{"id":38161,"date":"2026-03-21T17:38:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T09:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=38161"},"modified":"2026-03-21T17:38:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T09:38:37","slug":"most-beautiful-cloister-in-rome-hides-a-dramatic-and-dark-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=38161","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Most beautiful\u2019 cloister in Rome hides a dramatic and dark past"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A hidden cloister just a few steps from Rome\u2019s Pantheon temple is a peaceful place for silent meditation \u2013 if the millions of tourists who trudge past even know it is there.<\/p>\n

Behind the large wooden door, its frescoed walls closed to the general public reveal details of the compound\u2019s dramatic history, including papal conclaves and the Roman Inquisition interrogation of Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei.<\/p>\n

At the centre is a pond with goldfish and turtles surrounded by olive trees, two large palms and a tree laden with bright oranges that the friars use to make marmalade. Well-fed cats lounge about in sunny spots on the grass.<\/p>\n

There are still 20 friars who live in the convent around the cloister, carrying out their duties.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is designed to be a place of prayer, of meditation and therefore in some way to encourage prayer and the meditation of the friars,\u201d says Friar Aucone.<\/p>\n

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\"Friar<\/div>
Friar Aucone guides journalists through the basilica\u2019s cloister on March 18, 2026. Photo: AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Over the centuries, this space has attracted important figures \u2013 in particular St Catherine of Siena and the Renaissance painter Fra Angelico, both of whom are buried in the adjoining basilica. It has been the scene of historic events, including two conclaves and the Roman Inquisition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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A hidden cloister just a few steps from Rome\u2019s Pantheon temple is a peaceful place for silent meditation \u2013 if the millions of tourists who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[8999,18680,4583,950,18682,18681],"class_list":["post-38161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-beautiful","tag-cloister","tag-dark","tag-dramatic","tag-hides","tag-rome","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}