Italian Writer's Guide to Unknown Rome

Roaming the shadowy maze of streets in the vicinity of Via dei Coronari
a rare jewel belonging to Renaissance can be met, a precious trove in Baroque Rome:
the original house of Fiammetta, the most beautiful courtesan of her day and the lover of Cesare Borgia.

As you enter Piazza Fiammetta coming from Via dei Coronari, you perceive that a different Rome is still preserved in this area less frequented by the tourists. A charming small building stands in a prominent position on Via degli Acquasparta. A graceful loggia juts out elegantly from the fifteenth-century façade of the palace that once belonged to Cardinal Ammannati Piccolomini, who bequeathed it to his mistress, the young and gorgeous Fiammetta Michaelis, together with all his earthly possessions.
Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI and the brother of Lucrezia, was not indifferent to her appeal: Fiammetta became the lover of the condottiero for many years. She was a learned and charming courtesan as many others in her time, whose patrons were the most affluent cardinals and noblemen of the day. A piece of history that still lingers by the shadow of this small, refined building.