75 | | 2024 מאי 137 הבזיליקה של הקדושים אמברוג'יו וקרלו, רומא אדריכלות ישראלית | Via Del Corso is the main shopping street of Central Rome. For many centuries it has been leading from Rome to the north of the boot and the fertile valleys. In the last few centuries, humorous races were held (hence its name – The Way of the Track) where Jewish men from the local community competed with each other while the audience threw different objects at them. At one end of the street is Piazza del Popolo, with the northern gate of the city, and at the other end, Venice Square with the Municipal Mount. Today, the street is packed with fancy stores and prestigious restaurants, lofty monuments, and magnificent palaces, some of which are now used as museums or government offices and impressive churches. One of them, impressive and luxurious, is the Sant’Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso Basilica. food for thoughtSocio-spatial maneuvers in space organization Socio-spatial maneuvers in space organization of the Basilica of Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso, Rome Achitect Yaron Turel There are about 1,500 churches in Rome of varied importance. What gives the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso its special status is the history of its baroque construction which allows one to rest in its mystical darkness, listen to hymns and delight one's eyes with its impressive interiors. The Basilica's site was previously occupied by two churches – one dedicated to Nicolas Del Tofu built in the tenth century, the other built in the 15th century when the Pope wanted to thank the local residents of Milan for their participation in financing the construction of St. Paul's Basilica in the Vatican, allowing them to demolish the existing 10th century church in order to build their new Basilica in its place. The church was dedicated to Ambrogio (Ambrose), who was Bishop of Milan in the 4th century, and defended the Catholic Church against the Aryans who believed that Jesus was inferior to God, who created him. Beyond being a Bishop, Ambrogio was a talented politician, poet, writer and composer. Legend says that when he was a baby bees landed on his face, and after flying away left a drop of honey on his lips. Since then, Ambrogio has been considered Milan's beehive-ers saint The new church was indeed built, and for about one hundred and fifty years it faithfully served the Lombards (subjects whose capitol was in Milan) who lived in Rome. However, during the 16th century, new opposition to the Catholic Church gained ground, this time emanating from the Protestant Reformers organized in Germany and led by Martin Luther. The one who led the religious Catholic camp in practice in the war against the new "heresy" was, again, Milan's Bishop Carlo Borromeo. One of his tactics was to reformulate the principles of "proper Catholic art", which he believed would further inflame the Catholic masses. The new art style was called Baroque, while its prominent protagonist was the painter, Michelangelo Caravaggio, better known as Caravaggio, a Tuscan painter who had just moved to Rome - a wild man who used to get drunk and get involved in brawls between the painters of one masterpiece or another. In one of the brawls he killed a rival and was expelled from Rome for life. After he was forgiven by Bishop Carlo Borromeo, Caravaggio returned from Napoli to Rome but was killed in a fight on the way. The one who most benefited from his death was Onorio Longhi, who returned from exile in Milan where he gained his experience as an architect. His first (and only) mission in Rome was to redesign the church that was dedicated at that time to the two Milanese saints - Ambrogio and Carlo Longhi decided to design the church with an ambulatory, which is the covered passage around the cloister, or, the processional way around the alter. In order to understand the socio-spatial meaning of this space, which is in actuality a Christian interpretation of the Hebrew "Dvir" - the most revered, innermost place in the Temple, and in fact in every Jewish synagogue, this is how it goes: in this case, there are actually two main types of churches that appear in different variations: the Rotunda and the Basilica. The Rotunda is a round church, and at its center stands a holy, important object. Since in such spaces it is difficult to manage multi-user ceremonies, the parishioners walk around the object, appreciate and worship it, and leave. The Basilica, on the other hand, is a rectangular structure made of three longitudinal naves, with the central one (the main hall) ending with an Apse. This division, which is actually tailored to a ceremony as an outcome of the building design allows members of the community to sit in the main hall in front of the altar while the side halls supporting the nave are used for smaller gatherings and collection of alms from higher societalstatus communities. However, the Basilica has one problem - there is no place to naturally store holy, very important objects. The solution was borrowed from ancient churches that actually copied old synagogue space organization. In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, for instance, the Byzantine priesthood built a rotunda behind the main hall, and so, while the main hall of the Basilica accommodates praying, the rotunda is only meant for worshiping the grave of the Lord (although the Crusaders
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