Rione Regola
“Con la meglio gioventù, al Calisto, al Bar Perù, non è più
Piazza della Quercia ora che la quercia l’hanno tirata giù
Passo per le scale e butto un occhio lassù
Rivedo quei bambini col cappuccio tirato su, uh”
“With the best of youth, at Calisto, at Bar Peru, it is no longer
Piazza della Quercia now that the oak has been taken down
I step up the stairs and look up there
I see those kids with their hood up, uh “


Some artists of the Roman rap scene who gathered in Trastevere with the name of Lovegang sing the song “Stay Away” . The song recalls the Bar Perù and Piazza della Quercia, two places in the Regola district. The name “Regola” comes from Renula, which is the sand transported and deposited by the River Tiber after the floods.

Our route starts from via Arenula, in front of the Ministry of Justice. We found Bar Del Cappuccino Di Santoro and it’s famous for Pastrami pizza, a focaccia with the typical Romanian smoked and spiced beef.


Church of the Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims
Along the way we can see many interesting architecture buildings. We can stop to admire the church of the Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims. For the jubilee of 1550, Pope Paul III entrusted the task of hosting pilgrims to the group called Fraternity of the Holy Trinity of Pilgrims and Convalescent.

The Florentine saint Filippo Neri had contributed to forming this group, mainly made up of laypersons. The later Pope Paul IV provided them with a small dilapidated church. At the side of the church, the Fraternity bought a house to be used as a hospital and hospice.


The Fraternity rebuilt the church, which was consecrated in 1616 and contains numerous artistic finds. The most important is the altarpiece representing the trinity, painted by the well-known artist Guido Reni. The Fraternity operated for a long time as a hospital for pilgrims, above all giving shelter to travellers during the jubilee years and to the indigent once discharged from hospitals.


In 1849, the Roman Republic was proclaimed and French troops besieged Rome. The hospital became the main point for treating the wounded in combat. Here died the young patriot Goffredo Mameli, the one who wrote the lyrics of the Italian national anthem. After the Italian state was formed, the Fraternity lost relevance and the hospital was abandoned.

Piazza della Quercia
Further on, Palazzo Spada is the seat of the Council of State and the homonymous gallery. From the outside, you can see the grandiose facade, considered the richest of the Roman 16th century because it is decorated with the sculptures of heroes. We recognize the emperors Trajan, Julius Caesar and Augustus.


On the opposite side, there is the small oak that has recently replaced the centuries-old tree as sung in “Stay Away”. The name piazza della Quercia does not depend on the tree, but on the veneration of the Madonna della Quercia.

In 1417, a Viterbo blacksmith asked an artist to paint a Madonna and child on a tile. The blacksmith placed that tile on an oak that was next to the road between Viterbo and Bagnaia. Fifty years later, a Viterbo knight fleeing from enemies embraced the oak and asked the Madonna for help. The miracle happened because the enemies passed him without seeing him. In the same year, 30,000 people prayed to Our Lady herself to save Viterbo and the nearby villages from the plague.

From the Tuscan Maremma and the Viterbo Tuscia, traders sent the meat to slaughterhouses of Rome. It was these traders who introduced the cult of the Madonna della Quercia. Pope Julius II ceded the current church to the traders. The Pope had an interest in spreading the cult because he came from the Della Rovere family whose coat of arms was just an oak. Even today, the brotherhood of butchers is based in the square and manages the church of Santa Maria della Quercia.


Piazza Farnese
In Piazza Farnese, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese built his palace in the Renaissance period. Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and then Michelangelo worked on the palace. Today, the palace houses the French embassy.

Next to the building, there is the church dedicated to Saint Bridget, patron saint of Sweden. The saint lived in this building from 1350 until her death in 1373. She was then buried in Vadstena, in which the abbey she had founded, on the beautiful shores of Lake Vättern in Sweden.

Note:
The song “Stay Away” can be found in the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nshlQwhaw3c.
Written by Enrico, Translated by Hua and Photo from Hua