Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Episode 2

Episode 2 of 2

Andrew Graham-Dixon and Giorgio Locatelli continue exploring Rome. In search of its Papal, Renaissance and Baroque history, they discover that it is visible all around them.

Andrew Graham-Dixon and Giorgio Locatelli continue their exploration of Rome off the beaten track. In search of its Papal, Renaissance and Baroque history, they discover that it is visible all around them. In Rome, everything has been kept, from broken cooking pots from the time of the empire that piled up to form one of the city's hills to the gastronomy, art and architecture created not just by successive popes and Caesars but by ordinary Romans.

As well as marvelling at the mosaics in the 12th-century Basilica di San Clemente, Andrew takes Giorgio to its deepest basement and an ancient Roman schoolteacher's classroom. Then it is on to a true architectural and civic wonder - the vast Testaccio Slaughterhouse, where workers were once paid in offal which they took home and used as the basis of delicious dishes that are still sold in Rome today. Giorgio takes Andrew to his favourite Trippa stall to sample some of the best. Travelling to the Palazzo Colonna, Andrew in turn wants to show Giorgio just one painting - the Beaneater by Carracci, a Baroque masterpiece that makes an everyday subject extraordinary. Finally, together they discover Rome's Fascist architecture, which might have been destroyed anywhere else, but here remains standing in a city that houses all of its history. To understand the truth about the past, they argue, you have to taste all its layers - just like one of Giorgio's lasagnes.

59 minutes

Last on

Mon 30 Aug 2021 02:40

More episodes

Next

You are at the last episode

See all episodes from Rome Unpacked

Clips

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:19

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    Cello Suite No 1 in G major, BWV 1007 (Prelude)

    Performer: Natalie Clein.
  • 00:29

    Andr茅 Rieu

    Drinking Song

  • 00:55

    Nine Inch Nails

    Right Where It Belongs

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Andrew Graham-Dixon
Presenter Giorgio Locatelli
Series Producer Silvia Sacco
Executive Producer Jeremy Dear
Production Company Wall to Wall Media

Broadcasts

Order a free Open University booklet on interesting places to visit while in Rome

Visit OpenLearn, the OU's home of free learning, to learn more about Italian culture.