News from Italy
Tale of 1001 nights of Rome
Vita gazette – Rome turned 2,776 on April 21. The anniversary of the founding of the Literary City was celebrated for three days and three nights. The stories of 1001 nights of Rome were told on the ancient stage set up in the city’s historic centre.
April 21 is a very important date in history, especially for Rome. According to legend, on that day in 753, a. C. Romulus founded the city, a date made official by Marco Terenzio Varrone thanks to astrological calculations made by his friend Lucio Taruzio. In this regard, the expression Ab Urbe condita was born, i.e. “from the foundation of Rome”, which counted the years from its foundation.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Rome lost various uses and customs of the time, including holidays. The foundation’s celebration was resumed directly in the Risorgimento era and, in the Fascist era, coincided with Labor Day. The Council of Ministers, in fact, approved a decree-law which abolished the traditional Labor Day of May 1st to incorporate it on April 21st, a day which became a national holiday in 1924 and was renamed Christmas in Rome – Labor Day. This decree was abolished in 1945, with Labor Day restored to 1 May and limiting Christmas in Rome to the Capitoline area only.
The birthday of Rome is celebrated on Friday, 21 April 2023, with a special coin and many events throughout the metropolis until Sunday. There were extraordinary re-enactments of the various ages of ancient Rome by the Gruppo Storico Romano at the Circus Maximus.
Starting from the opening of the Fontana della Dea Roma on the Campidoglio, with free access to museums, exhibitions and the Circus Maximus, the great mass Christmas party in the capital took place with enthusiasm and emotion. On Sunday, with 2,500 people dressed in Roman costumes, a magnificent historical reenactment occurred in various corners of the city and at the Circus Maximus.
Subsequently, the Fontana della Dea Roma in Campidoglio, one of the most beautiful and representative of the capital, returned to the city after the vital restoration work whose works were directed by the Capitoline Superintendence and made possible thanks to the patronage of the fashion house Laura Biagiotti with Intesa Sanpaolo. The restoration of the fountain, inserted in the facade of Palazzo Senatorio in Piazza del Campidoglio, at the base of the staircase leading to the council chamber, designed by Michelangelo, concerned the floor and the Roman statue of the goddess Roma, the surfaces in travertine of the architectural façade and the marble ones of the tanks with the restoration of their waterproofing. The cobblestone paving near the pool was also fixed, and the water system was overhauled, making the fountain drainage system functional again.
In the Rome Capital Museum System, for the city’s birthday, free access to permanent collections and temporary exhibitions is free. At the Capitoline Museums, La Roma della Repubblica is underway. The story of archaeology has recently been enriched with a new immersive video projection. Also available is the Cursus Honorum multimedia exhibition project. The government of Rome before Caesar, in which the magistracies of the republican age are recalled, and The Legacy of Caesar and the Conquest of time, in which the history of Rome is narrated from its origins to the dawn of the imperial age. It is also possible to admire the Colors of the Ancient. Santarelli Marbles at the Capitoline Museums.
Again, the exhibition Colori dei Romani continues at the Centrale Montemartini. The mosaics from the Capitoline Collections recently expanded with 16 works. The exhibition program of contemporary Italian art Quotidiana at the Museum of Rome at Palazzo Braschi presents: for the Landscape section, the exhibition of the twins Carlo and Fabio Ingrassia, while, for the Portfolio section, the work of the young artist Marta Naturale. There are three current exhibitions at the Museum of Rome in Trastevere: Armando Trovajoli. A legend in music that traces the entire career of the master on the tenth anniversary of his death, La Movida. Spain 1980-1990 by the photographer, artist Miguel Trillo and the Romanists. Cenacles and artistic life from Trastevere to the Trident (1929 – 1940) whoutlinein 100 works, life and culture in Rome between the end of the 1920s and 1940.
The initiatives for the 2776th Christmas in Rome are promoted by Roma Capitale, the Department of Culture, the Capitoline Superintendency for Cultural Heritage, the Palaexpo Special Company, the Rome Opera House and the Teatro di Roma – Teatro Nazionale, in collaboration with the Special Superintendence of Rome Archeology, Fine Arts and Landscape and with the Gruppo Storico Romano. Communication by Zètema Progetto Cultura.
The Roman Historical Group
The Gruppo Storico Romano, a cultural, apolitical and non-profit association born in 1994 from the passion for ancient Rome of President Sergio Iacomoni and a group of friends, celebrates the 23rd anniversary of Rome’s Christmas celebrations. presented the edition
The event, which took place at the Circus Maximus from 20 to 23 April 2023, had the theme “Rome: Regina Aquarium”, a tribute to the preciousness of water in the city’s history. Caput Mundi’s birthday this year has become even more international, with the participation of 16 countries, 80 associations and 2500 activators.
During the three days of celebration, visitors had the opportunity to relive the glories of the empire. Thousands of participants entered the political struggle of the republican era, savouring the taste of the military cult among gladiators, legionaries, praetorians and lictors. But there were also the fairies, the nuns, the mothers and all the apparatus of the pagan religion. Almost all local and foreign participants were amazed by the beauty of the costumes and the incredible atmosphere of daily life enlivened by the revivals. All thanks to the meticulous historical research work of the Roman Historical Group, which has tried to reconstruct the daily life, wars, ceremonies, and commercial and agricultural activities of that company, using clothes, weapons, tools and objects that reproduced the period Roman.
The initiatives for the 2776th Christmas in Rome are promoted by Roma Capitale, the Department of Culture, the Capitoline Superintendency for Cultural Heritage, the Palaexpo Special Company, the Rome Opera House and the Teatro di Roma – Teatro Nazionale, in collaboration with the Special Superintendence of Rome Archeology, Fine Arts and Landscape and with the Gruppo Storico Romano. Communication by Zètema Progetto Cultura.
Thank you all…
