The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglomerate Network and LitHub Radio.

Hmm, hello, we're headed to Italy today and let's start with Rome and in particular,

what the name of hood known is, trust every day.

Maybe you've been there or maybe you just want to go, you should, hits a gorgeous little neighborhood south of the more famous tourist attraction, the Vatican and St. Peter's.

But it's on that side of the Tiber River, the west side, the name literally means across the river, across the Tiber.

This is an ancient neighborhood which through luck and circumstance has retained a lot of its original character.

It dates back to the Etruscans.

When it was more of a village for sailors and crafts people, but when the Emperor Augustus expanded Rome, he included Trastevede.

There were 14 districts in Rome and Trastevede was number XIV.

This kept its winding narrow streets for a long time carriages couldn't pass through.

Which kept the neighborhood from being too modernized and its little churches and other buildings aren't part of any grand vista.

They pop up like surprises, more like hideaways than examples of grandeur.

If the Piazza Venezia Mussolini's favorite is an anniversary cake on display for the entire party to see and admire, Trastevede is the box of chocolates,

plain cardboard with treats inside.

There's a building in Trastevede near the river, almost the first building you see when you cross one of the bridges.

It looks like an office building and it has a few flags hanging over the main entrance.

It's the color of a million other Roman buildings and it has the same windows with the same shutters and a few window air conditioning units.

You'd pass by it easily on your way to the interior of Trastevede where you may be planned to eat at one of the little restaurants and gaze out at the Piazza where children will be running around a fountain.

What you might miss if you pass too quickly is a place where popes have come to visit.

They're there to wash the feet of the prisoners.

This is not just an office building.

Inside is the Cartier de Raginga celli, the prison of the Queen of Heaven.

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