As much as we love it, sometimes we like to get out of the historic center. So we recently spent a day in EUR, exploring the fascinating but practically empty Museo Nazionale dell’Alto Medioevo, visiting an unusual church, having what might be the best pizza in Rome, and then finally getting inside of The Cloud (more on the latter in later posts).

EUR stands for Esposizione Universale Roma (Rome Universal Exposition). In the 1930’s it was developed by Mussolini as the site for the 1942 World’s Fair, which he hoped would be a moment to celebrate 20 years of fascism in Italy. The fair never happened — WWII put an end to that — but we still have the massive, fascist-era buildings built for it in EUR.

 

 

Our visit on this day was to the Museo Nazionale dell’Alto Medioevo, housed in one of these massive, intimidating buildings. The number of visitors to this museum that day consisted of us and exactly one other person — making it a destination to consider if you are looking to get away from the crowds of Rome. Maybe this is because it was so difficult to find. We thought it was a separate building. But no, it’s located within the massive Palazzo delle Scienze. Even after we figured that out and got inside the building, we still couldn’t find the specific museum we wanted. Eventually we walked down a couple of little hallways, turning here and there, until we finally found it.

The museum traces the “high medieval” period of Italy, from the 4th century C.E. to the 9th century C.E., including the Lombard occupation and later Carolingian age. After the Roman Empire fell, these dynasties seized the opportunity to invade Italy, which they did with great success, leaving behind their own unique artifacts.

There are a lot of small artifacts, including the obligatory ceramics and metal bits.  The jewelry is magnificent.

 

 

Amazingly, there were even glass artifacts.

 

And there were also very beautiful and equally detailed stone carvings.

 

The final room of the museum shows you just how magnificent the decoration was during this period. The room contains a reconstructed room from a luxurious home in Ostia, with magnificent marble decoration, as you can see at the top of this post.

 

Then it was off to lunch at Lievito Pizza, Pane, a little bakery squeezed between a garage and a driving school. Our food guru Katie Parla had recommended it and, as usual, she was right.

 

We had slices with pumpkin, artichoke with ricotta, and tomato & basil toppings.

The crust is wonderful.  Initially crisp, it quickly yields its pillowy soft, delicious interior. Really, this pizza is divine — making it possibly our favorite place in Rome for pizza!

It didn’t take long to wait for our food order. It took only a little longer to consume it. Sated, we were off for more of our day in EUR.