ROSETO - Rome Rose Garden

On Sunday we enjoyed a walk through Rome's Municipal Rose Garden (Roseto Comunale di Roma) on the eastern slope of the Aventine Hill, overlooking the Circus Maximus. It was built on the site of an old Jewish Cemetery after the graves were moved to Rome’s main cemetery near the Basilica of San Lorenzo.
The rose garden is split into two sections: the upper one shows the permanent collection of the many varieties of roses, arranged in a chronological plan. The lower part of the garden displays the different roses taking part in PREMIO ROMA, the annual competition among international rose growers.
The garden preserves the memory of the old cemetery with pathways in the upper section in the shape of a menorah, and a pillar with a plaque depicting the Ten Commandments by each of the two entrances.Rome’s first Rose Garden was started by Mary Gayley Senni from Pennsylvania. With her own plants, and the support of the city’s fascist government, she opened a rose garden in 1932 next to the Colosseum. A year later, the first PREMIO ROMA was held.

The garden is a wonderful place for young and old to take pictures.

This mosaic in the walkway is a reminder

that the original rose garden was near the Colosseum.

The garden is also an environment

that can encourage romantic activity.

You can enjoy more than 1,000 different roses from over 20 countries.

Ash Wednesday: Introduction to My Lenten Journey

I will be taking a journey during Lent to visit a church on each of the seven historic hills of Rome. I plan to reflect on the Sunday Gospel in the context of each church, and I will share what I experience on this blog. I hope you can journey with me as we make our way to Easter.

I begin on the Aventine Hill. Traditionally the Bishop of Rome comes to this hill on Ash Wednesday. He walks from the Benedictine church of San Anselmo to the Dominican church of Santa Sabina, where he presides over an Ash Wednesday liturgy. The Roman tradition for the distribution of ashes is to sprinkle ashes on the head, rather than making the sign of the cross with ashes on the forehead.

Branches from Palm Sunday are burned to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday. These palm trees are on the Aventine Hill.
The pope will go past the gate to the Knights of Malta as he walks between the two churches. Inside the gate (above) with its famous keyhole, is the Church of Santa Maria del Priorato.

This church is the only building actually designed and built by the 18th century artist and engraver Giovan Battista Piranesi. The inside of the church is lined with funerary monuments, fitting for Ash Wednesday, when we hear the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return."

This is the sculpture that is part of the

memorial containing the ashes of Pieranasi.

Above: The nave of the church.

Below: Detail of the main altar, with a stature of St. Basil.

Collect for Ash Wednesday

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen. From The Book of Common Prayer

Birdwalking on the Aventine Hill

Yesterday I took the opportunity for a couple of "birdwalks" on my way home from Sant' Anselmo on the Aventine Hill. (Birdwalking: a style of going from "A" to "B" in a way that is similar to a bird's zig-zag path as it picks at food while walking.)

My first "birdwalk" was to the the Piazza del Cavalieri di Malta and the door of the Priory of the Knights of Malta. Peeping through the keyhole you get of view of Michaelangelo's dome of St. Peter's Basilica.
My next "birdwalk" was into the courtyard and church of Sant' Alessio, originally built in the 8th century, but now mostly an 18th century building.


Leaving Sant' Alessio, I continued along the road until I came to the simple exterior of the Basilica of Santa Sabina. (The Pope gave this church to St. Dominic for his order in 1218. St. Dominic and St. Thomas Aquinas were both residents of the adjacent monastery.) Like so many churches in Rome, Santa Sabina saw many architectural modifications over the centuries, but in the 1930's it was restored back to its 5-9th century appearance.
When I entered the church, I was captivated by the play of light coming through the windows, illuminating the beauty of marble Corinthian columns, the flat wooden ceiling and the decoration made of colored marbles on the clerestory.

The chapel on the left side of the nave maintains its' 17th century appearance. I caught a meditating Dominican in this chapel with his shoes off.

My final "birdwalk" before getting on the bus to go home was to enjoy the refreshing Bernini inspired fountain of the Tritons constructed in 1715.