sk3

For those in Rome now until November 4th - you're in for a treat. Special advanced viewings of the "Sistine Chapel" of the Roman Forum are now being allowed (when all the restorations are complete the site is supposed to open again in 2013). During recent years the Santa Maria Antiqua has been opened for a few "limited engagements" like this one so that visitors could view the restorations in progress, but it hasn't been open on a regular basis since 1980.

"Santa Maria Antiqua is the earliest and most important Christian monument within the Roman Forum". "The church contains a unique collection of wall paintings spanning a period (6th - late 8th century) that is unequalled in Rome and elsewhere; they are of utmost importance for an understanding of the development of early medieval and Byzantine art."

The above quotes are taken from the Santa Maria Antiqua section of the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma website (an extremely comprehensive presentation of the Santa Maria Antiqua - see all the subsections listed on the left side of the page): Welcome to the Santa Maria Antiqua Website

To access Santa Maria Antiqua you'll need to purchase the regular €12 entrance ticket to the Colosseo/Palatine/Forum, plus an additional €9 for the guided tour of the Santa Maria Antiqua. Reservations are needed, tours will be held between 9:30am to 1:30pm [see the post below for further details]. Book through the official reservation line: + 39 06 39967700.

And for additional information:

Here's the link to the World Monuments Fund, the organization in charge of the restoration: SANTA MARIA ANTIQUA CHURCH, Early Christian wall paintings
And here's its slideshow with 10 great pix: Santa Maria Antiqua

A blog post from the American Institute of Roman Culture: Welcome back, Santa Maria Antiqua
And see its links to two articles (one in English in the Washington Post, one in La Repubblica)

A blog post from 06blog.it (in Italian but do check out the 2 great videos on the restoration process): Santa Maria Antiqua ai Fori Imperiali: visite guidate alla Roma del Medioevo

From the Turismo Roma site: Special Viewing of Restoration Work on the Ancient Frescoes of the Church of St. Mary (S. Maria Antiqua) in the Roman Forumomano

From MiBAC (in Italian): VISITE GUIDATE AL CANTIERE DI RESTAURO DI S.MARIA ANTIQUA

From ANSA (in Italian, but with some great pix): Riapre la chiesa di Santa Maria Antiqua nel Foro Romano

sk3

Bottomline is you still can only book this over the phone at +39 06 39967700 but there's a website that shows more specific details of when the tours are held.

[No need to read the parenthetical info below unless you find this stuff as interesting as I do - if not just go right to the website linked underneath and note the tour schedule below seen in bolded font].

(In the link above for MiBAC it instructs you to book by phone or through a website I wasn't familiar with - and I admit to having been initially confused. I had recognized the +39 06 39967700 listed, it's Rome's official reservations number of the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma, or the Special Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Rome, but when I had clicked on the website I saw a slick and polished display resembling not at all the official Pierreci website - so I thought perhaps it was a third party booking engine. And therefore decided to play it safe and not include it in my initial post).

But I've now finally put it together - and actually read what it says on the "slick" website - doh! The Pierreci.it site that many of us are familiar with is no more, and in its place is this new and improved website - which apparently is a result of Pierreci merging with another outfit in 2010, but only now is Pierreci's website being replaced.

CoOpCulture is the official site we should now bookmark. (And note: some Pierreci links are automatically being routed to the new site, but some bring you to an "internal server error" msg).

At first glance the website not only seems far more "state of the art", but conveniently when you're viewing it in English, it only shows the tours offered in English. And likewise when viewing it Italian you see only the tours offered in Italian.

And from that site see the page on the Santa Maria Antiqua. Here's a cut and paste from it:

Entrance only with guided or accompanied tour, from Monday to Sunday, see timetable in price section
and when you look at the page in English it shows this:And here are the tours offered in italiano:So this seems to show that if you want to just have access to the site without paying for the guide, but "accompanied" as required, that you're only allowed to do this at 10:00.

I just called the +39 06 39967700 number out of curiosity, and usually the outgoing voicemail message gives you all sorts of options for a myriad of venues, but now it's strictly geared for taking reservations for this very special entrance. (The VM message has an English translation after each sentence in Italian).

I'll post back here when I found out more about the "accompanied" free visit (for instance, how long are you allowed to remain?) But remember you'll still need to purchase the regular €12 ticket for the 2 day access to the Colosseum/Palatine/Forum.

And if any of you do get a chance to visit this site it would be great to hear a report from you.

Forrest Bump

Thanks for the infos sk3 ^

I'll be looking at it.

TheAAdmiral

+1. Really enjoy the google earth link!