Secret and curious places in Rome

In the alleys and in the taverns you can hear talking about an other Rome, a city grown parallel to the city which conquered the world, without the same clamour. It is the Rome of the coach drivers that bring tourist all over the city, the city of the dialect spoken as official language of all people who lived for centuries near the power of this city without sharing it. There are a lot of legends about the capital of Italy and they deserve a little attention, they’ll make you understand a little more about Rome spirit and Rome city dwellers. One of the most amusing stories is the “talking statue” of Piazza Pasquino. For many years, during the night, on the statue of Pasquino (which give the name to the square) there were left messages that jeered the symbols of the power in that period (especially the pope) with ironic and keen lines. The invectives that the statue hurled at the popes, cardinals and men of power, who didn’t care about the population were called “pasquinate”. The Pope Benedict XIII, decided to keep watch on the statue night and day, and he introduced the death penalty for whom was surprised to commit a “pasquinata”. After a long silence, with the end of the temporal power of the popes and the arrival of new politicians, the statue began to talk again. In 1938 it express its disappointment before the Hitler’s visit in Rome.