The Crypta Balbi and The Jewish Ghetto

10/8/2007 5:07 PM

    On October 3rd, Davide took us to visit The Crypta Balbi and the Jewish Ghetto as part of his Architecture of the City class. The Crypta Balbi is a museum dedicated to the intense stratification and historical layering within Rome. Beneath every part of the city, there are multiple layers of historical remnants. Within the Crypta Balbi, it is possible to see the foundations of a large Roman construction of the Imperial period that has since been reused and re-purposed multiple times. This area Rome has seen almost continuous habitation since the fall of Imperial Rome. After serving as a center to distribute grain, the area went through a long phase of deterioration when it was re-used by multiple families as living and shop space. Eventually the site was overcome by the urban expansion of Rome in the 18th and 19th century.

    Along with our tour of the Crypta Balbi, Davide showed us around the Jewish Ghetto. The Ghetto area within Rome is located near the Tiber river and the ancient sites of the Theatre of Marcellus and the Portico d'Octavia. This area of Roma is home to the close-knit Jewish community that was once forced to reside in the area in 1555 under the orders of Pope Paul IV. After centuries of imposed restrictions, the "ghetto" was official opened in the late end of the 19th century after the final end to the Papal State's bureaucratic power within the city of Rome. Socially, the conditions of forced community ultimately saved the Jewish community of Rome from the influences that permeated the rest of the society. However, with the skyrocketing value of real-estate within the Ghetto, and the upscale shops and restaurants that have moved into the area, the lifestyle of the interesting and once socially cohesive community of the Ghetto is rapidly disappearing.

    In order to get into the Crypta Balbi Museum, we purchased a full day ticket that allowed entrances to other museums as long as they were all visited on the same day. To take full advantage of our purchase, I and several other students from the Rome Center headed to a museum very near to Piazza Navona housed within Palazzo Altemps. This museum was a perfect, relaxing finish to the day. The museum's collection housed several fine examples of Roman and Renaissance sculptures within a beautiful renaissance palazzo.

Partially Reconstructed Column and Arch, Crypta Balbi Museum

Porta d'Octavia, Roma

Statue of the Muse Calliope, chief of the muses and muse of epic or heroic poetry
Palazzo Altemps