The church of San Bernardo alle Terme is dedicated to the famous French saint and abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153). The ‘alle Terme’ part of the name refers to the Baths of Diocletianus – Thermae in Latin – which were built in the fourth century. The large train station of…
De kerk van San Bernardo alle Terme is gewijd aan de bekende Franse heilige en abt Bernardus van Clairvaux (1090-1153). Het ‘alle Terme’-gedeelte van de naam slaat op de Baden van Diocletianus – Thermae in het Latijn – van begin vierde eeuw. Ook het grote treinstation van Rome, Stazione Termini,…
De nieuwe keizer Carus – de naam betekent ‘Geliefd’ – stuurde zijn oudste zoon Carinus naar Gallië en nam zijn jongste zoon Numerianus mee op veldtocht in het Oosten tegen de Perzen. Waarschijnlijk was Carus’ voorganger Probus al bezig geweest met het plannen van een offensief tegen de aartsvijand van…
The new emperor Carus – the name means ‘beloved’ – sent his eldest son Carinus to Gaul and took his youngest son Numerianus with him on a campaign in the East against the Persians. It seems likely that Probus had already been planning an offensive against Rome’s eastern nemesis, but…
I definitely consider it to be the highlight of my most recent visit to Rome: a trip to the Catacombs of Saints Marcellinus and Peter, which were reopened to the public in 2014. I had already been to the Catacombs of San Callisto on the Via Appia once, but those…
This post is not just about the abovementioned church in the Via del Corso, the modern name of the ancient Via Lata. It is also about the six rooms beneath the church that are together known as the ‘House of Saint Paul’. Since most of the artistic treasures that used…
There are two churches in Trastevere that anyone should visit: the Santa Maria in Trastevere and the Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. The San Crisogono, also in Trastevere, cannot hope to match those two in terms of art of history, but it is interesting in its own right. The church is…
Many years ago, my better half and I were having lunch at a small restaurant in the Via dei Santi Quattro, just behind the Colosseum. I received a text message from a friend, who asked whether I was interested in going out for a drink that evening. That was a…
The Santa Maria sopra Minerva is one of the richest churches in Rome. There is so much to see and so much to tell about the history of this church and its treasures, that one could easily write multiple dissertations about it. I will just stick to what I usually…
Not much is known about the lives of the twin brothers Cosmas and Damianus (Κοσμάς and Δαμιανός in Greek). Tradition dictates that they were born in Arabia, which is most likely Arabia Petraea, then part of the Roman Empire. Cosmas and Damianus both became physicians. They were apparently quite good…