The Bocca della Verita
- The Mouth of Truth Has someone dared you to prove that you are perfectly
sincere? Then go to the portico of the church of Santa Maria in
Cosmedin, in Piazza della Bocca della Verità, between Piazza
Venezia and the Tiber Island. Insert your hand in the mouth of truth
located on the left, and repeat what you have been accused of lying
about. If you are guilty, your hand will be neatly chopped off; if
what you said is true, you will have irrefutable evidence of your
good faith.
According to tradition, the mouth of truth was really used in the
Middle Ages to discourage liars, who were punished by a sword
wielded behind the wall. On one particular occasion, so legend has
it, the trial of the mouth of truth was imposed on a woman of
aristocratic rank, accused by her husband of adultery. The crowd
parted to allow the outraged woman to reach the great stone mask,
when suddenly a young man rushed forward and kissed her
passionately. Faced with the crowd's anger, he justified his action
by claiming that he could not resist offering one last Christian
tribute to the poor woman, who was certainly innocent. The woman
herself placed her hand in the slit of the stone face and declared:
"I swear no man but my husband and the youth who just kissed
me, has ever touched me!". As she was able to retrieve her
hand, her innocence was proven and she was acquitted. Cunning and
artfulness of the Roman woman who was kissed by her lover in public!
The
Palace of The Monkey If you happen to stroll down via dei Portoghesi, near
Piazza Navona, beware of the mischievous monkey of the ancient
Scappucci Palace! Legend says that the owner of the palace kept a
tame monkey as a pet. When his son was born, the monkey probably
grew jealous and snatched the crying baby from its crib, and carried
it to the top of the tower and hid in the most inaccessible spot.
The nurse and the servants tried desperately to recover the baby but
every attempt failed, and the poor people resorted to praying to the
Virgin Mary for help. At that moment, the baby's father arrived on
the scene and whistled to the monkey in the usual way. It meekly
came down from the tower with the baby safe and sound. From that
day, the palace has been known as the "Palace of the
Monkey" and a lamp always shines on the image of the Virgin on
the tower.
The
Main Altar in Saint Peter's Truth and legend blend in popular tradition even
concerning St.Peter's basilica! The main altar was completed by
Bernini for Pope Urban VIII in 1633. The papal coat of arms
represented at the base of the twisted columns is decorated with
mysterious images. Legend says that a woman who was very close to
the pope (his niece or perhaps…) was pregnant but her life was in
danger because of bad health. The pope feared for the lives of the
woman and the child and vowed to erect a new altar for St. Peter's
if all ended well. So it was and the church had a new altar. The
episode was recorded on the plinths at the base of the gigantic
columns, above and below the coat of arms with the bees of the
Barberini family. The small face of a woman and a rather faithful
anatomical rendition of female reproductive organs appear on each
side, and change features from right to left: from tranquillity to
the pain of giving birth, ending with the birth of the baby.
The
Holes in the Colosseum Have you ever
noticed? The exterior of the Colosseum is covered with holes. The
truth about their origin is that the blocks of travertine used for
the exterior of the building were held together by iron clamps that
were taken out in later times and reused for other purposes.
Nonetheless innumerable explanations have been elaborated over the
centuries. Among them, the attempt of the Visigoths and Vandals in
the 5th century AD to tear down the structure, and bombing in the
archeological area during World War II. Yet the Colosseum is still
there…and confirms the popular belief, after the Venerable Bede,
that "as long as the Colosseum stands so will Rome".
The
Angel of Castel Sant'Angelo At the top of the Castel Sant'Angelo, the archangel
Michael stands mighty and proud, sheathing his sword. The bronze
statue was created in the mid 1700s and erected in memory of Pope
Gregory the Great's vision in the 6th century AD. Tradition has it
that a terrible epidemic raged in Rome and the pope was desperate.
He ordered a great expiation procession from St. John Lateran to St
Peter's, to invoke the end of the plague. At the end of the
procession the pope had a vision: an radiant angel appeared at the
top of the tomb of the Emperor Hadrian, bearing a sword that he
placed back in its sheath. The message was clear: the sword at rest
meant that the plague was over! The Lord had listened to their
prayers, and in memory of this event, and perhaps as an offering on
the part of Gregory the Great himself, the magnificent angel of
Castello was erected on the monument. A few years later the Bell of
Mercy was placed next to the angel and was used to announce capital
executions.
Pasquino Behind Piazza Navona, in the Parione district, in the
little square by the same name, stands the statue of Pasquino, worn
by time and controversy. He was the voice of satirical sneering,
cruel and ruthless, always willing to expose the clergy and powers
that be . The ancient Greek torso was found where the Palazzo
Braschi stands today and placed where we see it by cardinal Carafa
in 1501. The name Pasquino was attributed to it at the same time,
when it started being used by the people to vent their resentment
towards abuses of power, by attaching satirical and provocative
notes on its base.
Although this explains the origin of
the "pasquinades", popular tradition, fed by numerous
writers who invented infinite variations on this theme, gave life to
a series of legends. Among them, the version that imposed itself
identified Pasquino as a tailor from the Parione district, whose
tongue was as sharp as the scissors of his trade. As he worked on
papal vestments, he came to know the foulness of the goings on at
the papal court and was unable to keep them to himself! Over the
centuries, caustic spirits great and small have given Pasquino their
voices, including the poet Trilussa.
Donna
Olimpia Donna Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphili,
nicknamed "la Pimpaccia" by Pasquino, was born at the end
of the 1500s. She was very beautiful, ambitious and unscrupulous,
and accumulated luxury and power through her shrewdness and
treachery. It was said that her intriguing alone led to the election
of her second husband's brother as pope, with the name of Innocent
X. Her second husband died soon in their marriage, like her first
one. Her power at the Vatican was immense (Algardi made an eloquent
portrait bust of her), but she was eventually banned by her brother-
in -law himself because of the gossip concerning their relationship.
She was soon allowed to return to the city and resumed her arrogant
ways until the death of the pope who had always protected her, when
she retired away from Rome. She died at the age of 63, but tradition
says that her ghost cannot find peace, and that because of the sins
committed during her life, she must wander about the Earth in
despair. When walking along the Sixtus bridge late at night,
especially with a full moon, it is still possible to hear the
muffled sound of the hooves of the horses pulling her carriage, or
to feel the breeze as she passes, on her way back from a dip in the
Tiber.
The
Irreverent Parrot In 1849 General Oudinot's victory
against the troops led by Garibaldi in defense of the Roman
Republic, restored the popes' temporal power in Rome. While awaiting
Pius IX's return, the city was governed by a triumvirate of far from
moderate cardinals. It was said that censorship was so strict that
not even animals were free. Pietro Peretti, a famous Roman
pharmacist, owned a talking parrot that greeted customers, who
sympathized with the Republic, by loudly screeching: "Hurrah
for the Republic!" and "Down with priests and the
pope!". The censorious cardinals heard about the blasphemous
little creature and decided to punish it along with its owner, who
always candidly denied ever having owned a parrot. This episode
ended up tying the family's name to the chatterbox parrot. Many
years later, when a member of the Peretti family was introduced to
the pope, the Holy Father exclaimed: "Ah! A Peretti, The ones
of the parrot!"
The
Pope's Cherries Legend has it that on the day of St. Mark, the 25th
of April, a pope had a strong craving for cherries. Unfortunately
they were not yet in season, but fervent prayers convinced St. Mark
to make the cherries ripen before their time on one of the trees in
the Vatican. This legend is at the origin of the Roman saying
"Ar papa la voja, a Sammarco la noja", meaning "the
pope's wishes are Saint Mark's bother". Miracle or imagination?
Whatever the truth may be, popular wisdom reminds us that saints
themselves must bow to the whims of men of power.
Don
Zurla's Pranks According to popular tradition, Cardinal Zurla, vicar
of Rome at the time of pope Leo XII, greatly enjoyed playing tricks
and dressing up. The pope put up with his eccentricity for years but
eventually got tired of the prankster's roaming about in the
ill-famed districts of the city at night, and decided to punish him
once and for all. He had the cardinal arrested as a common tramp
near a brothel by the Sant'Angelo bridge, and thrown into jail for
the night. Cardinal Zurla was used to playing tricks on others but
ended up being tricked himself.
The
Tarpeian Rock At the time of Romulus, Tarpeia, the young and
beautiful daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, the custodian of the
Capitoline hill, betrayed Rome. She promised to show the Sabines and
their leader Tatius the way up to the citadel, in exchange for what
they wore on their left arms: precious torques and gold rings. When
they reached the top of the Capitoline, the Sabines gave a different
interpretation to the agreement and rewarded her by crushing her
with the shields they carried on their left arms and then threw her
from the precipice on the south-west corner of the hill. Since then,
the site has been known as the Tarpeian Rock and was used in later
times when criminals were sentenced to be flung to their death.
The
Cunning of Sixtus V Tradition tells that the Cardinal Felice Peretti, who
came from a family of poor farmers from the Marche compensated his
humble origins with the wealth of his shrewdness and his
intelligence. At the death of his predecessor, he saw that for
political reasons, the college of cardinals intended to elect a pope
whose rule would not last long. He consequently appeared at the
conclave on crutches and looking feverish. When he was elected, he
could not contain his joy and he threw his crutches up in the air
with such strength that he scratched the ceiling with them and the
marks of his enthusiasm stayed for quite some time.
The
Breach in St. Peter's Near Piazzale Flaminio, along the section of wall
known as "Muro Torto", a structural collapse in the V
century AD, caused a breach. In the following century, the opening
was never closed because popular tradition claimed it was protected
by St. Peter himself so that workmen refused to intervene. Belief in
this legend was strengthened on occasion of the invasion of the
Goths, who never attempted to enter into the city through the
breach.
The
Splendour of the Chigi Family While strolling along the Lungotevere avenues you may
notice a strange glimmer on the surface of the river. There is in
fact a rather humorous story regarding the dining habits of Agostino
Chigi, the famous Renaissance banker. In order to keep up his
reputation as the richest man in the world, he used to offer lavish
dinner parties to high ranking guests in a loggia overlooking the
Tiber. At the end of the meal, he ordered his servants to throw the
silver cutlery and dishes used by the guests into the river!
Obviously nobody knew about the deal the banker had made with the
monks from a neighbouring convent who, in exchange for alms, spread
nets beneath the surface of the water and each night returned the
silverware to the shrewd banker.
Pope
Joan Tradition claims that around the year 1000, the papal
throne was occupied for some time by a woman. Joan left England to
study at Mainz and her love of learning made her decide to dress up
as a man and to become a Benedictine monk. She graduated in theology
and became famous all over Europe for her knowledge which enabled
her to enter the papal court and to be elected cardinal. Her
brilliance also led to her election as pope. Some time later though,
she became pregnant by her servant, and gave birth during a
procession in the area of St John Lateran. On discovering the truth,
the outraged people lynched her and the baby. This episode led to
the introduction of the gestatorial chair used by the cardinals
before each election to check the sex of the pope!
St.
Silvester's Dragon According to legend, a cruel dragon with fiery breath
had its lair at the foot of the Palatine hill, beneath the ruins of
the temple of Castor and Pollux. Pope Silvester I was deeply
troubled and decided to intervene himself to put an end to the loss
of innocent lives. He went to the monster's lair armed only with his
crucifix, and was miraculously able to tame the dragon by holding up
the cross and invoking the name of the Virgin Mary. Silvester then
took a thread from his vestments, tied the dragon, led him on a
leash like a tame dog, and handed it over to the faithful who got
rid of it. In the same area, to commemorate the episode, the pope
built a church dedicated to Santa Maria Liberatrice.
Nero's
Pregnancy Who hasn't heard of Nero's folly? The emperor was
feared by his subjects for his eccentricities and his fits of
violence. At one point, he wished to experience pregnancy so he
summoned two court doctors and ordered them to solve the matter. The
poor unfortunates prepared a mildly soporific concoction and made
the emperor swallow it down along with a tiny frog. The little
creature stayed alive for a few moments and moved around in Nero's
belly, giving him a feeling that seemed to suggest a state of
advanced pregnancy. The doctors were nonetheless aware that the
trick would not last, so they did not wait to receive the emperor's
thanks, and ran as fast as their legs could carry them!
Orlando's
Sword Perhaps not everybody knows that during his
innumerable travels, the legendary knight Orlando came to Rome.
Nobody knows what brought him to the city, but whoever doubts that
he was actually here, can go to one of the alleys in the historical
centre, just behind Piazza Capranica. The mark left by his sword on
the wall during a brawl with Roman knights, is distinctly visible on
the only rock projecting from one of the buildings. It is not a
coincidence that the alley itself is called "Via della spada di
Orlando"- "The Street of Orlando's Sword".
