Piazza Cavour and Prati district
- Hotel Sant'Angelo, Palace of Justice, Piazza del Risorgimento, Via della Conciliazione
Prati district, on the West bank of Tiber, to the East of the Vatican, is more quiet then the historical district on the East bank. There are less tourists since there are not many ancient attractions, it is more residential in it's character. It is filled with elegant buildings from 1800-1900s with stores and restaurants. This is the district where we stayed, next to Piazza Cavour.
Piazza Cavour is a beautiful square in the Prati distict on the West banks of the Tiber. This is close to where our hotel was. It is a wonderful place to sit in the sun and is filled with palmes, benches, restaurants, stores and is dominated by the huge white building Palace of Justice (Palazzo di Giustizia). It was built 1888-1910 and serves as the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Judicial Public Library. The design of the Palace of Justice was inspired by renaissance and baroque, built in Travertine limestone and it is 170x155m in size. There is a statue of Camillo Benso in the middle of the square. Benso was an Italian statesman known as the count of Cavour, that the square was named after. He wa in office 1861 and was a leading figure during the unification of Italy. Cavour is a small village near Turin. Note that Via Cavour is not neaby the square. Piazza Cavour is named in a text by Morrissey (You have killed me). You will also find the Adriano Theater and beautiful the Valdese Evangelical Church at the square. Adriano Park and the famous Castel Sant'Angelo are only one block from Piazza Cavour. There are some important juridical and military buildings at the square, so there a number of militaries and policemen visible all the time.
Via Crescenzio is a nice road in the Prati district that leads to the Vatican from Piazza Cavour.
Via Ottaviano is a road that leads northwards from the Northeast walls of Vatican City, at the beautiful square Piazza del Risorgimento. Trams, of which some old ones, are trafficating the road from this square, that is filled with palms and open air restaurants. Via della Conciliazione is the avenue that leads towards the Vatican City from the Prati district. The exterior of St Peter's Basilica is visible from here.
Hotel Sant'Angelo, where we stayed, is a small 3 star hotel with nice staff and good service. It is small with only 24 rooms and a very small elevator. It had an atmosphere, and we stayed in a building some meters away and opposite the main building at Via M. Dionigi next to Piazza Cavour, a very nice square with palms, benches, the beautiful Palace of Justice and restaurants. The location is perfect between the Vatican City and Centro Storico, so you can walk to St Peter's Basilica, Piazza del Popolo or Piazza di Spagna within just minutes. The room was a bit small but with high ceiling, flatscreen TV, good wi-fi and good air condition. The double bed was not very comfortable and the quilts were very thin. There was a nice marble bathroom with shower, but no bath. The view was towards a rundown courtyard, but the positive aspect is that the noise from the street wasn't so loud. The breakfast, not included, was very nice, in an atmosphereic small room. It included not only the usual Italian sweets and cookies but also ham and cheese for example. The staff was very nice, the spoke perfect English and were very helpful. They explained very well how to get to the airport. Upon my birthday they place a plate with fruit on our bed! The small lobby and marble stairways are very atmospheric. The very old elevator in our building was narrow and worn but worked. The hotel is highly recommandable with it's nice atmosphere and staff, and good value for money compared to other Rome hotels.
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