Rione Paper

 

Regola is a long, narrow rione and the seventh of fourteen riones located in the city of Rome. The name Regola was given to the rione in response to the material left behind by the Tiber River after flooding the area. When the Tiber River would return to average depth, there would be fine sand left all over Regola and the surrounding riones. In Latin, this fine sand was called renula. In the early 20^th century walls were built around the Tiber River to maintain the banks and prevent the common flooding of the Tiber.

In the Middle Ages, Regola was called Regio Arenule et Chacabariorum and was famous for its coppersmiths who made cauldrons and kitchenware. The word chacabariis referred to these coppersmiths. Later, Regola became increasingly popular for its leather and suede tanners who used mostly deer skin to make clothing and other wares. This explains Regola's coat of arms: a deer.

Now days, Regolas economy is based on restaurants and museums but long ago the economy was based heavily on craftsmanship. Wood, metal, leather and suede workers produced many goods that were highly prized at the time. Many of the streets of Regola are names after these skilled craftsmen. Today, Regola is still a very popular place for craftsmen. On a short walk through this rione you will see several workshops, art galleries and studios. Often the doors to these workshops are open and if you are lucky you can catch a peek inside! As far as graffiti art in the area, other than small tags here and there, there is not much to see.

Piazza Farnese is located in the heart of Regola and is home to one of Rome's finest Renaissance buildings. This building is Palazzo Farnese. This building was designed in the 16^th century by famous architects (Michelangelo, Della Porta, Sangallo) and sponsored by cardinal Alessandro Farnese. The cornice that frames the top of the building, designed by Michelangelo, is a band of beautiful, intricate flowers – each one different than the other.  

Palazzo Farnese has changed ownership several times since its construction in the 16^th century. It was first owned by the Farnese family, then passed to a royal family of Naples, then to the French government. Today the building remains in the hands of the French government and is home to the French embassy in Rome.

In piazza Farnese there are twin fountains that were used as tubs in ancient Roman baths. Their bases are made from marble and the tubs are made from copper. Behind Palazzo Farnese, running parallel to the Tiber River, is via Giulia. During the Renaissance, Via Giulia was the first long, straight road built in this neighborhood and followed the path of a previously built ancient Roman road. Via Giulia celebrated its 500^th anniversary in 2008.

Also located behind Palazzo Farnese, on via Giulia, is via Giulia's fountain. This fountain is know as Mascherone di cia Giulia which means “via Giulia's grotesque face.” The fountain was built in the 17^th century using ancient Roman marble and is topped by a large bronze fleur-de-lis (the French family emblem). 

A little further up the street from via Giulia's fountain in the Farnese arch. This arch is a walkable passage way from Palazzo Farnese to buildings on the other side of the street. Many believe this archway was originally being constructed to become a much longer passageway that would connect Palazzo Farnese to a second mansion on the other side of the Tiber River in Trastevere. 

Directly below the Farnese arch is the church of Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte (“St. Mary of prayer and death”), built in 1575. This church is small and beautiful with an eerie, but caring, past. The original mission of the congregation was to scour the countryside for bodies of poor peasants who had been left unburied. They were to bring the bodies back to the church and give them a proper resting place in the church's cemetery. However, after many years, the church and cemetery began to run out of space and had to remodel in 1733 and became to look as though it still looks today. The men and women of the congregation began to use bones as decoration inside the church. They hung bones on the walls, decorated crosses with skulls and made chandeliers from bones. The old cemetery was removed when the construction of the walls around the Tiber River began in the 20^th century. Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte is one of two churches in Rome that continues to display this gruesome form of artwork to the public. 

At the far end of via Giulia, away from the Ponte Sisto, there is a large brick building with barred windows on the ground level. These are the “New Prisons.” Over the entrance of the building there is a plaque that reads in Latin "were built in 1650 by pope Innocent X out of justice and clemency, for a safer and milder custody of the guilty." Although built in 1650, the building was not used as a jail until 1658. The reason behind this delay was the outbreak of the plague. Soon after its outbreak in Rome, the building became a place to house the sick in order to keep them quarantined from the public. The location of the New Prisons signify the end of Regola and the start of the rione Ponte. 

As a temporary resident of Rome, I saw this rione from a tourists perspective. Regola is a beautiful place filled with restaurants, street musicians, venders, bars, a picturesque market in Campo di Fiore, and much more. However, these great aspects led me to make assumptions about the rione. One assumption being that anyone would love to live in this area. This is assumption is not true to all, however. First of all, it is very difficult to tell who lives in Regola and who does not. When interviewing local Italians working in the area (who live outside Regola) the majority said that they do not wish to live in Regola because of the tourism and hustle bustle. The more people I talked to the more I began to realize how greatly being a tourist affected my assumptions and biasses of the area. I saw this area as hip and fun and all the activity turned me on – but to many Italians, this is not an ideal living situation. The Italians I talked to said they were sometimes annoyed by the amount of tourists and lack of Italian speaking customers and by the lack of true Italian food and culture.

This rione especially impacted me and influenced my frames of reference because of how much time I spent there. Each day I walked from my apartment in Trastevere across the Ponte Sisto, down Via Giulia, past Via Giulia's “big mask” fountain and through Piazza Farnese to the UW Rome Center. Every morning I drank my cappuccino in Regola and in the afternoons I would eat lunch with friends in the rione. A few nights a week a group of us would get drinks in the rione, as well. Through all of this, I got to know the people, the culture and even some of the language of this rione.

I enjoyed having Regola assigned as my rione because I got to know the area on a deeper lever. Attending class and spending time in the rione each day is one thing, but if I had not been assigned this rione I fear I would have only gotten to know Regola skin-deep. After researching the rione I began to experience my surroundings in a more intimate way. I could imagine what it was like in the early days of Rome.

Regola is where many of my greatest memories of Italy took place. From group dinners and hanging out in the Compo with friends, visiting the French embassy with our class and even mine and Souvonnahs presentation in the rain was a blast!