DRIVING IN IRELAND
The day off
One site that keeps drawing Elisa back even in her
downtime is the second-century Villa dei Quintilii.
On weekends sheâll cycle along the Appian Way
to this mansion which was once so grand it inspired
a covetous emperor to kill its owners. Today all that
remains is a red-brick skeleton sprawled over a garden
full of droning cicadas and pomegranate trees.
Look closer though and intricate marble floors hint
at past palatial elegance as do the statues in the villaâs
museum including a forlorn-looking nose-less Zeus.
âEvery time I come here I think âHow is it possible that
there are so few people?ââ says Elisa. âOften the only
visitors are archaeologists at work.
âIn Rome weâre always continuing to excavate. Even
if youâve been somewhere before come back five years
later and there will be new things to explore.â As more
of the city is unearthed some museums are running
out of space to display their ever-extending collections.
Elisa loves to visit Centrale Montemartini Museum
a former power plant in an otherwise unremarkable
neighbourhood of high-rises which is now used
to exhibit the overspill of the Capitoline Museums.
âThe mix of modern and ancient is incredible.
It is so unexpected to enter a generating station
and find this classical world.â
In this industrial setting hunting scenes play out
on well-preserved mosaics; Venus is juxtaposed
against a compression pump while a delicate frieze
is displayed opposite a cabinet of wrenches. In the
atrium-like main hall stands the colossal arm of a statue
that would have measured eight metres in its entirety:
the hand alone big enough for a fully-grown adult to lie
across. Unlike the always-busy Capitoline Museums
from which it draws its treasures this gallery is so quiet
that often the only sound a visitor will hear is the gentle
hum of the air conditioning.
Across town is another peaceful spot where Elisa also
likes to spend her days off: Via Margutta. Despite being
one of the locations where Roman Holiday was filmed
and where La Dolce Vita director Federico Fellini
lived this narrow ivy-clad street draws few tourists.
On warm evenings well-heeled women and well-
coiffed men amble by on bicycle or foot stopping
to chat with the boutique and antique shop owners
standing in their doorways. Midway up the street
a grimacing stone fountain softly gurgles. âItâs just
behind the Spanish Steps one of the worldâs most
touristy placesâ says Elisa. âBut this is a place
to get away from the crush.â
l http://www.archeoroma.beniculturali.it/en/archaeological-site/
villa-quintilii; Via Appia Nuova; 9am â 4.30pm Tues â Sun; ` 450
l http://www.en.entralemontemartini.org; Via Ostiense 106;
9am â 7pm Tues â Sun; ` 575âROME IS A LASAGNA
WITH EACH ERA
OF THE CITY LAID
ON TOP OF THE LASTâ
The day job
Among the Forumâs chaos of ruins a rose garden is watched over by a row
of mostly-headless female statues. âThis was the House of the Vestal Virgins:
priestesses whose task it was to keep a sacred flame permanently alightâ
explains Elisa Valeria Bove an archaeologist and guide. âIâm not sure there
were many virgins in the city at that time thoughâ she jokes. âDo you know
where the word fornication comes from? Fornix means âarchâ in Latin â thatâs
where the ancient Romans would get it on.â
Itâs one of the more light-hearted insights Elisa has gleaned during her
13 years in the city: time spent studying archaeology to PhD level and taking
part in numerous digs (including at the Forum). She now shares her knowledge
through her tour company Never Ending Rome helping visitors gain a deeper
understanding of the classic sights for which the city is justly famed. A typical
day with Elisa is peppered with anecdotes such as the fact that gladiators
far from being chiselled Russell Crowe lookalikes were actually shaped like sumo
wrestlers as more fat offered better protection against the blow of the sword.
âRome is a lasagna with each era of the city laid on top of the lastâ says Elisa.
âSeeing it through an archaeologistâs eyes can help you peel back the layers.â
l http://www.neverendingrome.com [email protected]; private tours from ` 19300/ four hours
(up to two people)ELISA VALERIA BOVE ARCHAEOLOGIST AND GUIDE
EASY EUROPE ROME66 July 2016