ATM machines

You will find many banks that have ATM machines open twenty-four hours a day. You will find many ATM�s in front of the church Santa Maria Maggiore. The first two are right in front of the other in front of the Santa Maria Maggiore church at the beginning of Via Merulana. Another ATM is placed one-hundred metres further along on the same street. Another ATM is in front of the church on the left side, on Via Carlo Alberto in front of the bar Illy. You can find another ATM on Via Merulana, after approximately two-hundred metres near the first traffic light near the post office and the pharmacy.

Rome by night

There are many different areas of the town where you can spend the night, here are our proposals:

TRASTEVERE
The most charming district in the city. The restaurants and characteristic pubs render its atmosphere unique. From Casa Olmata take the bus H from Termini station to Sonnino bus station.(Only 20 minutes)

TESTACCIO
This is the place to go if you like discos and clubs, it is not far from colosseum. This is the place to go when the rest of the city shuts down. There are some bars and discos which open after eleven. From Casa Olmata you can walk it about 30 minutes. It is also possible to take the bus 175 from Termini station to Piramide bus station or subway line B from Cavour to Piramide station.

CAMPO DE FIORI E PIAZZA NAVONA
These are some of the most popular in Rome. You can drink a beer or eat an ice cream at many different places. It is full of people. The place to see and to be seen in Rome.

How to get to the beach

Take the subway line B from Cavour or Termini station - direction Laurentina and get off at Eur Magliana. With the same ticket, just change the platform and take the train to Ostia Lido – get off at Stella Polare. Walk about 5 min. there is the free beach. For 1€ in one hour you will be there in Ostia beach.

Cinemas in Rome

Cinema Quatro Fontane - Via Quattro Fontane, 23 - Centro - Roma telefono: +39 064 741 515
Cinema Barberini - Piazza Barberini, 24 - Centro - Roma telefono: +39 064 821 082
Cinema Warner Village Moderno - Piazza della Repubblica - Centro - Roma telefono: +39 0647 779 202

Rome and its fountains

In 1570, after the notable restoration of the Roman waterworks of the Virgin Water, a plan providing Rome with 18 fountains was carried out. As we know from the map drawn by Giacomo della Porta, these fountains had to be placed along the water main which left the Pincio slopes, and reached Piazza Navona, while a branch upriver supplied Piazza del Popolo.

PIAZZA DEL POPOLO
It was in Piazza del Popolo that in 1570 Della Porta erected the first fountain of the modern Rome. After the re-arrangement of this square by Valadier, this fountain was moved and now is placed in Piazza Nicosia; the basin by Leminard is the only original element remaining in the square, while the sculptures decorating it have got lost. The present aspect pf Piazza del Popolo is due to the complete reconstruction that was accomplished in 1823: in the middle is a high base on which a big obelisk coming from Circus Maximus rises, around it are four marble lions throwing water into the underneath vessels, while two big fountains, which are decorated whit statues representing Rome and Neptune, are arranged on the sides of the square in order to form a hemicycle. The statue of Rome is flanked by Tiber and Aniene rivers.

Departure from “Casa Olmata” Via dell' olmata , 36
walk 500 meters
go to stop Via Nazionale (corner MILANO); take Line N. 117 (CORSO/POPOLO). it stops every 6 minutes
get off at stop CORSO/POPOLO
walk 100 meters to Piazza del Popolo

FOUNTAIN OF THE TURTLES
The better example of Girolamo Ferruzzi’s refined art (who was called Masser Jacopino by his contemporaries) is the fountain of the Turtles in Piazza Mattei (1588). The artist defined it as “the most beautiful and perfect af all fountains for this grace and excellence”. Della Porta was likely inspired by the great Florentine tradition, whose excellence expression is the fountain of Biancone dell’Ammannati; he asked Landini to create four bronze ephebes that can be easily admired as they prevail in the fountain unity for there size and position. Their foot rests on a small basin which is decorated with one of their hands, while with the other they push four turtles in order to make them drink from the upper grey African small basin. The turtles replaced the dolphins that had foreseen in the original plan. Four small heads of putti throw water into the underneath basins. In such a way a contrast between the ephebes’s ascending movement and the water’s descending one is created. The turtles were accomplished during the restoration of the 1658 and were later replaced with copies because of the several theft attempts. The original are kept in the Musei Capitolini.

Departure from Casa Olmata, Via dell' olmata , 36
go to stop CAVOUR/QUATTRO CANTONI
take Line No 84 (P.ZA VENEZIA/CAMPIDOGLIO). it stops every 10 min.
get off at stop P.ZA VENEZIA/CAMPIDOGLIO
walk 600 meters to Piazza Mattei

FOUNTAIN OF PIAZZA DI SPAGNA
The fountain of Piazza di Spagna, which had been for seen in the original plan, was not carried out soon for technical reasons. In fact, the difference in height between the square and the Salita di San Sebastianello, where the water main passed, was too small: the fountain should have been built a very low level to obtain the right pressure of the jet and to let the other user be provided with water. Actually the pipe of the Virgin Water had to meet the needs of many Romans and there were numerous applications for connections; there fore it was possible to erect a fountain which was only an ornament for the town only after the supply of the Felice water (1588) and Paola water (1612) to Rome. In 1627/28, under Pietro Bernini’s management ( the architect of the Virgin Water), the stone-cutter Battista Bancozzi accomplished a fountain having the shape of the boats which were used for the river transport of every kind of goods, especially of wine barrels. According to the tradition, the artist was inspired by an old boat that went adrift during a flood and was stranded. A craft sails in a oval pool, two mounths of suns (Barberini’s symbols that were placed there in Pope Urban VIII’s hounour) sprinkle water inside, while four water, give the impression that the boat is sinking. The impression is stressed by the Virgin Water’s jet in the middle of the hull. In this way the boats which were symbols of wine for the Romans changed into the symbol of the water in the other end of Via dei Condotti. The fountain father, and was ordered by Urban VIII too. Four dolphins hold a big shell having open valves with their tails. On the shell is quatted a Trion who blows into a bugle raising a high jet of water into the air. The gog of the waters, that was placed in front of Barberini Palace, has been considered a celebration monument in honour of Barberini’s papacy. By blowing into the shell, the triton spreads Pope Urban VIII’s glory all over the world. The pope’s coat of arms is located among the tails of the dolphins.

Departure from Casa Olmata, Via dell' olmata , 36
go to stop in Via Nazionale (corner MILANO) and take Line No 117 (CORSO/POPOLO) which stops every 6 min.
get off at stop SPAGNA (MA)
walk 50 m to piazza di Spagna , 1

PIAZZA NAVONA FOUNTAINS
The Virgin Water passed through Campo Marzio and finally reached Piazza Navona. Here Della Porta had already built the Southern fountain and had adorned it whit four tritons. Originally the tritons had been accomplished for Piazza del Popolo, but they were too big for thr fountain which had been erected there. Later, according to Bernini’s sketch, the fountain was enriched with the statue of a Moor clutching a dolphin and giving the name to the fountain. The tritons by Della Porta have recently been rebuilt by the sculptor L. Amici according to the originals. The Northern fountain (1878) with Neptune fighting against an octopus was accomplished for symmetry reason. The Fountain of the Rivers, that is placed in the middle of the square, is really imposing. It is a work of art and one of the most beautiful products of Bernini. This talent artist was not called to take part in the competition for the building of Piazza Navona’s fountain, but he managed to introduce his plas in a room of the papal palace by subterfuge and obtained the favour of that pope who had persecuted him only because he was the favourite architect of this predecessor, Urban VIII. The new pope ordered Bernini to carry out the work. On a reef looking very natural, in the middle of a vessel having 23m. diameter, are sitting the huge statues of the four rivers, symbols of the part of the world that were know at that time: by the sides of a palm and lion representing Africa and Asia are sitting the Nile, whose veiled head hits at its unknown sources, and the holy Ganges holding an oar and being crowned with laurels. On the sides of a wild horse of the American or Hungarian praries are sitting the Danube and the Rio della Plata having a wild look and being flanked by agaves and snake ( symbols of the Flora and the Fauna of the new world). On a cliff placed on the world towers the obelisk coming likely from the Iseo which was built by Domiziano in Campus Martius: here Innocenzio X Pamphili’s dove settles as symbol of the Church’s dominion over the continents. Several evidence of the rivalry between the two most gifted architects of this time, Bernini and Borromini, are present in this square and particular in the fountain of the Rivers, which is placed opposite Sant’Agnese Church by Borromini. The Nile raises his hand toward the veil in order not to see the “horrible” façade of the church, snd Rio della Plata also behaves in the same way because he fears that the façade with its curved wall and the “reckless” bell towers falls, down. On the other hand St. Agnese’s statue keeps its hand on the breast to assure that the façade will not move.

Departure from Casa Olmata, Via dell' olmata , 36
go to stop in Via CAVOUR/QUATTRO CANTONI
take Line No 84 (P.ZA VENEZIA/CAMPIDOGLIO), which leaves every 10 min.; get off at stop FORI IMPERIALI/CAMPIDOGLIO
take Line No 87 (P.ZA CAVOUR) for 2 stops or 186 (PIAZZALE DELLA FARNESINA); get off at RINASCIMENTO
walk 150m to piazza Navona

TREVI FOUNTAIN
The last monumental exhibit of the Virgin Water was carried out by Nicolas Salvi in 1762 and was called fountain of Trevi as its sources were in Trebium. The façade takes up one side of the Palazzo dei Duchi di Poli. It presents four jutting Corinthian columns and is overlooked by Clemens XII Corsini’s coat of arms. In the middle two huge tritons lead a winged pair from which Neptune raises and rules the grand architecture among jets and small waterfalls. In the later niches are the statues of the Plenty and Salubrity, while in the upper part are the statues representing the season. Above the niches are celebrating episodes concerning the Virgin Water: for example there is the representation of the legendary scene in which a girl shows the thirsty Roman soldiers the sources that would be called Virgin in her honour. In another bas relief we can admire the Roman consul Agrippa who approves of the drawing of the waterworks. It has been believed for centuries that if someone throws a coin into this fountain before leaving Rome, he will certainly come back.

Departure from Casa Olmata, Via dell' olmata , 36
walk 250 meters
go to stop in Via CAVOUR/ESQUILINO
take Line No 71 (S. SILVESTRO) to 4 stops 71 every 12 min.
walk 200 meters to romaTrevi Fountain, 19

GIANICOLO FOUNTAIN
Finally we want to talk about the famous big fountain of the Gianicolo, that was accomplished by Giovanni Fontana in 1609-12 after the reopening of the Traianus waterworks by Paulus V, as it is recorded in the inscription placed in the attic that is flanked by the heraldic animals of Pope Borghese. This fountain holds the whole Roman history in itself, as it was built with the marbles removed from the Roman Forum and its front with five niches is flanked by granite columns, four of which were removed by the façade of Saint Peter. As the fountains is very imposing and can be admired from several parts of the town for its high location, it can be defined one of the most impressive ornaments of the Roman hills with every right.

Departure from Casa Olmata, Via dell' olmata , 36
go to stop in Via CAVOUR/QUATTRO CANTONI
take Line No 84 (BASEGGIO)to 2 stops, get off at stop REPUBBLICA (MA)
take Line No 64 (P.ZA STAZIONE S. PIETRO (FR)) to 12 stops 64 every 5 min.;
get off at stop LGT SASSIA/S. SPIRITO (H)
walk 150 meters to Via del Gianicolo