Home

Visit Rome following 8 XVIIIth century itineraries XVIIIth century Rome in the 10 Books of Giuseppe Vasi - Le Magnificenze di Roma Antica e Moderna The Grand View of Rome by G. Vasi The Environs of Rome: Frascati, Tivoli, Albano and other small towns near Rome A 1781 map of Rome by G. Vasi An 1852 map of Rome by P. Letarouilly Rome seen by a 1905 armchair traveller in the paintings by Alberto Pisa The 14 historical districts of Rome An abridged history of Rome How to spend a peaceful day in Rome Baroque sculptors and their works The coats of arms of the popes in the monuments of Rome Pages on a specific pope Pages complementing the itineraries and the views by Giuseppe Vasi Walks in the Roman countryside and in other towns of Latium following Ferdinand Gregorovius A Directory of links to the Churches of Rome A Directory of links to the Palaces and Villas of Rome A Directory of links to the Other Monuments of Rome A Directory of Baroque Architects with links to their works A Directory of links to Monuments of Ancient Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Medieval Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Renaissance A Directory of links to Monuments of the Late Renaissance A list of the most noteworthy Roman Families Directories of fountains, obelisks, museums, etc. Books and guides used for developing this web site An illustrated Glossary of Art Terms Venice and the Levant Roman recollections in Florence A list of Italian towns shown in this web site Venetian Fortresses in Greece Vienna seen by an Italian XVIIIth century traveller A list of foreign towns shown in this web site
What's New!

Detailed Sitemap

All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.
Page revised in January 2010.

To the Italian visitors of my web site

Chiesa e Monastero di S. Lucia in Selci (Book 8) (Day 2) (Map B3) (Rione Monti)

In this page:
 The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
 Today's view
 The monastery
 SS. Gioacchino e Anna

The Plate (No. 143)

Chiesa e Monastero di S. Lucia in Selci

Pope Sixtus V built the first modern aqueduct of Rome (Acqua Felice) to provide the Quirinale, Viminale and Esquilino hills with an adequate supply of water. Yet the three hills which made up Rione Monti did not see a major urban development; they remained rather unpopulated and continued to be characterized by the presence of villas and monasteries. In this plate which shows the southern section of the Esquilino hill Vasi made reference to four monasteries/nunneries.
The view is taken from the green dot in the 1748 map below. In the description below the plate Vasi indicated: 1) Ancient walls of S. Lucia in Selci; 2) Street leading to Monastero della Purificazione; 3) S. Pietro in Vincoli; 4) Casa delle Suore Paolotte. 3) is shown in another page. The map shows also 5) SS. Gioacchino e Anna.

Small ViewSmall Map

Today

The view today
The view in June 2009: downhill (left) and uphill (right)

Via in Selci and the severe looks of the nunnery make up one of the most interesting medieval sites of Rome; this because a large parallel modern street takes care of the traffic, but unfortunately cars are allowed to park alongside the old walls.

The Monastery

The Monastery (details)
(left) Closed arches of the ancient Roman building; (right) entrance to the monastery

The nunnery was built on the site of Porticus Liviae, a square surrounded by porticoes built by Emperor Augustus in 7 BC in honour of Livia, his third wife. The closed arches which can be seen before the entrance to the nunnery are part of a later building of the IVth or Vth century which has not been identified with certainty: at a slightly later time the building became a diaconia, an institution caring for the poor and the sick in the early Church.
In the XIIIth century it was enlarged to house a Benedictine monastery and in 1568 it was assigned to Augustinian nuns.

The monastery seen from S. Maria della Purificazione
The nunnery seen from S. Maria della Purificazione and behind it the very top of Torre dei Capocci

During the first half of the XVIIth century the nunnery was enlarged and its interior was redesigned by some of the leading architects of the time (Carlo Maderno and Francesco Borromini). It is still a nunnery and notwithstanding the medieval appearance of its exterior it is a quite comfortable place to live in. The image used as background for this page shows a walled Roman capital.

SS. Gioacchino e Anna

SS. Gioacchino e Anna
(left) SS. Gioacchino ed Anna; (right) detail of the façade

The plate shows at the far right part of a nunnery. "Casa delle Suore Paolotte" means house of the nuns of Paola (nuns belonging to the order founded in 1453 by St. Francis of Paola). When Vasi published this book in 1758 the nunnery was in the process of being completed and in 1770-78 a church dedicated to S. Gioacchino was added to the complex. During the construction the workers found a small treasure of silver and gold artefacts which were part of the dowry of Projecta, a Christian bride of the late IVth century; it is generally referred to as the Esquiline Treasure: a finely chiselled silver casket (external link) is now at the British Museum. It is very interesting because its decoration is based on both Christian and pagan themes.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:


Chiesa e Monastero di S. Lucia in Selci
Scendendo poco più in giù dalla divisata chiesa, evvi quella di s. Lucia, che anticamente dicevasi in Orphea, ed in oggi in Selci, a cui è unito un magnifico, ed antichissimo monastero, prima de' monaci Benedettini, poi de' Certosini, ed ora di religiose Agostiniane. Nella chiesa non vi è altro, che nel primo altare a destra la s. Titolare dipinta dal Lanfranchi, il s. Agostino dallo Speranza, il quale fece ancora il quadro d'incontro, e nell' ultimo evvi s. Monaca, del Cav. d'Arpino, il quale fece medesimamente il Dio Padre sopra la porta della chiesa.

Next plate in Book 8: Monastero delle Vergini
Next step in Day 2 itinerary: Chiesa e Monastero della Purificazione
Next step in your tour of Rione Monti: Chiesa e Monastero della Purificazione