No trip to Rome is complete without walking through this intersection near the historic center.
The Quattro Fontane (the Four Fountains) is an ensemble of four Late Renaissance fountains located at the intersection of Via delle Quattro Fontane and Via del Quirinale in Rome. They were commissioned by Pope Sixtus V and built at the direction of Muzio Mattei, and were installed between 1588 and 1593.
The figure of one fountain is said to represent the River Tiber, in front of an oak-tree; a she-wolf, the symbol of Rome, was a later addition. A second fountain represents the River Arno. The other two fountains feature female figures believed to represent the Goddess Diana; the symbol of Chastity; and the Goddess Juno, the symbol of Strength, but it is possible that they may also represent rivers. The fountains of the Arno, Tiber, and Juno are the work of Domenico Fontana. The fountain of Diana was designed by the painter and architect Pietro da Cortona.
The later Baroque church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, by Francesco Borromini, is located near the fountains, and takes its name from them.
Unfortunately the church wasn’t opened when we passed by, and I’m not sure my companion would have stopped in to look even if it had been, but I’ve been in the church many times and remember it well. It is a lovely small church, one of favorite places in the Eternal City!
Above is how the church looks without scaffolding. Below is how I saw it last week:
Behind the simple facade of this pretty little antique church lies a surprising interior and AMAZING HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE. Instead of a rectangular basilica formation, or even that of a Greek cross, this church is built in the shape of a star!
Santa Sofia is a Roman Catholic church in the town of Benevento, in the region of Campania, in southern Italy; founded in the late-8th century, it retains many elements of its original Lombard architecture.
In 2011, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of a group of seven inscribed as Longobards in Italy. Places of the power (568–774 A.D.). Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power (568-774 A.D.) UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Italian: Longobardi in Italia: i luoghi del potere) is seven groups of historic buildings that reflect the achievements of the Germanic tribe of the Lombards (also referred to as Longobards), who settled in Italy during the 6th century and established a Lombard Kingdom which ended in 774 A.D.
The group comprises monasteries, church buildings, and fortresses and became UNESCO World Heritage Sites in June 2011 as they testify “to the Lombards’ major role in the spiritual and cultural development of Medieval European Christianity.
The Santa Sofia complex at Benevento (Campania) is located around the Santa Sofia church, previously home to the most important Longobard duke of Langobardia Minor and founded by Duke Arechis II around 760. It was based on the model of the Palatine chapel of Liutprando in Pavia; the central plan is based on that of the homonymous church of Constantinople, however, at the centre, there are six columns which support the dome which are positioned at each of the corners of a hexagon and are connected by arches. The inner hexagon is then surrounded by a decagonal ring with eight piers in white limestone and two pillars at either side of the entrance, each arranged parallel to the corresponding wall. Fragments of original frescoes, which used to cover the whole of the inside of the church, remain on the two side apses.
A monastery is also a part of the complex, after being rebuilt in the 13th century, replacing the original Longobard building with another later addition of a quadrangular cloister.
The next shots are of 2 small chapels off the main church interior.
You just never can be sure in Italy as to what you are seeing for the first, 10th or 100th time! There is a story waiting to reveal itself to you if you take a moment and open your mind.
I spent a week visiting Francesco in his native habitat last week. Irpinia, Italy! A new location for me and I was not disappointed. It is a beautiful, well-cared for region of hills and dales, wheat fields and forests. We took a trip up and down very winding roads and paths to find this observatory late one afternoon. Francesco had signed us up to view the moon through a very powerful telescope!
The Astronomical Observatory of Cadtelgrande is the headquarters of SINGAO (Southern Italy Neutrino & Gamma Observatory), the 1st international astrophysics research & test center in italy. Established in 2973 on Mt Toppo, it houses an altazimuth telescope with a 160 cm diameter reflective mirror with an adaptive lens. It is managed by the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte (Naples).
On our way there we caught an unbelievably large setting sun! Gorgeous!
We reached the observatory around dusk.
While waiting for the darkness to fall we had the chance to walk all around the observatory at the top of this hill (mountain?). It was silent except for the sound of the wind and the sound of the bells tied around some neighboring cattle’s necks. Serene and beaituful. It was a lovely moment!
And below: our raisond’etre for that beautiful, windy and quite cold night!
The Circus Flaminius was a large, circular area in ancient Rome, located in the southern end of the Campus Martius near the Tiber River. It contained a small race-track used for games, and various other buildings and monuments. It was “built”, or sectioned off, by Gaius Flaminius in 221 BC. After Augustus divided the city into 14 administrative regions, the Circus Flaminius gave its name to Regio IX, which encompassed the Circus and all of the Campus Martius west of the Via Lata.
During the 2nd century BC, this broad space was encroached upon by buildings and monuments. The circus had no permanent seating, nor were there any permanent structures to mark the perimeter of the race track. By the early 3rd century AD, the only open space that remained was a small piazza in the center, no more than 300 meters long, where the ludi (public games) had always been held.
There were many structures in the vicinity of the circus (“in circo Flaminio”). The Temple of Pietas lay on the edge of the Forum Holitorium to the southeast. The Temple of Mars was situated in the northwest. It is estimated that by 220 BC there were six temples, including one to Apollo, in the Flaminian Fields. A theatre dedicated to Apollo was also set up in 179 BC, close to the temple of Apollo, and later rebuilt under the dictatorship of Caesar. The rebuilding of the theatre necessitated shortening the Circus itself, and required that several temples be destroyed.
The temple of Apollo “in circo” acquired special significance under Augustus, as a popular legend developed that he had been sired by the god while his mother Atia was visiting the temple. Augustus undertook myriad new constructions around the Circus, and probably had it paved for the first time. Most notably Augustus demolished the small theater dedicated to Apollo, as well as the temples of Diana and Pietas, to build the Theatre of Marcellus on the eastern side of the Circus. Augustus also built the Porticus Octaviae, which hemmed in the Circus on its northeastern side. Augustus’ relation Lucius Marcius Phillipus restored the Temple of Hercules Musarum with a surrounding portico that could be accessed from the Circus.
All of the above, borrowed from Wikipedia, is heavy duty archaeology. But what speaks to me even more from this ancient site is the loveliness of bright red poppies, self-seeded throughout the country of Italy, and blooming gloriously throughout the month of May. What could be more evocative than these fragile little pops of red flowers among the ruins?
You can see the modern synagogue near the ruins.
The modern city encroached!
This last photo just show a segment of ruins in which life springs back annually in plants.
Serving the small town of San Sossio Baronia about 50 miles east of Naples, Italy, lies this self-contained, very well maintained cemetery. Please see my previous post on the little town.
This structure serves as the monument announcing the location of the cemetery.
Throughout Italy one sees these death announcements. I think they are a lovely gesture and fine reminder of the recently deceased.
The chapel below is probably the most impressive in the whole of the cemetery. Francesco’s sister married into this family, so it is now her family mortuary chamber.
Below, the pyramid is one of the oldest monuments in the little churchyard.
Have you ever seen this type of shrub cut into this shape? I haven’t!
Villa Torlonia is a villa and surrounding gardens in Rome, formerly belonging to the Torlonia family. It was designed by the Neoclassical architect Giuseppe Valadier. Construction began in 1806 for the banker Giovanni Torlonia (1756–1829) and was finished by his son Alessandro (1800–1880).
Mussolini rented it from the Torlonia for one lira a year to use as his state residence from the 1920s onwards. He and his family lived there for the next 18 years. Underground, an air-raid shelter was first constructed in the garden of the villa, and then, in a second stage of building, a much larger and more complex airtight bunker was constructed under the villa itself, with the intention of resisting both aerial bombardment and chemical warfare.
In June 1944 the property was all occupied by the Allied High Command, which remained there until 1947.
It was abandoned after 1945, and allowed to decay in the following decades, but recent restoration work has allowed it to be opened to the public as a museum owned and operated by Rome’s municipality.
To plan and carry out other works, Alessandro employed Quintiliano Raimondi for the theatre and orangerie (today known as the “Lemon-house”), and Giuseppe Jappelli, who was in charge of the entire south section of the grounds, which he transformed with avenues, small lakes, exotic plants and unusual buildings. These included the Swiss Hut (later rebuilt as the Casina delle Civette), the Conservatory, the Tower and Moorish Grotto, and the Tournament Field. The project culminated in 1842 with the erection of two pink granite obelisks that commemorated Alessandro’s parents.
In 1919 a large underground 3rd- and 4th-century Jewish catacomb was discovered in the north-west area of the grounds. There are about 3,800 graves in the cemetery.[1] It is still not open to the public because the excavation of the catacomb has been questioned by many due to a Jewish religious law that states that all human bodies must remain buried at all times.[1] In 1925 the Villa was given to Mussolini as a residence, where he remained until 1943, with few changes to the aboveground structures.
Underground, an air-raid shelter was first constructed in the garden of the villa, and then, in a second stage of building, a much larger and more complex airtight bunker was constructed under the villa itself, with the intention of resisting both aerial bombardment and chemical warfare.[2]
In June 1944 the property was all occupied by the Allied High Command, which remained there until 1947. The Villa was bought by the Municipality of Rome in 1977 and a year later it was opened to the public, but with many of the buildings in a run-down state. Restoration was initiated in the 1990s, and has been largely completed with the exception of the Moorish Conservatory (Serra Moresca), although there is an ongoing restoration of the villa.[3] The landscaped grounds are in the English ‘picturesque’ style.
Between 1802 and 1806 Valadier turned the main building. which you’ve been looking at above, into a palace, and transformed other buildings. He also laid out the park with symmetrical avenues around the palace.
Numerous works of classical art, many of which were sculptures, were purchased to furnish the palace.
Following the death of Giovanni, Alessandro commissioned the painter and architect Giovan Battisti Caretti in 1832 to further develop the property. In addition to expanding the buildings, Caretti constructed several buildings in the park. These included the False Ruins, the Temple of Saturn, and the Tribuna con Fontana.
To plan and carry out other works, Alessandro employed Quintiliano Raimondi for the theatre and orangerie (today known as the “Lemon-house”), and Giuseppe Jappelli, who was in charge of the entire south section of the grounds, which he transformed with avenues, small lakes, exotic plants and unusual buildings. These included the Swiss Hut (later rebuilt as the Casina delle Civette), the Conservatory, the Tower and Moorish Grotto, and the Tournament Field. The project culminated in 1842 with the erection of two pink granite obelisks that commemorated Alessandro’s parents.
In 1919 a large underground 3rd- and 4th-century Jewish catacomb was discovered in the north-west area of the grounds. There are about 3,800 graves in the cemetery. It is still not open to the public because the excavation of the catacomb has been questioned by many due to a Jewish religious law that states that all human bodies must remain buried at all times.
The Villa was bought by the Municipality of Rome in 1977 and a year later it was opened to the public, but with many of the buildings in a run-down state. Restoration was initiated in the 1990s, and has been largely completed with the exception of the Moorish Conservatory (Serra Moresca), although there is an ongoing restoration of the villa. The landscaped grounds are in the English ‘picturesque’ style.
I’ve been posting about a lot of serious minded things as is my Capricornian wont. But as summer shifts into August, I think it is time for a short palette cleanser
I saw this strange fountain in Benevento, Italy and rate it among the strangest and ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in Italy. Your thoughts?!
In May 2026 I had the good fortune to spend a couple of weeks in Rome and I saw and did so many things it is a whirlwind of memories in my mind.
I can tell you that sundown is not the perfect time to visit the Roman Forum if you want to get good quality pictures, but since visiting the Forum ANY TIME AT ALL is always a great idea, I am posting my not so great photos from that visit.
The red pin in the picture below marks the place where my friend Francesco was born and raised. It is little mountain village, that looks new to the eye because it has been rebuilt after many recurring earthquakes, that nestles in the picturesque hills and dales of the mountainous region about 40 miles east of Naples.
More than 10 years ago the mayor of this small town published the following plea:
Buy my Town, please! The plea from the mayor of San Sossio Baronia, a picturesque hill town of 1,742 residents in the southern Italian Campania region, was aimed particularly but not exclusively at Chinese investors. Its immediate effect, though, was to call attention to the fact that towns, villages and hamlets around Europe increasingly are putting themselves up for sale in a bid to replenish their dwindling coffers and solve their serious economic and demographic difficulties.
As far as I can tell, the town didn’t find a buyer, but from what I saw during the week I spent there, it is a well cared for place. Clean, tidy and the services worked well.
I always meant to take a daytime picture of this vista out my bedroom window, because it was truly lovely. In the early morning light, right after sunrise, the little town looked like a Cubist painting to me. But, I never got a daytime shot.
Instead, let me show you the countryside, which is truly beautiful!
get back, lauretta! 
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