Piazza di Pescaria (Book 2) (Day 5) (View C8) (Rione Sant'Angelo) In this page:
Vasi leads us to see the fish market of Rome. Pesce=fish hence pescaria=fishery.
But before being a fish market the area was rich in temples. What is left
is the Portico d'Ottavia, the sister of Augustus. 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) Ancient Portico;
2) S. Angelo; 3) Vico (small alley) di Pescaria; 4) Dome of S. Maria in Campitelli. 4) is shown in another page.
The small map shows also: 5) S. Andrea dei Pescivendoli; 6) S. Ambrogio della Massima; 7) Casa dei Vailati; 8) Albergo della Catena; 9) Casa dei Fabi.
The old temple is still only partly excavated. We have here one of the most interesting examples in Rome of how churches and houses were built using existing ruins of temples. The window of the house has a view on the rear colonnade of the Portico. A large fragment of the temple was used for many years as a yardstick for measuring the size of the fish. Portico d'Ottavia hides the entrance to the church of S. Angelo in Pescheria. A chapel was separated from this church in the XVIIIth century to form the little church of S. Andrea dei Pescivendoli (St. Andrew of the Fishmongers) which was paid for by the Fishmongers' Guild (click here for a list of churches belonging to a guild). The monastery of S.Ambrogio is located behind Portico d'Ottavia and part of it is today used for other purposes. This explains why the fine 1626 portal built at the expense of the abbess Beatrice de Torres leads today to a small warehouse of the municipal street cleansing services. A gate on the left leads to a courtyard with a small nymphaeum and to the church. The church, although largely modernized, retains some interesting memories of its past in particular the decoration of the altars with the bees of the Barberini family. Casa dei Vailati e Albergo della Catena The print by Vasi shows on the right side a rather anonymous house. In 1930 it was partially demolished to
highlight its original Renaissance design. It belonged to the Vailati (or Vallati) family. The northern side of the street leading from Piazza di Pescheria to
Piazza Giudia is flanked by Renaissance houses.
A recent restoration has given emphasis to the original architectural design of two buildings belonging to the Fabi family,
who pretended to descend from the Gens Fabia a family who played a major role in Ancient Rome during the Republic.
The buildings were embellished by a decorated loggia, closed at a later stage to obtain some more rooms.
Next plate in Book 2: Piazza Giudia Next step in Day 5 itinerary: Piazza Montanara Next step in your tour of Rione Sant'Angelo: Teatro di Marcello Go
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in the footsteps of an XVIIIth century traveller.
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