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 May 2010.
Spiaggia detta la Regola (Book 5) (View D8) (Day 7) (Rione Regola)

In this page:
The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
Today's view
Contrada dei Vaccinari (S. Bartolomeo dei Vaccinari)
Ministero di Grazia e Giustizia

The Plate (No. 90)

Spiaggia detta la Regola

Floods and lack of maintenance caused the banks of the Tiber to have an irregular height; in the XVIIIth century a mound of sand on the left bank of the river had risen much higher than the level of the streets behind it, as this etching by Giuseppe Vasi shows.
The view is taken from the green dot in the small 1748 map here below. In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Part of Collegio Ecclesiastico; 2) Dome of S. Carlo a Catenari; 3) SS. Vincenzo e Anastasio; 4) Contrada (street) de' Vaccinari (tanners). 1) and 2) are shown in detail in other pages. The small map shows also 5) S. Bartolomeo dei Vaccinari and 6) S. Paolo alla Regola.

Small ViewSmall Map

Today

The beach today
The view in February 2009

Only the dome of S. Carlo dei Catinari in the background tells us that we are looking at the same site shown in the etching.

Forma Urbis Romae
Map from Forma Urbis Romae by Rodolfo Lanciani; black lines indicate monuments and streets at the time of ancient Rome, red lines indicate those existing before 1870 and blue lines the changes introduced after that year. In particular the thick blue line indicates the high wall built to prevent floods in the late 1880s

In 1885-86 the whole area shown in the etching was redesigned and almost all the buildings near the river bank were pulled down. The small church of SS. Vincenzo e Anastasio belonged to the guild of the cooks; it was very old, but it had been rebuilt in 1640 so it was not deemed of historical or artistic value and it was pulled down.
In 1888 a modern bridge dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi was built across the section of the Tiber shown in the etching.

Contrada dei Vaccinari

Contrada dei Vaccinari
(left/centre) Street bearing the name of the lost church of S. Bartolomeo dei Vaccinari; (right) portal of an old building which shows the new level of the street

The workshops of the tanners were located near the river bank; in 1570 the guild of the tanners was assigned an old church (S. Stefano de Arenula); the new owners dedicated it to St. Bartholomew, their patron saint; later on the church was entirely rebuilt.
The level of the ground was significantly raised in the 1880s and the church was pulled down; its main altar was shipped to Assab in Eritrea, then an Italian possession, to decorate a new church.

Ministero di Grazia e Giustizia

Ministero di Grazia e Giustizia
Ministero di Grazia e Giustizia

Several old houses were pulled down in 1914 to make room for a large building by Pio Piacentini; because of WWI the palace was completed only in 1929; Piacentini designed an early Renaissance palace with features typical of the architecture of Ferrara, very different from Palazzo delle Esposizioni, one of his previous works; the comparison between the two buildings shows Piacentini's move towards a more composed design.
Marcello Piacentini, son of Pio, played a major role in the design of E.U.R., a modern quarter of Rome with some innovative buildings.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:


Chiesa de' ss. Vincenzo ed Anastasio
Perchč quivi il fiume si slarga pił che in ogni altra parte, si fermano sull'una e l'altra sponda le sue arene, donde la contrada, si disse da prima in arenula, ed ora corrottamente la dicono alla renella. Grandi erano anticamente le delizie su questa spiaggia, e sempre si confermano da' maravigliosi marmi, che ogni tanto si scoprono. La chiesa di questi due Santi trovandosi per la vecchiezza in pericolo di rovinare fu conceduta alla confraternita de' cuochi, e pasticcieri, i quali hanno rinnovata la chiesa, e vi mantengono la parrocchia.
Indi tornando sulla strada, che dicesi de' vaccinari, evvi a destra la piccola chiesa di s. Bartolommeo de' Vaccinari, eretta sopra un'altra dedicata a s. Stefano, detta in silice.

Next plate in Book 5: Veduta della Rinella
Next step in Day 7 itinerary: S. Maria in Monticelli
Next step in your tour of Rione Regola: S. Maria in Monticelli