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 February 2010.

To the Italian visitors of my web site

Obelisco cavato di sotto le ruine (Book 2) (Day 4) (Rione Colonna)

In this page:
 The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
 Today's view
 Horologium Divi Augusti
 Modern Side of Palazzo Montecitorio
 Casa Vacca

The Plate (No. 21 - ii)

Obelisco cavato di sotto le ruine

In the text accompanying Plate 21 covering Piazza del Popolo Giuseppe Vasi described at length the obelisk which Pope Sixtus V placed there at the end of the XVIth century; Vasi, as a logical consequence of that description, added an extra-plate to show another obelisk which at the time (1752) he was publishing his etchings was the subject of a lot of discussions as to where it should be placed. This obelisk had been unearthed in 1748 when some small houses behind Palazzo di Montecitorio were pulled down to make room for a large building belonging to the Augustinian monks of S. Maria del Popolo; the obelisk was found broken into five major pieces, but parts of it were missing or were damaged by fire.
The plate shows the engine built to raise the blocks and a sort of track to move them; one of the blocks shows the dedicatory inscription dictated by Emperor Augustus (you can see it in the image used as background for this page); the plate shows also to the left the buildings which were being pulled down and to the right Palazzo della Vignaccia, in the courtyard of which the obelisk was temporarily relocated.

Today

The view today
The view in August 2009

In the early XIXth century the area shown in the plate was largely impacted by the enlargement of Palazzo di Montecitorio which since 1871 has housed the Lower Chamber (Camera dei Deputati) of the Italian Parliament. Palazzo della Vignaccia (also known as Palazzo Poli di Campo Marzio) was pulled down; the Augustinian building is on the right side of the image.

Horologium Divi Augusti

The past
(left) Reconstruction by Rodolfo Lanciani of the location of Horologium Divi Augusti (the church on the right side of the butterfly shaped area is S. Lorenzo in Lucina); (right) 1748 inscription by Pope Benedict XIV celebrating the excavation of the obelisk


Psammetichus II, a Pharaoh who lived in the VIth century BC erected two tall obelisks in Heliopolis; it is generally thought that they were knocked down by the Persians when they conquered Egypt in 525 BC. In 10 BC Emperor Augustus ordered the relocation of one of the obelisks to Rome as a symbol of the conquest of Egypt; the inscription says Aegupto in potestatem Populi Romani redacta (Egypt was placed under the rule of the Romans). Augustus however paid tribute to the conquered country by dedicating the obelisk to the Sun, a major deity of the Egyptian Pantheon.
The Romans were fascinated by the advanced astronomical knowledge of the Egyptians and Julius Caesar gave his name to a calendar which was based on the Egyptian one; Augustus, the adoptive son of Caesar, utilized the obelisk as the gnomon of a gigantic sundial; the globe placed at its top projected its shadow on a large paved square where bronze marks indicated the corresponding hours of the day and days of the year; it was placed in the precise position so as to reach Ara Pacis, the altar dedicated to Peace built by Augustus in that same year, on September 23, the emperor's birthday.
The accuracy of Horologium Divi Augusti, the name given to the sundial, did not last long; Pliny the Elder noted in his Historia Naturalis that its data were no longer reliable and he indicated the impact of floods on the stability of the obelisk among the most likely causes of this deterioration.

The Obelisk
(left) Detail of a 1748 map by Giovanni Battista Nolli showing the location of the obelisk (No. 344) (in dark red the buildings which were pulled down to make room for the enlargement of Palazzo di Montecitorio); (right) tip of the obelisk in Piazza di Montecitorio


In 1748 many thought that Pope Benedict XIV would have re-erected the obelisk for the forthcoming 1750 Jubilee Year, yet it remained in the courtyard of Palazzo della Vignaccia until 1789 when Pope Pius VI decided to place it in front of Palazzo di Montecitorio; a granite column erected in honour of Emperor Antoninus Pius which also was found in the XVIIIth century in the same area was used to complete the obelisk (to see all the obelisks of Rome click here).

Palazzo di Montecitorio

The view today
(left) Rear façade of Palazzo di Montecitorio; (right) detail of the entrance

Between 1908-18 Palazzo di Montecitorio was enlarged and its rear side was given a grand façade designed by Ernesto Basile, an architect known for many buildings in Palermo; unfortunately the new part of Palazzo di Montecitorio does not fit with the overall Roman context.

Casa Vacca

Casa Vacca
(left) Casa Vacca; (centre) portal; (right) detail of the portal

Many buildings near Palazzo della Vignaccia were pulled down to obtain space for the enlargement of Palazzo di Montecitorio. The Renaissance façade of one of them was thought worthy of being reconstructed in the street behind S. Lorenzo in Lucina. It belonged to Don Pedro de Vaca, a Spanish nobleman from Valencia who came to Rome maybe called by Pope Alexander VI, who also was from the region of Valencia; as a matter of fact his coat of arms (a cow) is very similar to that of the Pope (Vaca, Italian vacca, means cow). The space between the windows was most likely painted. Above the entrance Don Pedro de Vaca wrote a sort of will: Ossa et opes tandem partas tibi Roma relinquam - My bones and my assets, which cost me a lot of effort, I leave to you Rome.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:


Obelisco di Augusto nel Campo Marzio
In cinque pezzi, e 14. palmi sotto terra fu disotterrato quell'insigne, e smisurato trofeo della Romana potenza l'an. 1478. come si vede riposto nel cortile del vicino palazzo, che dicesi della Vignaccia. E' questo di granito rosso con cifre, o simboli egizj, fatto dal Re Sesostri, e fu condotto a Roma da Ottaviano Augusto dopo aver conquistato l'Egitto, il quale poi lo pose nel campo Marzio, per dimorare colla sua ombra le ore, o la meridiana al popolo Romano, che ivi concorreva a celebrare le feste, e giuochi ne' tempi destinati.

Next plate in Book 2: Piazza Colonna
Next step in Day 4 itinerary: Chiesa dell'Immacolata Concezione in Campo Marzio
Next step in your tour of Rione Colonna: Palazzo di Fiano