The house that dated itself

The man who built this house in 1468 had a Latin inscription run the length of the whole facade, and with the date in it he did something rather remarkable.

Lorenzo Manilio, a Roman nobleman with a passion for antiquity, chose not to date his house from the birth of Christ but from the founding of Rome. The stone tells us it was built in the year 2221 since the city was founded, and he refers to the neighbourhood by its ancient name.

Genuine Roman fragments are set into the facade: pieces of relief carved with animals, a lion's head, chunks of frieze. Manilio gathered them from the ruins around him and placed them in his wall like a calling card.

The house still stands exactly as it was, with shops on the ground floor, and you can read the letters best from the pavement across the way.

From the house we follow the whole street eastward, until we reach the tall ancient gate with its two surviving columns.