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| It is a
well known fact that in Rome there is not a single corner that
does not diffuse a special charm of its own due to its romantic
history through the ages. For instance, the visitor who climbs
up to this quiet, secluded little square calied Monte de' Cenci,
should realise that its modest heìght is formed by the
ruins of the wide sweep of the Circus built in 221 B.C. by Caius
Fiaminius the Censor. Nor is this all: a plaque placed on a
house near this Hill, in Via San Bartolomeo dei Vaccinari, records
the birthplace of the Roman Tribune Cola di Rienzo, the son
of an innkeeper and a washerwoman. In the 16th century it was
a green hill sloping towards the Tiber, and it was then that
the famous Cenci family erected its enormous palace there consisting
of four wings, which eplaced the ancient houses of the Crescenzi.
One of the side wings of the palace overlooks this little square
where you are now standing: it rises as a squat tower and joins
at right angles another facade which shuts off the square. On
the right stands the little church dedicated to St. Thomas,
at present under repair; it was built by a Cenci bishop in the
12th century and rebuilt several times later. It was last reconstructed
in 1575 at the orders of the notorious Francesco Cenci, who
arranged for his tomb to be placed in the Chapel to the left
of the High Altar. But, as we know, he was killed by his two
children Giacomo and 3eatrice in the Petrella Castle in the
Sabine Hills, and his body remained there. The parricides were
condemned to death on September 11, 1599, and the mortal remains
of Giacomo were buried in this church, while Beatrices's body
lies in San Pietro in Montorio. |
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