Rome is not only antique and baroque. In this moment, and until the end of may 2015, you can visit a very unusual exhibition in the huge neoclassical Palazzo delle Esposizioni (build in 1882) in the very central via Nazionale.
The title is simply "Numbers". With this curious subtitle: "Everything that Counts. From Zero to Infinity”. And, on the poster of the exhibition, a very well known man with a moustache, who is writing on a blackboard. It is Albert Einstein that discovered the theory of the relativity (the famous E= mc2) almost a century ago (1915).
The title is simply "Numbers". With this curious subtitle: "Everything that Counts. From Zero to Infinity”. And, on the poster of the exhibition, a very well known man with a moustache, who is writing on a blackboard. It is Albert Einstein that discovered the theory of the relativity (the famous E= mc2) almost a century ago (1915).
The Exhibition Poster. Palazzo Delle Esposizioni, Rome
After the climb of the imposing flight of steps, entering in the first exhibition hall, you feel a bit lost, surrounded by numbers and strange machines that are, in fact, the ancestors of our computers. You need a few minutes to understand where you are and to start your travel through numbers, centuries and millennium.
Without being a genius, you become suddenly aware that numbers are everywhere.
They are part of the nature but they are also manipulated by human brains, since time immemorial (as evidenced by an amazing Babylonian tablet from 1.800- 1.600 BCE).
They are in visual art (the golden number), in music (Tonal Harmony), religions etc...
This exhibition, enriched by guided tours, conferences and films, makes us discover that the horrible mathematics of our childhood are something completely different, something that we can call "magic". Perhaps our professors wanted to keep their secret?
If you are visiting Rome with children think about taking a tour in Palazzo delle Esposizioni: we noticed many enthusiastic young visitors!
Without being a genius, you become suddenly aware that numbers are everywhere.
They are part of the nature but they are also manipulated by human brains, since time immemorial (as evidenced by an amazing Babylonian tablet from 1.800- 1.600 BCE).
They are in visual art (the golden number), in music (Tonal Harmony), religions etc...
This exhibition, enriched by guided tours, conferences and films, makes us discover that the horrible mathematics of our childhood are something completely different, something that we can call "magic". Perhaps our professors wanted to keep their secret?
If you are visiting Rome with children think about taking a tour in Palazzo delle Esposizioni: we noticed many enthusiastic young visitors!
Palazzo Delle Esposizioni, Via Nazionale, Rome
Via Nazionale, a long commercial street that goes from Piazza della Repubblica, the Diocletian's Baths (beside the railways station Termini) to Piazza Venezia, is only a few meters distant from the old Roman district, "Suburra", once full of taverns and prostitutes (see the exhibition "The Baroque Underworld" in Villa Medici). You just have to cross the road from The Palazzo delle Esposizioni to get there.
Via Nazionale, from Piazza Della Repubblica to Piazza Venezia
You'll not find any more taverns in the "Rione Monti", as it is called today, but a lot of nice and trendy boutiques, with very sophisticated shop windows. Cloths that look unique, vintage accessories, funny home furnishings, delicatessen etc... In these very lively little streets, going up and down ("Monti" means “hills”) like via dei Serpenti, via del Boschetto or via Panisperna that remind a bit the delicious streets around Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, you'll have also an incredible choice of little restaurants, cafés and "gelaterias".
 Via Panisperna, Rione Monti, Rome |  Via Del Boschetto, Rione Monti, Rome |
And, if you want to end the day with music, just go back to via Nazionale. At the n°16, exactly at the corner with via Napoli, the American Episcopal church, "St Paul Within the Walls", a neo-gothic church built in 1880 by British architects and internally decorated by Pre-Raphaelite artists, organizes concerts once or even twice a week. Often with the soloists of the "Opera Theatre" of Rome, that is also in the neighbourhood.
Concert In St Paul Within the Walls, Rome
