Turning down the Via Longarina towards the river, we pass, on the left, considerable remains of the old mediæval Castle of the Alberteschi Family, consisting of a block of palatial buildings of handsome masonry, with numerous antique fragments built into them, and a very rich porch sculptured with egg and billet mouldings of c. A.D. 1150, and beyond these, separated from them by a modern street, a high brick tower of c. A.D. 1100. Above one of the windows of this tower, a head of Jupiter is engrafted in the wall.
We now reach the entrance of the Ponte Rotto (described Chap. V.). Close to this bridge is the Church of S. Crispino al Ponte (the saint is buried at S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna). The front is modernized, but the east end displays rich terra-cotta cornices, and is very picturesque. On the river bank below this are the colossal lions' heads mentioned in Chap. V.
Turning up the Via dei Vascellari, we pass on the right, the ancient Palace of the Ponziani Family, once magnificent, but now of humble and rude exterior, and scarcely to be distinguished, except in March, during the festa of Sta. Francesca Romana, when old tapestries are hung out upon its white-washed walls, and the street in front is thickly strewn with box-leaves.
"The modern building that has been raised on the foundation of the old palace is the Casa dei Esercizii Pii, for the young men of the city. There the repentant sinner who longs to break the chain of sin, the youth beset by some strong temptation, one who has heard the inward voice summoning him to higher paths of virtue, another who is in doubt as to the particular line of life to which he is called, may come, and leave behind him for three, or five, or ten days, as it may be, the busy world, with all its distractions and its agitations, and, free for the time being from temporal cares, the wants of the body being provided for, and the mind at rest, may commune with God and their own souls.
"Over the Casa dei Esercizii Pii the sweet spirit of Francesca seems still to preside. On the day of her festival its rooms are thrown open, every memorial of the gentle saint is exhibited, lights burn on numerous altars, flowers deck the passages, leaves are strewn in the chapel, on the stairs, in the entrance-court; gay carpets, figured tapestry, and crimson silks hang over the door, and crowds of people go in and out, and kneel before the relics or the pictures of the dear saint of Rome. It is a touching festival, which carries back the mind to the day when the young bride of Lorenzo Ponziano entered these walls for the first time, in all the sacred beauty of holiness and youth."—Lady G. Fullerton.
In this house, also, Sta. Francesca Romana died, having come hither from her convent to nurse her son who was ill, and having been then seized with mortal illness herself.
"Touching were the last words of the dying mother to her spiritual children: 'Love, love,' was the burden of her teaching, as it had been that of the beloved disciple. 'Love one another,' she said, 'and be faithful unto death. Satan will assault you, as he has assaulted me, but be not afraid. You will overcome him through patience and obedience; and no trial will be too grievous, if you are united to Jesus; if you walk in His ways, He will be with you.' On the seventh day of her illness, as she had herself announced, her life came to a close. A sublime expression animated her face, a more ethereal beauty clothed her earthly form. Her confessor for the last time inquired what it was her enraptured eyes beheld, and she answered, 'The heavens open! the angels descend! the angel has finished his task. He stands before me. He beckons me to follow him.' These were the last words Francesca uttered."—Lady G. Fullerton's Life of Sta. F. Romana.
Almost opposite the Ponziani Palace, an alley leads to the small chapel of Sta. Maria in Cappella, which has a good brick campanile, dating from 1090. This building is attached to a hospital for poor women ill of incurable diseases, attended by sisters of charity, and entirely under the patronage of the Doria family.
We now reach the front of the Convent and Church of Sta. Cecilia (facing which is a picturesque mediæval house), in many ways one of the most interesting buildings in the city.
Cecilia was a noble and rich Roman lady, who lived in the reign of Alexander Severus. She was married at sixteen to Valerian, a heathen, with whom she lived in perpetual virginity, telling him that her guardian angel watched over her by day and night.