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Chiesa e Monastero di Sant'Apollonia (Book 8) (Map C3) (Day 6) (View D10) (Rione Trastevere)
In this page:
The etchings by Giuseppe Vasi provide interesting elements to understand practical aspects of Roman life in the XVIIIth century i.e. the route followed by supplies loaded at Porto di Ripa Grande to reach the city centre; in a plate Vasi showed a carriage carrying commodities moving from S. Francesco a Ripa to S. Pasquale, in another he showed a carriage crossing Piazza di S. Maria in Trastevere and in this plate a carriage on its way to Ponte Sisto.
Today
Today the street has entirely lost its commercial importance and the small square is one of the rare areas of Trastevere where residents can park their cars. The church and the nunnery of S. Apollonia do not exist any longer; the small church was built in 1582, but it was not regarded as having artistic or historical relevance and in 1888 it was replaced by an apartment block. The building which housed the nunnery of S. Margherita is still there, but it has lost the window frames shown in the plate. Palazzo Leoni has one additional storey and it is in bad need of being repainted. The square is still named Piazza di S. Apollonia.
Palazzo Leoni was built in the XVIIth century and it belonged to several different families (Cucurni, Leoni, Cesarini and Pizzirani); between 1788 and 1794 it housed Conservatorio delle Pericolanti, an institution aimed at helping young women who were "about to fall"; because the number of women in need of assistance became very large, the institution was relocated to a new building in Piazza delle Fornaci.
The church of S. Margherita was built in the second half of the XVIth century and its façade was on Via della Lungaretta, the high street of Trastevere; in 1680 it was replaced by a larger building designed by Carlo Fontana, who changed the orientation of the church to give more visibility to its façade, Via della Lungaretta being rather narrow.
Nunneries and institutions caring for young women are so frequent in this neighbourhood that they highlight the existence of difficult social conditions; in 1798 they reached the record number of 54 (in the whole city).
This palace is named Palazzo Leopardi, although it belonged to this family for only three years (1803-06); the reason lies in the fact that it was bought by Count Monaldo Leopardi, the father of Giacomo Leopardi, one of the most important Italian poets of his time, whose works continue to be widely popular. The building has a Renaissance design with some XVIIth century additions, in particular in the stucco decoration of the main portal and in the cornice (a detail of which can be seen in the image used as background for this page). In 1806 the palace was turned into yet another institution (Pia Casa del Rifugio) caring for women in danger: the inmates of Carcere femminile del S. Michele after they had served their sentence.
Trastevere was one of the regiones of Ancient Rome, but it retains very few memories of that period; however by walking in the maze of narrow streets between S. Maria in Trastevere and Ponte Sisto one comes across several ancient small reliefs and funerary inscriptions.
Ponte, Parione and Regola were the
heart of Renaissance Rome and they have retained very fine buildings of that period; those of Trastevere were not regarded as having the same importance and during the XIXth century they were widely modified, but some elements of them can still be identified notwithstanding many additions and alterations.
Where Trastevere retains the lead is in the number of sacred images dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
Next plate in Book 8: Chiesa e Monastero della Purificazione Next step in Day 6 itinerary: Spedale di S. Gallicano |
