Chiesa di S. Maria in Campo Carleo

S. Maria in Campo Carleo (Book 6) (Map B3) (Day 1) and (Day 3) (View C8) (Rione Monti)

In this page:
The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
Today's view
Nice windows
Tempio della Pace (Basilica di Massenzio)

The Plate (No. 102)

In his choice of the parish churches of Rome, Vasi is sometimes driven by his interest in sketching everyday life. The view is taken from the green dot in the small 1748 map here below. In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Strada dei Conti; 2) Tower of Palazzo del Marchese del Grillo; 3) Strada Alessandrina; 4) Walls of Monasterio della SS. Nunziata; 5) Ruins of Tempio della Pace; 6) Conservatorio di S. Eufemia. 2), 4) and 6) are shown in detail in other pages. The small map shows also 7) S. Maria in Campo Carleo.

Today

The view today

The name of Via Alessandrina (after cardinal Michele Bonelli, known as Cardinal Alessandrino who opened the street between 1567 and 1570) is the only remnant of the medieval area between Trajan's Column and the Temple of Peace (Tempio della Pace). The excavations of the Imperial Fora and the desire in the 1930s to provide Rome with "imperial" avenues led to the total pulling down of an area very similar to that still existing between Via Nazionale and Via Cavour.
Here below an aerial view of the area: the red dot is the point from which Vasi took his view. From there in a right/down direction one can see Via Alessandrina. On the left lower corner the church of SS. Martina e Luca and the Arch of Septimius Severus. A fine Late Renaissance palace, the house of the architect Flaminio Ponzio, was rebuilt in Piazza di S. Maria in Campitelli.

Aerial view of the past

Windows

Nice views

Palazzo del Marchese del Grillo (left) now directly looks over the Imperial Fora. Also an early Renaissance building (right) belonging to the Knights of Rhodes (then to become Knights of Malta) benefitted from the restoration. The fine Renaissance loggia in the first photo of this page belongs to this building.

Tempio della Pace

What Vasi calls Tempio della Pace is now called Basilica di Massenzio. A Tempio della Pace was erected by Vespasianus in this area and recent excavations have allowed a better understanding of its location between the Foro Romano and Imperial Fora. It was attributed to Constantine by Nibby in 1825, but today it is named after Maxentius, Constantine's rival who almost completed it. The front of the Basilica was embellished with eight gigantic Corinthian columns, of which one is left and it is now opposite S. Maria Maggiore, where it was relocated by Paulus V in 1613. The colossal vaults and their decoration were a source of inspiration for many artists. The maps showing the expansion of the Roman Empire were added in the 1930s (there was also another map showing the short-lived Italian Empire which was declared by Mussolini after the conquest of Ethiopia in 1936).

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:

Chiesa di s. Maria in Campo Carleo, e quella di s. Urbano Due strade si aprono ai fianchi di questa piccola, e antica chiesa parrocchiale; una a destra dicesi; de' Conti, e l'altra a sinistra, si chiama Alessandrina.
Tempio della Pace Tre soli arconi spogliati di ogni ornamento rimangono in piedi del celebre e magnifico tempio della pace, che fu una delle maggiori fabbriche di Roma. Principiollo Claudio Imperatore e poi terminollo Vespasiano, dopo aver soggiogata la Giudea, e per dargli quella vastità di sito, che conveniva, atterrò la casa di Giulio Cesare, ed altre fabbriche, che impedivano la superba idea di quel tempio. In esso conservò tutti i vasi e ornamenti preziosi, che portò nel suo trionfo dal tempio di Gerusalemme, e oltre le ricchezze delle provincie lontane, vi si portavano a conservare anco quelle di Roma, e vi erano delle statue e pitture fatte da' più eccellenti artefici di quei tempi. Per una saetta arse poi tutto quel tesoro in tempo di Commodo con grave danno de' Romani: onde mai più fu riattato. Una sola colonna delle otto, che sostenevano la nave di mezzo, rimasta in piedi, da Paolo V. fu drizzata sulla piazza di s. Maria Maggiore, collocandovi sopra la statua della ss. Vergine di metallo dorato, e di un tronco di quelle, ne fu formata la maravigliosa statua di Alessandro Farnese, che si vede in questo salone.

Next plate in Book 6: S. Agnese fuori delle mura
Next step in Day 1 itinerary: Orti Farnesiani
Next step in Day 3 itinerary: Tempio Antico di Pallade
Next step in your tour of Rione Monti: Tempio Antico di Pallade

Go to or to Book 6 or to my Home Page on Baroque Rome or to my Home Page on Rome in the footsteps of an XVIIIth century traveller.