Studying in Trastevere: Piazza di Santa Maria

#week3

Early morning, late afternoon, or hours deep into the night, you will find friends, lovers and tourists gathering to have a panino or suppli, or bask in the Roman light upon the steps of the fountain in Piazza di Santa Maria. More accurately, you will find students from around the world congregate here for an afternoon of studying and catching up.

John Cabot University and the American University of Rome are two of the most popular universities in the Trastevere region, though this neighborhood across the river is a meeting place for students in schools sprawled across the city. Students from Temple University, Sapienza, and if caught in the late afternoon, high schoolers meeting for a post-lezione cigarette will happily repose here. With it's golden hue and rich history, it is impossible to miss the educative and communal energy this square resonates.  

Basilica di Santa Maria, or in English, "Our Lady of Trastevere" , the church dominating la piazza, was constructed around 1140, and is known to be one of the oldest churches in Rome. On the facade of the church, there is a niche that protects an elaborate Mosaic of Madonna With Child, a late-medieval Renaissance style depiction of the Virgin Mary. She is flanked by ten other women holding lamps. The gold paint stroked across the entire facade of the structure bring these lamps to life. The church dominates the entire Piazza, reflecting light off of its Romanesque facade, and any student looking for somewhere to read will have light here all day.

 La fontana, or the fountain that seems to be just as dominating while walking through the square, is the main attraction of the square, and has an interesting history. Though it is known to have stood since the eighth century, the date of when it was built is unknown. According to legend, written in the Chronicle of Eusebius, a fountain of oil appeared miraculously in front of the church on the night Christ was born.

The fountain was originally supplied with water via Roman aqueduct, and its design was redone over many years. The design that remains today was done in 1873 following the instructions of artists Bernini and Fontana. On the ridges of the fountain's stone and the paint atop la Basilica, history is absorbed through presence. 

"Cafe di Marzio" and "Blue Ice Trastevere" are two of the food shops located in the square, offering a warm coffee and cornetto in the morning or a creamy gelato in the late afternoon. Around the corner, the famous Bar San Calisto resides, bringing swarms of students and journalists, professors and elders, the perfect place to grab a coffee before class, or a spritz to celebrate the end of finals before spending a pleasant evening in Piazza di Santa Maria.