It is one of those medieval watch-towers that come upon one so
unexpectedly in all sorts of out-of-the-way places in Rome. The
Romans call it the Tower of the Monkey, from a legend that years ago
the proprietor kept a monkey. This monkey one day seized upon a baby
in the street below, and carried it to the top of the tower, to the
agony of the parents, who vowed a shrine to the Virgin if the child
were safely restored. No sooner was the vow uttered than the monkey
brought down the baby by means of the water-pipe. The shrine was
forthwith erected, and every evening the lamp is lighted at _Ave
Maria_, and shines like a bright star till dawn.
_A little beyond, on the left, is the_ NEW WESLEYAN CHURCH FOR
ITALIANS; _beyond which the Via Giustiniani, on the left, leads to the
Piazza Rotonda_.