The Casa di Fiammetta (“House of Fiammetta,” although it is very tempting to translate the name of this papal courtesan as well and thus make it “House of Little Flame”) is located in the Ponte district of Rome.
Casa di Fiammetta Rome
Address, hours, tariffs
The Casa di Fiammetta is located at the corner of the Via degli Acquasparta and the Piazza Fiammetta. It is not open to tourists.
History Casa di Fiammetta Rome
The House of Fiammetta was built in the 15th century. It has a balcony and a portico supported by columns and pillars.
Fiammetta Michaelis was a prostitute from Florence who found her clients among the higher classes. Among others, Cesare Borgia (whose father was Pope Alexander VI) enjoyed her services.
Things went so well for her that in her will she left her brother (who was in reality her son) two houses (the second one was in Via dei Coronari, 157), plus a vineyard near the Porta Viridario (a gate in the walls of the Vatican), which she had in turn inherited from Cardinal Giacomo Ammanati. The cardinal’s original gift was even larger, but Pope Sixtus IX put a spanner in the works and had a commission decide on the allocation of the bequeathed property.
The house changed hands several times, and towards the end of the 19th century came into the hands of the Bennicelli family, who had it restored and their coat of arms placed on the façade.