Villa Caffarelli Day continued

After visiting the exhibition at Villa Caffarelli, La Grecia a Roma, we were ready for lunch at the Ghetto. But first, one last look at our surroundings.

Villa Caffarella sits up high on Capitoline Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome. To get there, you must go up. To leave, you must go down.

Instead of leaving by the steep front stairs, the cordonata, we took the road going down that led to Via Del Teatro Di Marcello. It gave us a chance to see the roof tops and the cypress trees that are part of the Roman urban decor. But you can also see another Christo-type wrapping –more Jubilee restyling.

Via del Teatro di Marcello was a street created by Mussolini after tearing down other structures. Mussolini, with dreams of recreating an Imperial Rome, wanted a road that went directly from Piazza Venezia (where he made all his speeches) to seaside Ostia.

Once the descent is made, to get to the Ghetto you turn right. It’s not far and you pass near the Tarpeian Rock (but you must look up to see it).

Here we see some of the reconstructed archeological rubble made by Mussolini’s dream of grandeur. The short walk towards the Ghetto is a patchwork of architectural times and styles.

As usually happened with Mussolini induced excavations, people were displaced as homes and shops were destroyed to make room for someone else’s dream. See more of Mussolini touring the excavations of the Theater of Marcellus in 1927 and the archeological finds HERE and HERE.

Here we see what’s left of the Theatre of Marcellus (Teatro di Marcello). The arcade walls of the theatre have their “caput mundi” protective covering, too.

Abundance

Roma Caput Mundi

Our aim was to get to the bridge you see in the background. Behind the bridge is the main street of the ghetto, Via Portico d’Ottavia. The street is full of kosher restaurants with huge bowls of artichokes to lure you inside. But before ordering, it’s best to know the difference between Carciofi alla giudìa (fried) and Carciofi alla romana (braised).

La strada

A glimpse of the Great Synagogue of Rome

The path leading to the Ghetto.

On the right, a glimpse of The Chiesa di Sant’Angelo in Pescheria (Church of St. Angel in the Fish Market)

foto made from the bridge

Portico d’Ottavia

The Portico of Octavia was built by Emperor Augustus to commemorate his sister, Octavia Minor, between 27-23 B.C. It’s construction completely obliterated the Portico of Metellus. Destroy one person’s dream and rebuild yours on top has become a standard.

See fotos of the Portico’s excavation HERE

Taverna del Ghetto, Via Portico d’Ottavia 8. Look at the huge heap of artichokes!

They have a fantastic artichoke risotto topped with crumbled fried artichoke pieces.

Hanging spoons Decor

Grilled Octopus with Hummus and Giraffes

Finally, the octopus and the giraffes meet!

Appropriations for AI will be jinxed.

Related: Rione Sant’Angelo: cosa vedere nel rione più piccolo di Roma + Theatre of Marcellus: The History Behind Teatro di Marcello +

How the Tarpeian Rock became the gruesome site of Ancient Rome’s most brutal of punishments +

Under the reign of Victor Emmanuel III, when Benito Mussolini was governing the Italian state, the Senate and the People of Rome, strongly committed to the cult of antiquity, decreed that the theatre honoured by the name of Marcellus, occupied by squalid houses and ignoble taverns, should be brought back to its ancient splendour and a better shape.

Marcellus Theatre (Rome, Italy) +

The Torlonia Marbles