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 November 2009.

To the Italian visitors of my web site

Monastero delle Religiose Filippine (Book 8) (Day 2) (View B8) (Rione Monti)

In this page:
 The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
 Today's view
 The Nunnery (Villa Sforza)
 Torri de' Capocci

The Plate (No. 158)


Vasi included this plate in Book VIII because the building was used by nuns belonging to a congregation founded by S. Filippo Neri, but from the point of view of the typology of the building the plate should have been included in Book X, the Villas of Rome. This because the nuns bought a XVIIth century casino (main building) of a villa belonging to the Sforza.
The view is taken from the green dot in the 1748 map below. In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) First entrance to the monastery; 2) Steps leading to the main entrance; 3) Tower (Torre de' Capocci) and part of S. Lucia in Selci, another nunnery.

Small ViewSmall Map

Today

The view today
The view in July 2009

After 1870 the nunnery was confiscated by the Italian government; currently it houses a department of the Finance Ministry; the building has been slightly modified: the steps leading to the entrance are no longer curved and the fence and its portal have been redesigned. At the end of the street, some buildings which surrounded Torre de' Capocci have been pulled down. Overall this corner of Rome very near S. Maria Maggiore has retained a rather peaceful atmosphere.

The Nunnery

The view today
(left) Central part of the casino; (right) a window with a decoration including quince flowers and fruits, heraldic symbol of the Sforza

The nuns completed a renovation of the building in 1740, but they did not delete all the references to the former owners of the building and the Italian state in turn did not delete the references to the nuns. The image used as background for this page shows a detail of the fence portal where the coat of arms of the Italian Kingdom was added below an existing decoration.

The Nunnery
(left/centre) Flaming vases and heart, symbols of the Congregation of S. Filippo Neri; (right) a quince (?)

Torri de' Capocci

(left) Taller tower; (right) lower tower and the street leading to the nunnery

Between the XIth and the early XVth century the authority of the popes was so weak that Rome was partitioned among some important families who built defence towers to protect the area of the city they controlled. These two towers are named after the Capocci, who owned them in the XVth century. They were probably built with material taken from nearby Terme di Traiano.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:


Monastero delle Filippine
Fu questo altrove eretto sotto Urbano VIII. per custodirvi le povere zittelle sotto la protezione di s. Filippo Neri; ma essendo nel 1740. fatto quivi il nuovo monastero, invece di povere donzelle, vi sono delle religiose sotto la regola di s. Agostino.

Next plate in Book 8: Monastero di S. Maria dei Sette Dolori
Next step in Day 2 itinerary: Monastero delle Turchine
Next step in your tour of Rione Monti: Chiesa di S. Eusebio