gardens became a public park and he expropriated the land from the Sant'Agostino's friars
Giuseppe Valadier started to build this garden in the 1811 and he finished in 1814.
Emperor Hadrian built in for his favorite Antinous, drowned in the Nile in 130, it's a roman monolith not properly egyptian , an area of his empire.
Pius VII, once returned to Rome from exile, continued the work with the care of the gardens and in 1822 erected the obelisk, found at the Basilica of Santa Croce in Jerusalem in 1570.
In 1773 the Barberini's family removed it because it disturbed the passage of carriages and they decided to donate to Pope Clement XIV, he did not know how to deposit it in the courtyard of the Pigna in the Vatican so it was definitely placed into in the current Piazza Bulgaria by the architect Giuseppe Marini.
Let's go to step 12
Giuseppe Valadier started to build this garden in the 1811 and he finished in 1814.
Emperor Hadrian built in for his favorite Antinous, drowned in the Nile in 130, it's a roman monolith not properly egyptian , an area of his empire.
Pius VII, once returned to Rome from exile, continued the work with the care of the gardens and in 1822 erected the obelisk, found at the Basilica of Santa Croce in Jerusalem in 1570.
In 1773 the Barberini's family removed it because it disturbed the passage of carriages and they decided to donate to Pope Clement XIV, he did not know how to deposit it in the courtyard of the Pigna in the Vatican so it was definitely placed into in the current Piazza Bulgaria by the architect Giuseppe Marini.
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| Piazza Bulgaria - Photo by Mapio |
Let's go to step 12
It's not so far , 7 minutes of walking ... 650 meters
From this location to the next use public transportation: Bus n or
Sallustiano Obelisk (Trinità dei Monti, Piazza di Spagna)
Located opposite the church of Trinità dei Monti,
It comes from the Gardens of Sallust and it's a Roman imitation of the imperial era of the Egyptian obelisks.
The hieroglyphs are similar to those of the obelisk in Piazza del Popolo, but the Roman stonemason made some mistakes, look !! Some signs are turned upside down.
Clement XII ,in 1734, tried in vain to have it erected in front of the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, lying abandoned near the Scala Santa.
Giovanni Antinori in 1789, at the behest of Pius VI placed here. On the top you can see the lily of France and the crosshe lily of France and the cross.
The basement is not the original, it is in the Campidoglio Gardens. The basement of the Sallustiano Obelisk was decorated symbolic frills, during the Fascist Fascist era and it was consecrated as "Ara of the Fallen Fascists".
It's not so far , 16 minutes of walking ...1300 meters
It comes from the Gardens of Sallust and it's a Roman imitation of the imperial era of the Egyptian obelisks.
The hieroglyphs are similar to those of the obelisk in Piazza del Popolo, but the Roman stonemason made some mistakes, look !! Some signs are turned upside down.
Clement XII ,in 1734, tried in vain to have it erected in front of the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, lying abandoned near the Scala Santa.
Giovanni Antinori in 1789, at the behest of Pius VI placed here. On the top you can see the lily of France and the crosshe lily of France and the cross.
The basement is not the original, it is in the Campidoglio Gardens. The basement of the Sallustiano Obelisk was decorated symbolic frills, during the Fascist Fascist era and it was consecrated as "Ara of the Fallen Fascists".
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| Trinità de Monti - Photo by Shuttershock |
It's not so far , 16 minutes of walking ...1300 meters
From this location to the next use public transportation: Bus n 71
Quirinale Obelisk
( Piazza del Quirinale )
The obelisk comes from the Mausoleum of Augustus, where it was paired with the other that it is at the Esquiline.
It is placed at the center of the fountain called Monte Cavallo, among the statues representing the two Dioscuri.
The statues are Roman copies of Greek originals, but at the time they were considered original Fidia and Prassitele's works. This error remained forever immortalized in the inscription that can be read on the base.
In the middle a fountain was placed and its water comes from the Felice aqueduct.
Pius VI (1775-99) wanted to beautify the complex and Giovanni Antinori erected the obelisk among the Dioscuri.The operation was not so simple, because the two statues had to be moved too, and two attempts were made before succeeding.
The first attempt, in 1783, failed and there were immediately pasquinate ( Pasquino is the most famous talking statue of Rome - the romans, in the night , hung sheets containing satire in verse, directed anonymously against the most important public figures. They were called "pasquinate")
It is placed at the center of the fountain called Monte Cavallo, among the statues representing the two Dioscuri.
The statues are Roman copies of Greek originals, but at the time they were considered original Fidia and Prassitele's works. This error remained forever immortalized in the inscription that can be read on the base.
In the middle a fountain was placed and its water comes from the Felice aqueduct.
Pius VI (1775-99) wanted to beautify the complex and Giovanni Antinori erected the obelisk among the Dioscuri.The operation was not so simple, because the two statues had to be moved too, and two attempts were made before succeeding.
The first attempt, in 1783, failed and there were immediately pasquinate ( Pasquino is the most famous talking statue of Rome - the romans, in the night , hung sheets containing satire in verse, directed anonymously against the most important public figures. They were called "pasquinate")
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| Piazza del Quirinale - Photo by Tripadvisor |
From this location to the next use public transportation: Bus n 64
BEWARE TO THE PICKPOCKETS - THIS LINE UNFORTUNATELY KNOWN FOR THIS
BEWARE TO THE PICKPOCKETS - THIS LINE UNFORTUNATELY KNOWN FOR THIS
Vatican Obelisk (Piazza San Pietro)
You can admire it in the middle of the Bernini's square Located at the center of the famous square designed by Bernini,in all its stunning beauty. Heighy 25 meters.
Guess!! Where is it from? Helipolis, yet! Caligula took it in Rome in 37 AD,, he chosen it to decorate the Nerone's Circus, located where the Basilica is now.
Domenico Fontana moved to the actual location in 1586, in the vase you can see four lions ( heraldic motif of Sisto V) and eagles, added in 1713 by Innocenzo XIII, in memory of the heraldic elements of his family ,Conti.
At the top of obelisk there are the relics of the Holy Cross, previously there was a bronze ball which, according to tradition, contained the ashes of Julius Caesar.
if you are close you can see the traces of cannon shots fired by the Lanzichenecchi during the depredation of Rome 1527. On the floor there is a " Rosa dei Venti ", the Compass Rose.
There are two marble discs on a strip and they indicate the places where, at noon, the shadow of the cross falls on the two solstice days of the year.
The first marble disk indicates the solstice in Cancer, the second the solstice in Capricorn. discs indicate the passage of the Sun in the coupled zodiacal signs: Leo-Gemini, Virgo-Taurus, Libra-Aries, Scorpio-Pisces and Sagittarius-Aquarius.
There are two marble discs on a strip and they indicate the places where, at noon, the shadow of the cross falls on the two solstice days of the year.
The first marble disk indicates the solstice in Cancer, the second the solstice in Capricorn. discs indicate the passage of the Sun in the coupled zodiacal signs: Leo-Gemini, Virgo-Taurus, Libra-Aries, Scorpio-Pisces and Sagittarius-Aquarius.
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| Piazza San Pietro |
If you want eat something during the tour I usually eat a "panino" at the Lost Food Factory near the Pantheon. I knew them during a promenade and I went crazy for their creations. They use traditional roman recipes for their sandwices, salty croissants and panini.
Ok, it's little and, maybe, you have to wait but you'll be rewarded. The guys are kind and funny and you can have a different break.
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