Dear bloggers,
if you come to Rome you have to visit “L’Ara com’era” (“The Ara as It was”).
It is the first systematic virtual enhancement of one of the most important masterpieces of Roman art, built between 13 and 9 BC to celebrate the Peace established by Augusto on the territories of the Roman Empire.
It worth it a visit because this event combines history and technology at the same time.
Tourists can see the innovative story of the Ara Pacis and the origins of Rome thanks to two new points of interest in Virtual Reality (launched in October 2016 and further enhanced since 20 January 2017), combining live cinematic footage, 3D reconstructions and computer graphics. It allows a full immersion in the ancient Northern Campo Marzio where you can witness the first virtual reconstruction of a Roman sacrifice. All this allows the public a deeper involvement with the museum's reality.
Visitors are transported back in time to relive the past from a privileged location. Immersed in a 360° environment they can admire the Ara Pacis, while discovering its original colors.
They can float above the altar, plan on the Campo Marzio and attend the sacrifice, carried out by true actors, always standing in the center of the scene.
Only few monuments have been able to convey, like Ara Pacis does, history, beliefs, ideals and ambitions of an entire era. Starting with the reliefs depicting the sacrifice of Aeneas and those with the birth of Romulus and Remo, all the characters, gestures, deities and animals illustrate the origins of Rome and the family of Augustus.
“L’Ara com’era” combines different technologies, creating virtual worlds in which both real characters and characters rebuilt with computer graphics join the scenes. The traditional green screen shot with the involvement of real actors has been embedded in a 360° environment, through an innovative software.
It proposes an innovative experience of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, unique in its genre. Using specific AR (Samsung GearVR) viewers and the camera of the devices inserted in them, virtual elements and real elements merge directly into the visual field of viewers.
The application recognizes the three-dimensionality of bas-reliefs and sculptures, and digital elements appear to the visitor as “anchored” to real objects, contributing to the effectiveness of a magical experience!
The narration is able to create a deeper emotional impact with the public.
The experience within the Ara Pacis Museum takes about 45 minutes and it starts every 15 minutes. It is available in 5 languages: Italian, English, French, Spanish and German.
I inform you that viewers can not be used under the age of 13.
Thank you,
Guenda
Where:
Ara Pacis Museum, Lungotevere in Augusta (at the corner of via Tomacelli) - 00186 Rome
When:
from 6 October 2017;
Friday and Saturday: 19.30 to 23.00 (last entry at 22.00)
Entrance ticket:
Full € 12.00
Reduced € 10,00
Dear bloggers,
It is Christmas time and during this period you cannot do without thinking about the Christmas tree, the decorations, the dinners and lunches in the family, the lights that decorate the cities and give them moments of charm and magic to the lives of people. It is also and above all a tradition to go to Christmas Mass, or to attend the Churches.
About Churches, today I want to talk about the Church of Sant'Andrea, which is quite close to Piazza Barberini, on a side street.
Benedict XV defined this church, uniquely shaped by the architect Borromini and enriched by two Bernini angels, as the "Roman Lourdes" because on January 20 of 174 years ago, they told that, exactly in here, the Virgin appeared.
Lifting our eyes to the small portion of the sky that opens on the narrow street where it stands, the first thing to notice is the splendid bell tower made by Borromini. One curiosity is that, when the bells ring, the bell tower oscillates so much to be nicknamed by the romans “dancer”. Next to it, there is another creation of the artist's inexhaustible imagination: the dome, which externally appears not with the usual circular shape, but with that of a tower with wavy walls.
The church is very old, but its date of foundation is unknown. It was named “S. Andrea de Hortis” for its position at the foot of the Pincio hill, the hill of the gardens. And the name it still preserves, stems from the fact that this area, at that time, was totally uninhabited and cluttered with hedgehogs.
It is internally a Latin cross with a single nave with barrel vaults and flanked by 4 pairs of arc chapels.
Decorating the Church’s interior, as a precious ornament, we can admire the marble angels carved by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
They were created to decorate St. Angelo Bridge: the Angel with the cartouche on the right
and The Angel with the crown of thorns on the left.
The beauty of these works pushed the pope of the time, Clement IX (1667 - 1669), to choose to guard them in a place that would shelter them from the weather. In 1729 the grandson of the great architect and sculptor gave them to the church.
Another precious jewel of this church is the third chapel on the left, dedicated in 1842 to the “Madonna del Miracolo” (Madonna of the Miracle) following the prodigious appearance of St. Mary to the Jew Alfonso Ratisbonne.
It is a silent appearance this, St. Mary leaves no message, but makes an eloquent gesture: Alfonso sees the index finger of the Madonna indicating his kneeling. The overwhelming testimony of Ratisbonne ends with a phrase that, for the rest of his life, he loved to repeat: “Elle me tell me, mais j'ai tout compris” (“She did not tell me anything, but I understood everything”).
Address:
Via di Capo le Case, 00187 Roma, Italia
Opening hours:
It is open from 6:30 to 13:00 and from 16:00 to 19:00
Thank you for reading and merry Christmas to all of you!
Guenda
The Garden of Oranges, also known as Parco Savello, high up on Aventine Hill,overlooking the Tiber.
This is one of those places that only Rome can offer and make you feel to be in the eternal city.The orange trees were planted in homage to St. Domenic who founded his monastery here. It seems like a fairy tale garden!
This is one of the most romantic and peaceful place that offers a very beautiful view of the city,in addition to Pincio and the Gianicolo.
There is often someone who plays guitar or other musical instruments, very evocative atmosphere!
I love going there at the sunset, the sky become a painting!
If you going out from there, in Cavalieri di Malta Square, you will find a large door with a small hole and if you put your eye in that hole you will see St. Peter’s dome at the end of a tunnel of plants.
In no other place in the world, you can see something like that!
Info:
Bus 81, 160, 628, 23, 30,44,280, 130,170, 716, 781
Thank you for reading!
Silvia