Rome off the Beaten Path Trivia Quiz

Answer: Villa Malta

This is the headquarters of the Knights of Malta on the Aventine Hill. Through the keyhole of its portal you can see St. Peter's Basilica. Since the Italian government recognizes the sovereignty of the ancient military order of the Knights, technically there are three nations within Rome: Italy, the Vatican and the Priorate of the Knights of Malta.
So, when you look through the keyhole on the grounds of Villa Malta, you can see all three sovereign countries at once.
Yes, a bit of a stretch, but a good story!

Answer: The Chapel of St. Lawrence

It consists of 28 marble steps brought from Jerusalem and believed to be those climbed by Jesus on his way to see Pontius Pilate.
Pious pilgrims ascend them on their knees while reciting prayers.

Answer: An open air market

It is a very popular and busy fruit and vegetables market. At night, a fun place for dining al fresco.
In the Middle Ages it used to be a meadow, hence the name. On February 17, 1600, the philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned there at the stake for heresy, for he believed that the earth revolved around the sun. Now his statue stands at the center of the square.

Answer: True

Rome has the greatest number of obelisks in the world, scattered all over the city.
There are 8 ancient Egyptian obelisks, and 5 more recent ones.
Until 2005 there was also an ancient Ethiopian obelisk that has since been returned.
After the conquest of Egypt, the Romans carried several obelisks back home.
For the transport from the Nile, special heavy cargo carriers were used, called obelisk ships, then large cranes were used to erect them on the site.

Answer: S.Maria della Concezione

Toward the end of Via Veneto, past the sidewalk cafes and the American Embassy, is the church of S.Maria della Concezione. Underground you will find a Capuchin cemetery with the bones of 4,000 friars departed between 1528 and 1870. They are all artistically arranged to decorate the walls in all kinds of shapes and designs.

Answer: A trompe l'oeil ceiling

The ceiling of the nave is decorated with a breathtaking trompe l'oeil fresco of the Jesuit Andrea Pozzo. He was a master of perspective and created on a flat surface the illusion of a dome where there is none.

The best view of the ceiling is from a small yellow dot on the floor of the nave. If you stand on it and look up, the perspective will cause the ceiling to literally seem to extend all the way up to heaven.

Answer: A memorial to WWII victims

On March 23, 1944, Italian members of the resistance detonated a bomb near a column of marching Germans. Thirty-three of them died. The Germans promptly retaliated by massacring 335 Italians, 10 for every German, as Hitler had ordered. The victims were taken from jailed political dissidents, but since there were not enough of them, the number was rounded up with innocent civilians bystanders. By mistake there were 335 instead of 330. The site of the slayings was the Fosse Ardeatine, an ancient catacomb.
Now a memorial has been erected there to honor the victims.

Answer: As a tomb for Gaius Cestius

A marble and brick tomb, it was built at the beginning of the 1st century B.C.E. for Gaius Cestius, an important politician and praetor. Later it was incorporated in the Aurelian Wall.

Answer: Keats and Shelley

Keats and Shelley are buried in the Non-Catholic Cemetery for Foreigners, commonly called the Protestant Cemetery. Because of the ban for burial of non-believers in Catholic cemeteries, a group of Englishmen purchased the property in the early 18th century.
Actually, only Shelley's heart is buried there. As he was being cremated, his friend Trelawney snatched it from the flames. The cemetery is a shady and very tranquil place amid the noisy Roman traffic.

Answer: On the Quirinal Hill

This pair of marble Horse Trainers was originally in the Baths of Constantine in Roman times.
In the Middle Ages the Quirinal Hill became a pile of rubble, out of which protruded only the heads of the two gigantic horses. Later a palace for the Popes was built on the site. Pope Sixtus V in 1588 had the horses unearthed, revealing the statues of the twins riding their steeds, which he placed in front of the palace, together with an obelisk and a fountain.
Today the Quirinal Palace is the official residence of the President of the Italian Republic.