The apartment is situated on the last stretch of the Via Trionfale, the ancient “Via Triumphalis”, which already existed in the Republican Age. It began from the Capitolium, then it crossed the Tiber on the “pons Neronianus”, near the present-day Vittorio Emanuele III bridge; heading north, it crossed over the “ager Vaticanus” and finally merged with the Via Cassia.

It has been thought that the name of the road comes from the triumphal parades, which used to enter the city at the end of every successful fight.

In the Middle Ages the road was known as via Francigena or Romea, and it led the pilgrims to the tomb of Saint Peter. The pilgrims heading Rome (romei) were mainly coming from France (this is why the road was also known as Francigena), and they reached Monte Mario (it is the hill which rises above the area where our apartment stands); from there they could catch a glimpse of the whole city of Rome for the first time, but what is more they could see the main goal of their trip: the tomb of Peter, the Apostle.
Before setting out the last stretch of road which led to S. Peter’s Basilica, the pilgrims were given hospitality in the little church of S. Lazarus (100 metres from the apartment), with its own shelter and lazaretto.
Also the imposing parades of kings and emperors visiting the Pope used to start from this church.
What is left today is only the church in romanic style which dates back to the 13th Century and still in good consition (the lazaretto was destroyed in 1937).
Close by the apartment, on the Via Trionfale, the old tavern “Del Falcone” (which dates back to the 15th Century) is another historical evidence.