Advent Calendar: Roman Door 10

Open door below the Torre della Scimmia (Tower of the Monkey) on the corner of Via della Scrofa and Via dei Portoghese. There is a medieval story that a pet monkey of the Frangipani family escaped out of the window one day with the family’s newborn baby under its arms. The father prayed to the Virgin Mary, promising that he would place a lamp at the top of the tower that would forever burn in her honor if the baby was returned to the family unharmed. The monkey brought back the baby and for centuries an oil lamp burned on top of the tower. Today the lamp is an electric light bulb. (In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1860 novel The Marble Faun, the heroin stays on the top floor of the tower and is responsible for maintaining the light.)

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
From Handel's Messiah: Part I
Chorus

A Roman Corner

On Saturday we were making our way to Piazza Navona and stumbled upon a couple of interesting places at the corner of Via della Scrofa and Via dei Portoghese, which is so named because the Portugese national church is there. An old fashioned barber shop first caught our eyes.

And then we gazed above to the medieval tower known as the Torre della Scimmia, the Tower of the Monkey.

Georgina Mason in her Companion Guide to Rome gives this account of the legend connected with this tower.

"According to an old story, the owners once had a monkey which climbed to the top of the tower, carrying their baby in its arms. The anguished father returned home to find his neighbors in the street praying to the Virgin for the safety of the child. Uttering a short prayer himself, he called the animal with his customary whistle, and after carefully rewrapping the baby in its swaddling clothes, it climbed down and entered one of the windows. As a thank offering for this miraculous escape, the father raised a statue of the virgin on top of the tower and vowed that a lamp should be kept burning in front of it in perpetuity. Electricity has made this vow easier to keep."

Across the street, the doors to the church of San Antonio dei Portughesi (17th century) were open, so we went inside. We encountered a baroque interior with walls covered in many different kinds of marble. There were several chapels with interesting altarpieces and an 18th century guilt organ. It was a feast for the eyes!

A Portugese national church would not be complete

without a statue of Our Lady of Fatima.