\u201cOptical illusions in Rome? Guido, what are you talking about?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n My friend, you already know that Rome is an amazing city<\/strong>. There are so many places, buildings, ancient ruins and artworks to visits!\u00a0 What you probably don\u2019t know is that some of these attractions have something magical<\/strong>.<\/p>\n They can fool you.<\/p>\n Among the many artists who stayed in Rome during the centuries, some applied their talent to create things that are not what they seem. They have created optical illusions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The capital of Italy can leave you speechless for many reason, and I think that after reading this article you\u2019ll probably update your \u201cPlace to Visit\u201d wish list.<\/p>\n Let me unveil 3 optical illusions in Rome that you have to visit during your holiday.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>I think this is the most famous <\/strong>of all the optical illusions in Rome.<\/p>\n Galleria Spada was built in 1653 by Francesco Borromini and is located inside the garden of Palazzo Spada<\/strong>, currently the seat of the Council of State.<\/p>\n It looks like a <\/strong>nice <\/strong>corridor<\/strong>, about 35 meters long, leading to a statue of Mars.<\/p>\n At first glance everything seems normal.<\/p>\n Nothing spectacular, I must confess.<\/p>\n If you are going to visit it, your tourist guide will show you the trick.<\/p>\n Entering the corridor she\u2019ll get bigger and bigger<\/strong>, and once she reaches the statue of Mars she will look gigantic, while the statue will look tiny.<\/p>\n How is it possible?<\/p>\n Borromini built it according to specific perspective rules<\/strong>. The gallery walls, the ceiling and the floor all converge towards a single point, making the space looking larger than reality.<\/p>\n In fact, the tunnel entrance measures 5.8 X3.5 meters, while the exit is 2.45 X 1 meter. And it is only about 8 meters long!<\/p>\n The optical effect is reinforced by the small statue of Mars, which is only 80 cm high.<\/p>\n For those who aren\u2019t aware of the trick, the surprise is great! But even those who are aware will have a lot of fun.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As soon as you enter the church of Sant’Ignazio, you will discover an astonishing building. In particular, the ceiling<\/strong> with all those decorations and that deep central dome will capture your attention.<\/p>\n If you are going to just watch the ceiling the threshold before going out, you are going to waste the chance to discover the magic.<\/p>\n All you have to do is start walking<\/strong>.<\/p>\n As you proceed, the dome looks more and more distorted.<\/p>\n Once you are underneath you\u2019ll see it is actually flat<\/strong>!<\/p>\n Damn! It looked so real!<\/p>\n This second optical illusion in Rome has a particular story behind it.<\/p>\n Because of some technical problems, the <\/strong>planned dome was never built<\/strong>. The artist Andrea Pozzo didn\u2019t want an incomplete church, so he decided to paint a fake dome with the technique of the trompe-l’oeil technique.<\/p>\n This optical illusion allows you to perceive a three-dimensional dome only if you look at the ceiling from a certain point marked on the pavement<\/strong> of the church.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Next to the Church of the Trinita dei Monti is the Convent of the Sacred Heart<\/strong>. It was completed in 1570 and managed by the French fathers of the Order of Minims.<\/p>\n I\u2019m quite sure that the Convent is open only by appointment, but if you are lucky enough to visit it you will discover a truly amazing detail.<\/p>\n Entering one of the upper galleries of the cloister you will see, on the left wall, a large fresco <\/strong>depicting a tree and, further on, San Francesco da Paola. The figure of St. Francis will appear to you perfectly proportioned.<\/p>\n The particular thing is that, as you proceed along the corridor, the painting will become <\/strong>more and more distorted<\/strong>. When you finally look at it in frontal position, instead of St. Francis <\/strong>there is a bucolic landscape<\/strong>, with hills, boats, grass …<\/p>\n You’ll probably walk up and down the corridor several times to admire this cool anamorphic fresco, painted in 1642 by Emmanuel Maignan.<\/p>\n It will leaves you speechless, as it is a wonderful example of human talent!<\/p>\n Another interesting detail about this optical illusion is its size. It is 20×3.5 meters. One of the largest<\/strong> that survived the centuries without damages.<\/p>\n In the Convent of the Sacred Heart there are other anamorphoses, but they are not complete.<\/p>\n Rome has plenty of super famous tourist attraction. Have you ever thought that Rome could offer you also such evocative experiences like optical illusions?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Optical illusions in Rome \u201cOptical illusions in Rome? Guido, what are you talking about?\u201d My friend, you already know that Rome is an amazing city. There [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[149],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rome"],"yoast_head":"\n1) GALLERIA SPADA<\/h3>\n
2) THE DOME OF SANT\u2019IGNAZIO CHURH<\/h3>\n
3) THE ANAMORPHIC FRESCO AT TRINITA\u2019 DEI MONTI<\/h3>\n