Rome, Italy is best seen from a base camp located in an interesting area of the city. Our favorite hotel offers just that. With its convenient location five blocks from Roma Termini railway station, the Mecenate Palace Hotel at Via Carlo Alberto, 3, is the place we like to headquarter. This year we found that when the Pope visits Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica the Macenata is the perfect location.
Mecenate Palace Hotel
When you make your reservation you can request a view of Santa Maria Maggiore, a Papal major basilica and the largest Catholic Marian church in Rome. It’s located across a small street from the hotel.
Basillica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, Italy
The Macenata is a friendly boutique hotel with a gourmet roof top restaurant and casual bar area for all to enjoy.
Mecenate Palace Hotel
Mecenate Palace Hotel
Morning Breakfast: Each morning our breakfast on the roof was superb, worth the price of the room alone, with spectacular views and courteous, prompt, professional service.
Accommodations: The rooms are clean and comfortable with many of them newly renovated. The hotel lobby is small but comfortable seating is available while waiting for your party or tour and has a library bar and restaurant attached. The folks who staff the front desk are a wealth of information on the area, restaurants, attractions and about anything else you may be curious about. All the staff was absolutely brilliant, so accommodating and nothing was too much trouble for them.
Location, Location, Location: It is a 10 to 15 minute walk to The Coliseum, Palatine Hill, The Roman Forum and many of the other major attractions of Rome; the subway is 1.5 blocks away. In the evenings the locals come out to visit eat in the mired of local sidewalk eateries as they enjoy the custom of friendship. It’s a bit odd at first to see people of all ages coming alive after ten and visiting far into the night throughout the week. We enjoyed watching from our room as the young people gather in the church square for their nightly drinking games before beginning the well-attended pub crawls.
Pope Francis Visits the Basilica:This year we were treated to a serendipity spectacle finding ourselves in the right place at the right time. From our fourth floor room we had box seats and witnessed the beautiful ceremony as the Pope visited Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica to celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christy in front of Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica.
We watched with interest as the crowds gathered and filled the streets, then the bishops processional arrived and candles in hand took their places kneeling at the side of the alter. The Pope slipped in a side door and then made his entrance from the front doors of the church to kneel and pray in front of the altar before rising up and pronouncing the blessing. As suddenly as he appeared, he slipped silently back into the Basilica and the crowds began to disperse. (All photos from Pope’s June 4, 2015 visit).
The last residual of adoring masses was a group of about 25 to 30 young people who danced in a circle, leaping and twirling as they celebrated the beautiful Roman evening. (Video is best viewed in Full Screen and High Definition}.
The Mecenata can be booked at the many online travel sites or directly from the Hotel Website.
[…] On June 4, 2015, Pope Francis visited Santa Maria Maggiore to celebrate the annual Solemnity of Corpus Christy. The hotel provides an excellent vantage point for this festival held each year on the Basilica steps. My article and pictures of this assembly can be viewed at, “Pope Francis visits Santa Maria Maggiore.” […]