Duration: 2 hours
Tiber Island, S. Bartolomeo all’Isola, Synagogue, Portico of Octavia, the Turtle Fountain
Rome, city of a thousand faces and infinite hope.
The Tiber Island is an alluvial island in the center of Rome, a unique configuration which is not found in any other European city. It is the only island in the Tiber river. It is connected to the both sides of the river by the Cestio bridge (west) and the Fabricio bridge (east). It was once the seat of a temple dedicated to pagan god Asclepius, on the ruins of which a church was built. We will cross the Fabricio or “Bridge of the Four Heads” (named after its two pillars depicting the two-faced Janus) to enter the second most ancient ghetto in the world (the oldest being the one in Venice). The story I’m going to share with you begins in 1555, when pope Paul IV ordered the ghetto to be built for the Jewish population of Rome. The main landmark in the area is the Great Synagogue. It dates back to the early 1900s and it is considered one of the largest synagogues in Europe. During our walk, we will come across a beautiful fountain decorated with marble turtles and the ruins of what once was a great temple dedicated by Augustus to his beloved sister Octavia.