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One usually associates the Rome Ghetto with Jews. In reality, there are five ghettoes, co-existing over time in close juxtaposition: the Ancient Ghetto; the Noble Ghetto; the Christian Ghetto; the Jewish Ghetto; and the recent Political Ghetto. We will cover one at a time, to fully understand this fascinating area…
The ghetto in the Centro Storico is not only ancient, but also aristocratic or nobile (noble). Many influential families lived here, including the Mattei clan, who built their two Renaissance palazzi in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Throughout the inner courtyard on the ground floor of one palazzo, one can see remnants of antiquity. One interesting piece is a lid for a sewer, just like the famous Bocca della Veritá, which is thought to be part of a first century manhole cover decorated with a pagan god.
The Cenci were another noble family that dominated Rome already by the 14th century from their palazzo in the area between the Tiber and Via Arenula, known then as Campo Judeorum from all the Jews who had moved there from Trastevere. Their story is tragic: when one family member, Pietro Cenci, challenged the Pope, he was then sentenced to death for his role in an “insurrection against excessive papal power.” Ironically, the Cenci fortune eventually passed into the Pope’s hands.
On Piazza Margana, there are still remains of the tower built by the powerful Margana family to show their status and to protect their family property. Some ancient bits still remain, built into the house restorations in the area, including on Via dei Delfini.
* These entries are based on a tour given by Antonella Mantovani, a teacher at the Rome based language school Italiaidea. (see www.italiaidea.com).
- Contributed by Gretchen Bloom, ItalianNotebook.com reader and Central Italy expert. Also a recent Senior Advisor at the UN’s World Food Program as well as head of WFP’s Programme Unit in Kabul, Afghanistan, for 15 month. Expert in gender issues and community health.
Love your notes, Gretchen. The more we learn about Rome, the more we realize how very much more there is to learn. Friends who live there tell us that after living there more than thirty years, there is still more to learn. No one can really say, “been there, done that” about visiting Rome.
A sweet hello from Frog Hollow Farm. I began to understand and love Rome when I began to discover it area by area, just like I became to love New York when I became familiar first with Union Square, then Downtown, Soho and the Village as well as the Upper West Side. Campo di Fiore, Piazza Navona, the area near the Pantheon – these are all small geographical areas in Rome that I am now more familiar with; therefore more comfortable with. It allows be to be more aware of the many specific facets of architecture and antiquity that I come across. Ciao, bella!
Great photo of the column in the wall; it’s sights as such that had created some of the great surrealist painters of the 20th century… Can’t stoke the imagination living in the monotonous boring suburbs. Thank you…
[...] realities that have co-existed in close proximity to one another over time: the Ancient Ghetto, the Noble Ghetto, the Christian Ghetto, the Jewish Ghetto, and the recent Political Ghetto. We will cover one at a [...]
[...] realities that have co-existed in close proximity to one another over time: the Ancient Ghetto, the Noble Ghetto, the Christian Ghetto, the Jewish Ghetto, and the recent Political Ghetto. We will cover one at a [...]
I don’t think I understand the term “ghetto” as it refers to Nobility – my knowledge of ghetto is a place one was forced to live in with restrictions on where you could go etc. Can you clarify this a bit?