Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller

Wilhelm Tischbein -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in the Roman countryside, in the backgroundCecilia Metella's tomb andAqua Claudia

Giuseppe Vasi published between 1747 and 1761ten books of etchingson the monuments of Rome (Sulle Magnificenze di Roma Antica e Moderna). The plates were grouped by subject: churches,gates, bridges, palaces, villas, etc.. The books became a bestseller amongthe foreigners visiting Rome. Vasi then wrote a guide (Itinerario istruttivo per ritrovare con facilita tutte le magnificenze di Roma e di alcune citta', e castelli suburbani) for visiting Romein eight days and driven by the success of this guide he published in 1765theGrand View of Rome, which was accompanied by aGrand View of Campo Vaccino. In 1781 he completed hiswork with aMapof Rome.

The View shows 390 points of interest grouped in the eight itinerariesof the guide:
Day 1FromPonte Molle (Milvio) toS.Croce in Gerusalemme
Day 2FromPortaMaggiore toVillaBorghese
Day 3FromVia del Babbuino to theS. Lorenzo fuori le Mura
Day 4FromVia diRipetta toPalazzo Massimi
Day 5FromS. Andrea della Valle toIsolaTiberina
Day 6Trastevere
Day 7FromPonte Sisto toPonteTrionfale
Day 8The Vatican
plusA Short and Delicious Digression in the Environs of Rome: FromPonte Salario toPorto

Sketch of the eight itineraries

I furnished myself with maps and plans of antient and modern Rome, together with the little manual, called, Itinerario istruttivo per ritrovare con facilita tutte le magnificenze di Roma e di alcune citta', e castelli suburbani. But I found still more satisfaction in perusing the books, intitled, Roma antica, e moderna, which contain a description of everything remarkable in and about the city, illustrated with a great number of copper-plates, and many curious historical annotations.
Tobias Smollett - Travels through France and Italy - 1766.
November 7, 1786. I have now been here seven days, and by degrees have formed in my mind a general idea of the city. We go diligently backwards and forwards. While I am thus making myself acquainted with the plan of old and new Rome, viewing the ruins and the buildings, visiting this and that villa, the grandest and most remarkable objects are slowly and leisurely contemplated. I do but keep my eyes open and see, and then go and come again, for it is only in Rome one can duly prepare oneself for Rome.
J. W. Goethe - Italian Journey - Translation by Charles Nisbet
Vasi, Mannazale(Andrea Manazzale - Rome et ses environs - 1802), and that tribe of vade-mecums, may serve you the first week as mere valets-de-place in print, but you will soon dismiss them as insufficient. Those people parcel out Rome into day's-works, and throw every thing together, ancient or modern, sacred or profane, that lies in the same round. This plan is convenient enough for them who desire only to shew or to see Rome; but whoever would study it must arrange the objects of his study in a different order, deduced either from their kind or their age.
Joseph Forsyth - Remarks on Antiquities, Arts, and Letters in Italy in 1802-1803
As a guide to Rome, Vasi's book is worth all the books of travels put together. It is all that it professes to be, and no more, - a mere catalogue; but it is comprehensive and accurate. There is nothing to direct the taste or influence the judgment; - but a traveller should observe for himself, and, it is much better that he should not see through the eyes of others.
Henry Matthews - Diary of an Invalid - 1817/1818
Vasi provided not only a detailed view ofBaroque Rome, but also ofAncientRome,Medieval Rome,Renaissance Rome andMannerist Rome.
This site contains also pages onmany other locations, always with an eye to how they were in the past. You may wish to see a list of travel accounts aboutRome and othertowns/countries which are quoted in this website. You can search it in Google in 4 steps
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Start by having a look at a simpleMap of the Walls of Rome or by seeing asample page (Piazza Navona).

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