In browsing today’s online edition of Il Messaggero, we note that a swarm of bees flew into Piazza di Spagna and claimed what is rightfully theres when they landed on Pope Urban VIII Barberini’s papal crest on the Fountain of the Barcaccia.
Those eCoolers already laughing about this will know that the fountain was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII Barberini and was completed in 1627 by Pietro Bernini and his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Knowing this, clever eCoolers will also be aware Barberini family coat of arms features three bees — and that residents and tourists alike take great pleasure in finding appearances of carved, cast, or painted bees on Barberini projects throughout Rome.
Thus, the visiting swarm (estimated to consist of some 30,000-40,000 bees) could not have landed in a more approriate place…unless of course, they’d headed straight for the Fontana delle Api, or Fountain of the Bees, located at the base of the Via Veneto and carved by Bernini, who completed the project in 1644. (see photo below)
The bees, by the way, were successfully and safely removed with the help of the Vigili Urbani and an apiculture expert.
Sporty eCoolers will remember that on 27 May, the UEFA Champions League Final will be held in Rome (the rest of you may need to refer to your Cliffs Notes to discover that the UEFA is the Union of European Football Associations and that the game will decide which club is champion of the European league).
A few weeks there was hot discussion about whether or not soccer fields should be set up around the Colosseum in celebration of this event. We’ll admit that we didn’t follow the discussion that closely and thought that the idea had been vetoed by various superintendents of archaeology and culture ministers — that is, until this weekend, when we began to see elegant little banners flapping on Rome’s bridges with images of the classical-urn-shaped trophy and an announcement that there would be some sort of soccer celebration in the valley of the Colosseum in upcoming days.
Around town there are other indications of just how eagerly Romans (and sponsoring corporations) are anticipating this event. Heienken, always a big advertiser in the Eterna, has really gone all out. They’ve built a Colosseum out of beer bottles in the Termini train station. The base on which the monument stands is “inscribed” with the date of the game in Roman numerals: XXVII. V. MMIX and the motto “History is made in Rome.”
