European Heritage Days 2012 in other places

On Saturday, September 29th and Sunday, September 30th, 2012 Italy will celebrate the European Heritage Days, an initiative established by the European Council to encourage the development of the cultural heritage of its various members and to underline the common cultural roots of Europe.
The Office of the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage of Roma Capitale, in synergy with the Ministry of Culture Heritage and Activities (MIBAC) will participate in this great European-wide celebration with free admission to museums and historic monuments and a program of guided tours and lectures.
Lead by the directors and curators of the museums themselves, the public will be encouraged to discover the richness and diversity of the patrimony of Roma Capitale through its masterpieces which recount a period that spans from antiquity up to the 20th century.
The guided tours of the museums and sites around the city will highlight some of Rome’s rich patrimony of art and architecture from new and unusual perspectives. For this occasion museums such as the Museo di Villa Vecchia in Villa Doria Pamphilj and a number of archaeological sites which are not generally open to the public will be available for visits.  These include the Tomb of the Scipios and the Insula romana of the Ara Coeli, both examples of constructions from Imperial Rome.

 
PROGRAM
Saturday, 29 September: 10:00 am
The Porta del Popolo, a Gateway to Europe.
Meeting point: Piazza del Popolo, central arch of the Portal. Guided tour by Tania Renzi. Booking required: tel +39 060608 (max 30 people). The guided tour will lead visitors through the Porta del Popolo, the ancient Porta Flaminia, built together with the Aurelian Walls in the III century AD and the object of numerous alterations over the centuries.  It has been the favoured entrance into the city by pilgrims coming from the north to visit the Eternal City with its basilicas and by processions of foreign sovereigns.

Saturday, 29 September: 10:30 am
The Insula Romana dell’Ara Coeli
Meeting point: Via del Teatro di Marcello, on the right side of the Monument to Victor Emanuel II, next to the flight of stairs to the Church of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli. Guided tour by Anna Maria Ramieri. Booking required: tel +39 060608 (max 30 people). The tour gives visitors a glimpse of a rare example of an apartment block from the Roman Imperial period.  The complex was uncovered in 1926 during work on the area surrounding the Capitoline Hill.

Saturday, 29 September: 11:30 am
Living in Rome during the Middle Ages. A walk throught the history of the city
Meeting point:  Via Luigi Petroselli – corner of Via di Ponte Rotto. Guided tour by Rossella Motta. Booking required: tel +39 060608 (max 30 people). A walking tour from the Capitoline Hill to the Tiber in search of traces of Medieval dwellings.

Saturday, 29 September: 4:30 pm
Minerva’s Elephant
Meeting point:  Piazza della Minerva. Guided tour by Cecilia Spetia. Booking required: tel +39 060608 (max 30 people). This guided tour investigates the monument conceived by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and created by Ercole Ferrata following its recent renovation.

Sunday, 30 September: 11:00 am
European Citizens in Baroque Rome: The bust of Duke Paolo Giordano II Orsini by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the Museo of Villa Doria Pamphilj
Meeting point: Villa Vecchia in Villa Doria Pamphilj, Via Aurelia Antica, 183. Presentation and guided tour by Carla Benocci. Booking required: tel +39 060608 (max 30 people). The bust represents one of the first examples of "ritratto parlante" (talking portrait) dedicated to a person who well known throughout Europe for his vast culture. He was a great friend to Queen Cristina of Sweden and his portrait can be found on numerous medallions.
Sunday, 30 September: 11:30 am
The Tombs of the Scipios
Meeting point: Via di Porta S. Sebastiano, 9. Presentation and guided tour by Rita Volpe. Booking required: tel +39 060608 (max 12 people). After being closed for 20 years and following a careful restoration by Rome’s Office of the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, this ancient rock tomb has recently been opened to the public .  The origin of this patrician family tomb dates to the beginning of the III century BC, the work of Lucio Cornelio Scipios Barbato, founder of a dynasty that played a leading role in the consolidation of the power of Rome. The Scipios, a branch of the gens Cornelia, count among its members Scipios Africanus who defeated Hannibal and ended the Second Punic War and Scipios Emiliano, who destroyed Carthage and put an end to the Third Punic War.