EyeItalia

“Dai veloce!” urges my Roman friend, who, like many of her fellow citizens, is way short on patience. “‘Mo andiamo all’anfiteatro a compra’ verdura!” We’re going to what amphitheatre to buy vegetables?! I’ve seen exhausted tourists and decked-out gladiator wanna-bees at the Colosseum but never a produce stand! “Ma che Colosseo…!” she blasts in her raw “romanaccio” accent. “We’re going to the other amphitheatre at Santa Croce in Gerusalemme!”

Cistercian Monks Dig Gardening
The Anfiteatro Castrense is the Roman amphitheatre that most people, including most Romans, know nothing about. This miniature version of the Colosseum hides an interior garden blessed with some of the freshest fruit and vegetables in the capital and the unlikely urban farmers are actually white-habit-with-black-aproned, Benedictine-Cistercian monks whose monastery and church, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, are now part of the amphitheatre complex.

Past Tense–Slaves vs. Wild Animals, Romans vs. Barbarians
This small brick amphiteatre was built during the 9th Century B.C. for the gruesome “venationes” Roman spectator sport which pitted soldiers and slaves against wild animals. Later, during the perilous 3rd Century AD, Emperor Aurelian frantically built his namesake wall to shut out Barbarian invaders, and included a rounded curve of the amphiteatre Castrense in the fortifications. Since this section of the wall now backs up onto a busy street, you can easily whiz by and never notice the delicate bricked-in arches of the original amphiteatre structure.

Santa Helen and Santa Croce Monastery–Cross to Bear
The opposite side of the amphiteatre is a uneven wall facing the piazza of the smooth white travertine Santa Croce in Gerusalemme church. Despite it’s looming Baroque façade, the original church is an ancient sanctuary founded by Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor, for his mom, Saint Helen. During the 3rd Century, Helen miraculously tracked down bits of the Santa Croce…the cross upon which Jesus was crucified…. and snuck them back from Jerusalem to display in her church. In the 16th Century, a Benedictine monastery was added, with a garden planned for the amphiteatre. Unfortunately, the amphiteatre became a “quarry for building materials” instead, which is a nice way of saying that it was pillaged for anything useful to build the next layer of Rome.

Present Tense–Open Door Policy
To feel the embrace of the amphiteatre one has to stand inside; something possible only since 2004 when the restored garden was opened to the public. Based on the combined concept of a “Giardino dei Semplici;” a medieval medicinal plant garden, and an “orto” vegetable and fruit garden, the currrent landscaping respects the amphiteatre’s shape and has added symbolic plantings and structures. A cross-shaped pergola draped with kiwi and grape vines transects the garden and a central well represents the font of Christian knowledge. Regardless of one’s faith, everyone can feel the spirit of the garden…who wouldn’t appreciate the peace and natural beauty in the midst of the modern madness of Rome?

Holy Terroir from Afar
By chance, it was Wednesday and the garden was open for visits. A chatty volunteer pointed out gigantic grapefruit, tons of dangling kiwi and then grabbed a couple of lemons from the tree and stuffed them into my purse.  “E’ un miracolo!….they never amend the soil and everything grows like crazy!” Maybe it’s the soil from the Holy Land that I read Saint Helen lugged back and spread on the floor of her church…which to me seems like a miracle of logistics in itself!

Giuseppe and Giovanni-Eastern Monks in Western Civ.
Despite being off-season, the purple, winter cabbage, mounds of lavender plants, grey, jagged-leaved artichoke, oranges, lemons and persimmons perked up the landscape bathed in the late-afternoon light. Two young monks entered the garden through a tall iron gate hung with a Polish artist’s version of a glass menagerie. They beamed when I asked to photograph them and we spoke in a mismash of languages about our respective homelands: Vietnam and North America. Giovanni and Giuseppe had left their given names, families and culture to study for the next five years here in the monastery and they couldn’t seem happier.

Fra Pasqua’–Pimpante, Oil-Painter, Produce Manager
Just as the public has been allowed in, the monastic communitiy has reached out, selling the fruits…and vegetables…of their gardening efforts in their small store at the garden’s entry. Like clockwork, at the end of the workday the store filled with eager Roman shoppers while Fra’ Pasquale, the highspirited “pimpante” monk, rang them up.  Happily humming ….”si canta in allegria”… he was a picture of energy but it was a challenge to make him stand still long enough to photograph. A born entertainer, he denied being in charge …”io non sono il capo di nessuno!”…but with typical monastic modesty pointed to his naive oil paintings on display. Baskets of mandarins, kiwi, pears, persimmons, lettuce, chard, tomatoes, peppers and herbs quickly emptied, among comments of “guarda un’ po’ questa bell’insalata!” and “che belle pere!”  Quite miraculous for anywhere in Italy, everyone stood patiently in line for their turn to check out.

The Cherry on Top–Free Parking for Produce Shoppers
It sounds too good to be true: a lush secret garden and a source of excellent organic produce, worked by monks in an almost-two-thousand-year-old amphiteatre hidden in the heart of Rome!   But I still haven’t mentioned the real miracle…there’s plenty of free parking for the produce shoppers in the piazza out front!! Will somebody say hallelujah?!

For Santa Croce in Gerusalemme Church amphiteatre/garden visits and produce store hours see:
www.basilicasantacroce.com

—Text & Photos by Lisa Halderman