DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.71133#0230
CHAPTER VII.
To the Capitol and Forum.
I53-“VIA AND PIAZZA DI ARA CCELI. LE BOTTEGHE
OSCURE.
The Via di Ara Cceli (the ancient Via Capitolina) leading
from the Piazza del Gesit to the Capitol {Campidoglio'}, crosses
the narrow street Botteghe oscure, where St. Camillus de Lellis
and his companions first lived before going to S. Maria Mad-
dalena. In the Botteghe oscure is the Church of St. Stanislaus,
bishop and martyr,1 and the old Polish seminary, which latter
was seized by Napoleon I, and sold to a Jew of Livorno. When
quiet was restored after the return of Pius VII to Rome, the
Polish Bishops repurchased the seminary for a heavy sum, and,
strangely enough, put it under the protection of Russia. After
a few years Russia claimed the church and seminary as its
own, and still holds them. The Polish students, twice driven
from their old home, now occupy the former Maronite convent
in the Via dei Maroniti, not far from the Fontana di Trevi.
The curious name Botteghe oscure was probably first used
to designate the dimly-lit shops opened in the lower arcades of
the ruins of the Circus Flaminius. This circus, built by
C. Flaminius Nepos, about 221 B.C., occupied the site between
the Via Capitolina and the present Palazzo Mattei, running
lengthwise between the Botteghe oscure on one side, and Via
Margana on the other. “Augustus filled this racecourse with
water in 6 B.C., and gave the citizens a specimen of alligator-
hunting, in which thirty of these monsters were killed.”2
A little further towards the Capitol the Via di Ara Cceli
passes the entrance of the Via Margana, where St. Ignatius
of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier lived for a while near the Torre
del Melangolo, and then widens into a piazza with a fountain at
its lower end, beyond which may be seen the little Church of
1 The original name of the church was 6". Salvatore in pensili,
so called from being built on the ruined arches of the Circus Flaminius.
2 Lanciani, Ruins of Ancient Rome, p. 453.
To the Capitol and Forum.
I53-“VIA AND PIAZZA DI ARA CCELI. LE BOTTEGHE
OSCURE.
The Via di Ara Cceli (the ancient Via Capitolina) leading
from the Piazza del Gesit to the Capitol {Campidoglio'}, crosses
the narrow street Botteghe oscure, where St. Camillus de Lellis
and his companions first lived before going to S. Maria Mad-
dalena. In the Botteghe oscure is the Church of St. Stanislaus,
bishop and martyr,1 and the old Polish seminary, which latter
was seized by Napoleon I, and sold to a Jew of Livorno. When
quiet was restored after the return of Pius VII to Rome, the
Polish Bishops repurchased the seminary for a heavy sum, and,
strangely enough, put it under the protection of Russia. After
a few years Russia claimed the church and seminary as its
own, and still holds them. The Polish students, twice driven
from their old home, now occupy the former Maronite convent
in the Via dei Maroniti, not far from the Fontana di Trevi.
The curious name Botteghe oscure was probably first used
to designate the dimly-lit shops opened in the lower arcades of
the ruins of the Circus Flaminius. This circus, built by
C. Flaminius Nepos, about 221 B.C., occupied the site between
the Via Capitolina and the present Palazzo Mattei, running
lengthwise between the Botteghe oscure on one side, and Via
Margana on the other. “Augustus filled this racecourse with
water in 6 B.C., and gave the citizens a specimen of alligator-
hunting, in which thirty of these monsters were killed.”2
A little further towards the Capitol the Via di Ara Cceli
passes the entrance of the Via Margana, where St. Ignatius
of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier lived for a while near the Torre
del Melangolo, and then widens into a piazza with a fountain at
its lower end, beyond which may be seen the little Church of
1 The original name of the church was 6". Salvatore in pensili,
so called from being built on the ruined arches of the Circus Flaminius.
2 Lanciani, Ruins of Ancient Rome, p. 453.