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Egyptian obelisks itinerary
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Rome has been nicknamed the city of obelisks, since it is the city with
by far the largest number. At present there are thirteen,
although there are legends of a fourteenth obelisk buried near the
church of San Luigi dei Francesi. The Emperor Augustus was the first to
raise them, bringing two from Egypt; Caligula followed his example by
raising one in the Circus Vaticanus and building in the Campus Martius
the large temple dedicated to Isis and Serapis, in the vicinity of which
5 obelisks were later found; many Roman emperors continued to erect
obelisks down through the 4th century, including Constantius II, who in
352 erected in the Circus Maximus the obelisk that now stands in
front of St. John Lateran, the tallest and oldest obelisk in the
world. In fact, it is 32.18 metres tall and dates from the 15th
century B.C.
For the ancient Egyptians the obelisks were the simulacra of the sun god
Atum-Ra. The apex represented the starting point of the ray, i.e. the
centre of the sun's power, while the base represented the formless
matter that the divine light of the sun transforms into cosmos.
The first obelisks were erected at Heliopolis, a city dedicated to the
sun, and were usually erected in the centre of the sanctuaries and next
to temples. They are the relicts of an extremely remote age, when even
stones were objects of worship! In Rome they completely lost their
original meaning, and took on another: that of a sign of the greatness
of the Roman Empire first, and the papacy later.
The term we use today to refer to obelisks, different from that used by
the ancient Egyptians, is of Greek origin: it derives from obelìskos,
which means, perhaps with a hint of not-so-involuntary irony, "skewer".
To extract the huge monoliths from the quarries, the Egyptians allegedly
used a tool similar to our drill, equipped with a sort of stone or
bronze milling-cutter, whose abrasive action was greatly increased by
the use of sand. Once it was detached from the rock, the obelisk was
made to slide towards the river and hoisted up onto a large flatboat to
be carried to its destination. The erection took place using an
embankment: the progressive elimination of the sand on which it rested
made it possible to bring the monolith down onto its base. The obelisks
often broke during these long, delicate operations, as proven by the
fragments found in the quarries or on riverbeds.
Our itinerary in search of ancient obelisks, often arranged by the popes
in the centre of squares and crossroads as visual reference points,
starts from piazza Navona. Here, in the centre of the area that
recalls, with its perimeter, its original use for athletic games, rises
the famous Fountain of the Four Rivers, designed by Gian Lorenzo
Bernini to support a magnificent obelisk.
The monolith of red granite, executed in the 1st century A.D. in
imitation of the Egyptian ones to celebrate the Emperor Domitian, was
perhaps intended for the Temple of Isis in the Campus Martius. In 309
the Emperor Maxentius decided to re-use it in the circus he had built
along the Appian Way. After remaining for a long time broken into five
pieces inside the circus, it was found again in 1649 and arranged by
pope Innocent X Pamphili in its present position, in the centre of the
fountain. Immediately afterwards the bronze point was placed on top,
decorated on its tip with a dove carrying an olive branch, which
belonged to the coat of arms of the Pamphili family. This way a strong
symbolic connotation was given to the complex, because the papal dove
dominates and transmits the truth of the Gospel to the four continents,
depicted allegorically by the four rivers at the base. The Danube, the
Ganges, the Rio della Plata and the Nile are represented as river gods,
easily recognisable by their individual attributes. The Nile, in
particular, has its face covered with a veil: not because, as suggested
by the malicious, it does not want to see the façade of the church of
Sant'Agnese, designed by Borromini, but to show the mystery that still
surrounded the origins of the river's sources.
From piazza Navona we can go towards piazza della Rotonda, which
takes its name from the cylindrical shape of the Pantheon.. In the
centre of the square, which in shape resembles the arcade that probably
surrounded the temple in Roman times, there is a fountain with a
mixtilinear plan designed by Giacomo della Porta in 1575.
In the centre of the basin Pope Clement XI Albani, in 1711, ordered the
erection of the obelisk that can still be seen there. The red granite
monolith, 6.43 metres tall, comes from Egypt, where it had been erected
by Ramses II in the 13th century B.C. in the city of Heliopolis. Brought
to Rome in an unknown time, it was reused in the temple dedicated to
Isis and Serapis in Campus Martius.
To eat, we can go to Via dei Pastini, where there is an excellent
bread and pizza baker. Also on the same street, at no. 122-123, there is
the restaurant Er faciolaro (06 6796280), specialised in Roman dishes.
Going along the left-hand side of the Pantheon, we reach the Piazza
della Minerva decorated admirably by another monument by Bernini.
The little obelisk of red granite, 5.47 metres tall, was constructed in
the 6th century B.C. by the Pharaoh Apries, and was rediscovered in the
Dominican convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
Immediately after the discovery, Pope Alexander VII Chigi decided to
erect it in the square in front of the church, and entrusted the design
of the monument to Bernini, who thought up the elephant as a base. For
the creation of the monument, Bernini allegedly drew inspiration from a
novel published in the late 1500s by Francesco Colonna, mindful of the
symbolism of Egyptian hieroglyphics. In fact, the stele should represent
the divine wisdom that descends from the strong mind depicted by the
elephant, as is also stated in the inscription on the base, with the
warning from Alexander VII: "a strong mind is necessary to support solid
wisdom". The monument is known today as the "Pulcino della Minerva"
(Minerva's Chick), which derives from the 18th-century name of "Porcin
della Minerva" (Minerva's Piglet), which stressed the elephant's
resemblance to a piglet.
From the Piazza della Minerva we can go towards Piazza Montecitorio
where, in front of the palazzo which is the seat of the Parliament, we
see the red granite obelisk originally erected in the 6th century B.C.
at Heliopolis by Pharaoh Psammetichus II, and transported to Rome by
Augustus in 10 B.C.
Augustus used this obelisk as a gnomon, that is the style of a gigantic
sundial constructed in the Campus Martius. It was supposed to project
its shadow onto a marble-paved square, indicating the hours, seasons,
signs of the zodiac and years, which were marked out in bronze. This
sundial was not only a technological wonder: it had been constructed in
relation to the Ara Pacis, which originally stood near the church of San
Lorenzo in Lucina, and was regulated so as to direct its shadow towards
the altar on the Emperor's birthday.
The obelisk was erected where it is today in 1794 as per the wishes of
Pope Pius VI, who had it restored, filling in the missing parts with
granite from the Column of Antoninus Pius, which was thus destroyed.
On the square is the characteristic Caffè di Montecitorio, whose
clients include the deputies of the Italian Republic. On the nearby
Piazza di Pietra is, instead, the famous Caffettiera, a renowned
Neapolitan café.
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