San Nicola Church, where you stimulate all senses
by Paola Sireci
Rome is the city where contrasts create strenght and beauty. It is The dirty and clean city, it is The caotic but welcomy city, it is The asymmetrical but perfect city and, above all, it is an open free museum where you can move, get lost but be thunderstruck by the beauty that surrounds you. In the Eternal City you can choose to stay among the narrow alleys populated by local eateries and fountains or to immerse yourself in the nature present in the heart of the city. Among the most recommended, scenically and historically evocative tours, the Appia Antica regional park is a stop you can’t lose. It is the widest european’s urban park that melts story, archeology and nature and all along the way you can find majestic agricultural estates, imperial villas and aqueducts: the perfect place to join relax and knowing.
During my tours, passing throught the villas, churches and archeological sites of the Appia Antica park, I always image, in every place I visit, the perfect wedding parties set up where colours, shapes and smells can blend together in a in a harmonious synergy that stimulates the five senses.
Shades of magenta, orange and cream are the colors I imagine in San Nicola Church, consecrated on 12 May 1303 and dedicated to San Nicola of Bari, lies inside the castrum facing the palace. It is the only example of Gothic Cistercian architecture in the Eternal City. Built of brick and devoid of decoration this church, nowadays deconsecrated, is perfect for a wedding celebrated during the sunset thanks to the light that enter from the twelve windows in both sides that helps to make the church appear wider than it actually is. So an orange sunlight makes the perfect atmosphere for this magic place in Rome.
The season chosen wor this wedding is spring or summer for the colour of nature since the church overlooks two large green side spaces and also for its position in the center of Appia Antica park. The ventilated hot climate makes this place confortable peaceful and pleasant. I can see white pomegranate flagrant candles accompanying the bride to the apse. I also can image wood elegant chairs with cream-colored pillows for guest and for bride and groom, flanked by a lot of stipa plants and orange and magenta flowers harmonious with the orange light of the sunset. The entrance and the promises of the bride and groom can be set to music by Ludovico Einaudi “African Melody III”. And while the sun goes down we can have the fortune to stay in a historical place living a lovely experience that stimulates the five senses and the heart. Afer the ceremony the wedding party should continue in the green space close to the church: we can set up horseshoe tables with white tablecloth and centerpiece made by orange, cream and magenta flowers perfumed by flagrant candles. And, final touch, to create illumination, lights hung between trees.Another alternative is celebrate the wedding party in front of the church, to Cecilia Metella Mausoleo. But it is another dream.
