A few weeks ago, we posted an photo of a Colosseum made out of Heineken bottles that was standing in the Termini train station in honor of the UEFA Championships which were held in the Eternal City.

Now, Ads of the World graces us with the glossy Heineken advertising campaign version, which like the Termini version has a great tagline: History is Made in Rome.

Advertising Agency: JWT, Milan, Italy
Executive Creative Director: Pietro Maestri
Creative Director: Bruno Bertelli
Art Director: Chiara Carsaniga
Copywriter: Danilo Fragale
Illustrator/3D: StudioRos
Published: May 2009

If you’re planning to be in Rome between 25-31 May, you’ll want to start perusing the lengthy list of “unknown” archaeological sites and monuments that are going to be open to the public during that week as part of the Roma Nascosta or Hidden Rome week.  Organized by the Comune di Roma and a cultural organization called Zetema, the goal is that of allowing the public to visit inaccessible monuments – particularly those that are underground.

Among the sites that can be seen in this extraordinary week are the Underground Basilica at Porta Maggiore, the Catacombs of Saints Marcellinus & Peter, the Ludus Magnus, Monte Testaccio, the Mithraeum at Palazzo Barberini, and many more.

Whether you’re a life-long Rome resident looking to cross a few of those hard-to-visit sites off your list or a first-time tourist who wants to have an extraordinary experience, this is going to be a great week.

So click on over to the Comune di Roma website and download the program of events (for you non-Italian speakers, it’s called the Depliant Roma Nascosta).  There’s also a program of videos and lectures (Le Conferenze) that might be of interest.  You’ll need to make reservations for the site visits and numbers are limited, so get started now.

We spotted this in the Jewish Ghetto just a few days ago.  It’s a stencil on a wall that shows the map of Rome’s historic center with a red line around the edge, marking the path of the Aurelian Wall, a defense wall built in the third century AD to protect Rome from invaders.  Below, in both Italian and English, is a caption that reads, “You are 2445 steps from the Aurelian Wall.”

Like the Aurelian wall, the serpentine course of the Tiber River is painted red.  What are the red crosses?  We’re not sure, though we’ve got some theories going — the most persuasive of which is the idea that the red crosses mark the sites of  similar stencils that document the walking distance to the wall from other sites in the city.  We haven’t gone out on a scavanger hunt for those other yet (too darn hot in the Eterna for walkabouts), but we did find one other example quite by accident and its location corresponds with the position of a cross on the map.

The red 12/21 number above the left side of the map seems to suggest that this is the 12th of 21 such stencils.  There’s also a big red dot just near the Tiber Island.  What does it represent?  We have a theory about that too, but we’ll keep it to ourselves until we’ve done a bit more research.

We don’t know whose project this is or why they’re so busily documenting the distance to the Aurelian Wall, but we like it, like it, yes we do.

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.”

So, today’s the big day!  Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons was released in Rome on Wednesday, 13 May and today it opens in theaters around the U.S.A.  We’re betting that lots of eCoolers will be dashing off to see the flick, if not for the suspense and action, then for the fantastic views of Rome that the movie is sure to offer.

As many of you will know, author Dan Brown published the book in 2000, but it didn’t really take off until after the DaVinci Code hit the bestseller list in 2003.  Since about 2003, however, Angels & Demons has become particularly popular with visitors to Rome, who “let the angels be their guide” as they make their way around the Eterna.

The novel revolves around the quest of fictional Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdon (also featured in the DaVinci Code) to uncover the mysteries of a secret society called the Illuminati who are murdering Cardinals as part of a plot to annihilate Vatican City using destructive antimatter.

In order to prevent the destruction of the Vatican, Langdon sets off on the Path of Illumination in hopes of uncovering clues as to the disappearance of Cardinals and the location of the antimatter canister.   The Path leads Langdon to four major locations in Rome, each marked by an artwork crafted by 17th-century superstar sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini, and each associated with what the Illuminati believed to be the four primordial elements of all things in existence: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.

It’s those artworks by Bernini (as well as some other pretty fabulous masterpieces of art and architecture) that Angels & Demons tourists come to see–and who can blame them? Of course, many such visitors are also interested in the long histories of Rome and the Catholic Church and as they traipse along the Path of Illumination, they find themselves asking questions that Dan Brown hasn’t answered in his novel.  So what to do?

Here at the eCool Compound, we have the answer!  We’ve just discovered that our friend Angela Nickerson, author of a lovely book called A Journey into Michelangelo’s Rome (which, by the way, makes a great guidebook to Renaissance Rome) has teamed up with Roaring Forties press to publish Rome’s Angels & Demons: an Insider’s Guide — a free ebook with inside information about the art and places in Dan Brown’s book.

Rome’s Angels & Demons: An Insider’s Guide is filled with information about the historical figures, churches, artwork, and locations that figure prominently in Angels & Demons.  With maps, visitor information, photographs, and in-depth insights, it is a great guide to the city of Rome and the fascinating world Dan Brown has created.

To find out more about this free guide — great on Kindle or any e-reader, but also formatted so that you can print it and take it to Rome with you — visit Angela’s Just Go blog where she’s throwing a launch party that includes a Twitter-to-enter contest by which you might just win some fabulous Roman stuff, including a copy of her Michelangelo book and some eCool Sigg Bottles!  You can also download the book from the Roaring Forties Press website.  Remember, it’s absolutely free!

There’s been discussion here at the eCool Compound about getting ourselves out of bed early on Sunday the 17th to run the Race for the Cure here in Rome.  Now, however, Blogging Pompeii has divided our loyalties with their publication of news about the “Corri per Pompei” or Run for Pompeii that’s scheduled to take place on Saturday the 16th at 6pm.

An article about the race on Stabianews.tk says that starting line will be at Piazza Anfiteatro in the modern city of Pompeii and that the 10 kilometer and 3 kilometer routes will take runners through both the ancient archaeological site and the modern city.  How much of the race takes place on the ancient site?  We don’t know and we’d imagine that if it’s a lot the course could get a bit rough as even walking through ancient Pompeii can be tough on the feet, but nonetheless, we think this is one of the most eternally cool things we’ve heard about in a while.

For more information:  write to napolipompei@libero.it or call 081 857 62 71 or 338 10 52 494.

A few weeks ago, a spring day dawned clear and cool, and we found ourselves wandering the Villa Borghese, admiring the umbrella pines and watching children play peek-a-boo behind the statue of Byron.

Our stroll included a visit to the Galleria Borghese and because we were completely spent after two hours of admiring jaw-dropping Berninis and Caravaggios, we sought some refreshment, but weren’t interested in spending our afternoon in the Borghese’s own basement cafe.  Rather, we decided to immerse ourselves in the stunning light and air of a late April day, just wandering about and hoping that a little sip of something might present itself.  That’s when we discovered Tea & Butterflies, an event currently being staged in the Uccelleria or Aviary of the Borghese villa.

We entered through the Meridiana, or sun dial, of the villa, paying a mere 7 euro (5 if you have a Feltrinelli Piu card or are a child or senior citizen) for an encounter with some of nature’s most beautiful winged creatures and a tea in a baroque birdcage. After a stroll through the formal gardens (above) we made our way into the Uccelleria, slipping through nets placed at the door to help contain the butterflies flying unconstrained inside.

The aviary,  built in the early 17th century — at almost the same time as the Villa (now museum) — was built to house the Borghese’s collection rare birds, a function we know that it served in the years from 1616-19, for archival records attest to the fact that exotic species were on view there.

Inside this splendid and over sized birdcage, various species of butterflies flew about, often landing on walls embellished with fragments of the original 17th-century frescoes depicting agricultural scenes, pergolas, festoons and birds.

Knowing practically nothing whatsoever about butterflies, we were fascinated to see them in all stages of life, from the caterpillars (which seemed to be crawling about in a bed of some wild green vegetable of the type that’s common in every Roman trattoria–ma, what else would one expect a Roman caterpillar to eat?) to beautiful winged creatures emerging from cocoons to full-grown specimens that gracefully flapped about as we sipped tea and munched on biscotti.

All-in-all, it’s a lovely event, so if you’re making  your way on over to the Villa Borghese and want to add some nature to your artistic experience, you can do so through 23 May.  Tea with Butterflies is open from 9:30am to 6:30pm.

Yesterday about 2:44pm, an earthquake  measuring 2.1 on the Richter scale shook Rome.   Its epicenter was about 10 kilometers below Castel Sant’Angelo; today Francesco Giro, a minister of culture, announced that no damage was done to the monument.

We felt the shake here in the Compound and ever since we discovered that it took place directly under Castel Sant’Angelo, we’ve been wondering if the tremors were caused by bad-guy or Hassasin in Angels and Demons, whose headquarters are located in the mausoleum-fortress, and who might well be preparing for the release of the film on Friday?

Those readers planning to be in Rome in 2009 may be interested to know about a special exhibit currently being held in the Colosseum and Forum and on the Palatine Hill.   Assembled in honor of the 2000th anniversary of the birth of the Roman Emperor Vespasian, who was born on 17 November in the year 9 AD (Put that on your calendar and start looking for Colosseum cupcakes for the party.)

The exhibit celebrates Vespasian, but also his sons Titus and Domitian, who, like their father, ruled Rome in the second half of the first century AD. Following the suicide of Nero in AD 68, an event that marked the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty’s rule of the Roman Empire, and a struggle for control over Rome and its territories, Vespasian was crowned emperor by the Roman army while fighting the bloody Jewish Wars.  He returned to Rome triumphant and along with major achievements in Roman law, is best known for having built the Colosseum in AD 70-80.

Most of the objects documenting the life and achievements of Vespasian and his sons are on display in the Colosseum, though organizers of the exhibit have made an effort to fold those monuments built by the three Flavian emperors into the mostra by providing a special audioguide that allows visitors to move from the Colosseum exhibit, through the Forum, and across the Palatine to see the Arch of Titus, the Flavian Palace,
the Temple of Vespasian and the Temple of Peace, all the while learning about the achievements of Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian.

Admittedly, we don’t much like this new-ish trend of hosting special exhibits in the Colosseum (too crowded, too much chaos to allow one to really concentrate) and the exhibit as a whole is a bit hard to follow while navigating Rome’s ancient landscape.  Nonetheless, we are thrilled that organizers saw fit to display portraits of the Flavian emperors–some colossal–in the Curia or Senate House in the Roman Forum.

Usually off-limits to visitors, the display of these portraits (most have been brought to Rome from the Naples Archaeological Museum, having been found in Pompeii and Herculaueum, as Titus was the reigning emperor when Vesuvius erupted and destroyed those cities), the exhibit offers a fabulous opportunity to get into Senate House.

Not only are visitors enjoying the chance to examine the visages of Titus and Vespasian up-close and in-person, but the staging of a part of the exhibit in the Curia allows one to admire the beautiful inlaid marble or opus sectile pavement and the Plutei of Trajan, two huge marble reliefs showing the Emperor Trajan performing such grandiose deeds as the institution of the alimenta, a charitable organization for orphans, and destruction of tax records, a gesture of fiscal pardon.

For more information about the Flavian Exhibit, properly titled The Divine Vespasian, visit the Comune di Roma website.