Trinité des Monts is a French Church at the top of the Spanish Steps in Rome, it was built by the King of France, Louis XII in 1502 and housed the French Order of the Minimes which in French is the diminutive of Minor, an order founded by a Calabrian Monk, San Francesco da Paola, known for his severe and austere life who thought St-Francis of Assisi had gone soft. Napoleon got rid of these good fathers when he arrived in Rome in 1797, many of whom where mathematical or scientific geniuses. Napoleon looted the church and then turned it into an artist colony, renting out space to painters and their muses. After the fall of Napoleon, the Bourbon were restored to the throne in France and Louis XVIII restored the church and had an aristocratic order of French Nuns, Les Dames du Sacré Coeur take over the Church and the convent, they still live there to this day. The order is semi-cloistered, you can attend the prayers of the Nuns and hear them sing at noontime. The composer Felix Mendelssohn thought their singing divine. The Church Trinita dei Monti is not very interesting as such, it is in need of restoration and cleaning, what is interesting to visit is the convent but that is not open to the public, we got in by ''Special Permission'' obtained by Nancy di Conciliis our friend and known historian and archeologist in Rome. In antiquity a fabulous villa occupied the site, it belonged to Lucullus it was such an incredible place with gardens and a spectacular view of Rome that Emperor Claudius's wife the evil Messalina forced the owner to commit suicide so she could then confiscate the villa. If you read Suetonius, he mentions Messalina, not a nice person at all, she held famous orgies in that villa with her numerous lovers. All Rome was talking, so much so, that her husband Claudius who was elderly, got very angry and sent the Pretorian guards to put an end to her and the party. Messalina was dispatched in the garden which are part of the convent complex and quite beautiful.
Medici Palace next to Trinita dei Monti
The convent has a bilingual school (Italian-French) program, it is a beautiful setting for the children to learn, the nuns are very devoted. The convent shares the garden with the Palazzo Medici next door which is the seat of the French Academy in Rome. Now while visiting the convent, the nun guiding us explained (tours are in French) that while the trial of Galileo (1632-33) was on-going the Minimes Fathers would meet with him strolling in the garden.
Galileo appearing in front of the Court of the Holy Office in the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva (Dominican order)
The Medici Family where the protectors of Galileo. He was on trial because of his theories on the Cosmos and Pope Urban VIII had been accused by the Spanish Cardinals of being soft on Heretics. The Pope felt insecure and fell victim of Vatican Palace intrigues led by the Dominicans. He was led to believe that Galileo was a threat to his authority by presenting a new theory based on tides, movements of planets and stars as observed by Copernicus with the newly invented telescope. The Earth was not the centre of the Universe as presented by Aristotle in antiquity but a planet rotating around the Sun. The theory of Galileo involved a lot of scientific arguments and this went way over the heads of the Pope and the Cardinals conducting the trial, all they saw was a challenge to official church teachings on Creation and a challenge to the absolute power of the Pope. Galileo was an old man at the time and famous for his writings and scientific achievements. Nonetheless Pope Urban VIII was sufficiently alarmed to ask that he be tortured if need be so he could recant his pronouncements. This trial also happened at the time of the Reformation with its implication for the Papacy in Rome. The Reformation was a very serious threat, Northern Germany and part of Switzerland had gone Protestant, England followed suit, so did the Scandinavians and the French King was also musing about changing camps.
It's 11:45 on the sun clock
The Minimes fathers were developing a universal sun clock inside the convent, one floor was devoted to this experiment, aligned on the Sun and oriented in such a way to get maximum exposure to Sun light. The Minimes were very interested in what Galileo had to say and in his calculations on the movement of planets etc.... So they invited him to help them, this way if Galileo was to die on the pyre at least his work would survive for posterity. Funny to think that those priests worked quietly in the Pope's back, understanding that the Church Hierarchy did not comprehend the scientific facts being presented too concerned with politics and power. The exhibit currently on show at the Capitoline Museums at the Campidoglio, LUX in ARCANA, shows the Galileo trial papers of the time.
The clock is painted on the ceiling of a large passageway in the convent in a locked area. The nun opened a little space in the window to allow a sunbeam to hit a small mirror disk, projecting unto the ceiling the exact time 11:45 am in Rome. The clock also shows the time in Paris and in Jerusalem. Other major cities in the then known world are also displayed giving the time in each. The clock can only show the time in a precise window from 10 to 14 daily.
The other room which is closed and opened only if you specifically request it is at the top of the convent its usage is not known, it is called the room of the parrot or in French Perroquet, all the walls and ceilings are painted to show a romantic ruined room, it was done in 1754. We were strictly instructed not to touch the walls, no backpacks and stand well away from the walls so as not to damage them by brushing against them. The only light comes from a large open window.
Dining hall of the Convent at Trinita dei Monti, scene Wedding at Cana
Christ turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana
To complete our visit we then went to the dining hall of the Convent decorated entirely to look like the Wedding at Cana with Christ changing water into wine and at the other end the King of France posing with his musicians. It should be remembered that this was suppose to be an austere convent which does not mean that you cannot have beauty.
This was such a delightful visit, to a secluded spot in Rome, I will certainly not look at the Trinita dei Monti Church in the same way now, knowing of its secret rooms and garden.
The convent has a bilingual school (Italian-French) program, it is a beautiful setting for the children to learn, the nuns are very devoted. The convent shares the garden with the Palazzo Medici next door which is the seat of the French Academy in Rome. Now while visiting the convent, the nun guiding us explained (tours are in French) that while the trial of Galileo (1632-33) was on-going the Minimes Fathers would meet with him strolling in the garden.
The Medici Family where the protectors of Galileo. He was on trial because of his theories on the Cosmos and Pope Urban VIII had been accused by the Spanish Cardinals of being soft on Heretics. The Pope felt insecure and fell victim of Vatican Palace intrigues led by the Dominicans. He was led to believe that Galileo was a threat to his authority by presenting a new theory based on tides, movements of planets and stars as observed by Copernicus with the newly invented telescope. The Earth was not the centre of the Universe as presented by Aristotle in antiquity but a planet rotating around the Sun. The theory of Galileo involved a lot of scientific arguments and this went way over the heads of the Pope and the Cardinals conducting the trial, all they saw was a challenge to official church teachings on Creation and a challenge to the absolute power of the Pope. Galileo was an old man at the time and famous for his writings and scientific achievements. Nonetheless Pope Urban VIII was sufficiently alarmed to ask that he be tortured if need be so he could recant his pronouncements. This trial also happened at the time of the Reformation with its implication for the Papacy in Rome. The Reformation was a very serious threat, Northern Germany and part of Switzerland had gone Protestant, England followed suit, so did the Scandinavians and the French King was also musing about changing camps.
The Minimes fathers were developing a universal sun clock inside the convent, one floor was devoted to this experiment, aligned on the Sun and oriented in such a way to get maximum exposure to Sun light. The Minimes were very interested in what Galileo had to say and in his calculations on the movement of planets etc.... So they invited him to help them, this way if Galileo was to die on the pyre at least his work would survive for posterity. Funny to think that those priests worked quietly in the Pope's back, understanding that the Church Hierarchy did not comprehend the scientific facts being presented too concerned with politics and power. The exhibit currently on show at the Capitoline Museums at the Campidoglio, LUX in ARCANA, shows the Galileo trial papers of the time.
The clock is painted on the ceiling of a large passageway in the convent in a locked area. The nun opened a little space in the window to allow a sunbeam to hit a small mirror disk, projecting unto the ceiling the exact time 11:45 am in Rome. The clock also shows the time in Paris and in Jerusalem. Other major cities in the then known world are also displayed giving the time in each. The clock can only show the time in a precise window from 10 to 14 daily.
The parrot's room in the Convent
The other room which is closed and opened only if you specifically request it is at the top of the convent its usage is not known, it is called the room of the parrot or in French Perroquet, all the walls and ceilings are painted to show a romantic ruined room, it was done in 1754. We were strictly instructed not to touch the walls, no backpacks and stand well away from the walls so as not to damage them by brushing against them. The only light comes from a large open window.
To complete our visit we then went to the dining hall of the Convent decorated entirely to look like the Wedding at Cana with Christ changing water into wine and at the other end the King of France posing with his musicians. It should be remembered that this was suppose to be an austere convent which does not mean that you cannot have beauty.
This was such a delightful visit, to a secluded spot in Rome, I will certainly not look at the Trinita dei Monti Church in the same way now, knowing of its secret rooms and garden.
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