Rome, Italy
We arrived last night in Naples, and happily all our luggage arrived with us. We are here for four days before heading to our next destination: Venice.
Our time in Rome included lots and lots of sightseeing, and as promised in the photo album, I am going to just go through each sight with a brief description of what it was we saw. It was all very fascinating.
The first, and one of the most fascinating, places we saw was Vatican City. Both Dave and I had never imagined the Vatican as a museum. However, the Vatican has one of the world’s greatest art collections. You could spend days just wandering through the decorous galleries.
Of course, the most famous work of art at the Vatican is the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. I don’t have a photo of if since we weren’t supposed to take pictures in the chapel, but it’s incredible. It even captured Dave’s imagination, and he isn’t very interested in art.
Michelangelo desired to be a sculptor, and when he was young he found a piece of marble into which he sculpted a beautiful cherub (angel). He had a friend who was willing to take the art into Rome and sell it for him, but he suggested Michelangelo could make more money if he punctured holes and dirtied the piece so people would think it was old. His friend turned out to be right, and the pope bought the piece for 200 shekels.
Later, the pope discovered the fraud and sought out Michelangelo to punish him. When he found him, Michelangelo was just as shocked as he had only received 30 shekels for his piece. Because Michelangelo was so talented, the pope decided to commission him to create 44 sculptures for his tomb. He hadn’t even completed one when he was taken off the project to create the Sistine Chapel.
After wandering through the Vatican Museum for four hours, we found ourselves in St. Peter’s Square, where the pope gives his audiences. St. Peter’s Basilica stands in St. Peter’s Square. This enormous and breathtaking basilica is almost more than one can take in at one visit (especially after spending four hours in the Vatican Museum). Raphael, Michelangelo, Bramante, and Maderno all have work exhibited in this church.
Dave and I happened to be at St. Peter’s during Mass, and so we sat through part of the service. Despite not being Catholic and the Mass being in Italian, we still found ourselves awed by the whole experience.
Our second day in Rome we visited a lot of Catholic churches. The first one was Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, where the Pope comes to celebrate Mass on some holidays. It was built in 314 AD by Constantine.
Across the street from this basilica is the Santuario della Scala Santa. It is believed that these steps, transported from Jerusalem to Rome by Constantine, were the steps Jesus climbed before Pontius Pilate sentenced him to crucifixion. Some, however, believe the steps were only from the 4th Century. The steps are now covered in wood and draw pilgrims from all over who climb the twenty-eight steps on their knees.
Our next stop was Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, one of Rome’s four major basilicas and home to the tomb of Bernini, Italy’s most important baroque sculptor.
Our last stop for the day was at the Basilica di San Pietro di Vincoli. This interesting church holds two important items. The first is the chains that bound Peter while in Palestine.
The second is Michelangelo’s Moses. Moses was created as the first of the 44 figures for Pope Julius II’s tomb. In this sculpture, Moses is coming down off the mountain with the ten commandments to see the Isrealites worshipping the golden calf. Hence his stern face. Michelangelo didn’t even get to finish Moses before he was taken off the project to paint the Sistine Chapel. He came back to the work in his 50s and finished it. Michelangelo studied dead bodies in his spare time and is praised for his anatomy shown here on Moses’ arms. The face of Moses is the face of Pope Julius II. And the crack on Moses’ left knee is said to have been created by Michelangelo himself when he finished the piece. It looked so lifelike to him that he threw his hammer at it and said, “Speak to me!” Which, of course, it didn’t, but he crack from the hammer is still there.
The next day we visited the Pantheon, the only ancient building still intact in Rome. The incredible thing about the Pantheon is the perfectly spherical dome resting on a cylinder. The building is exactly 142 ft high and 142 ft wide. A open circle at the center of the dome is used for ventilation, and on the day we visited it was raining, and the rain poured in through the opening at the top. Raphael is buried in the Pantheon.
Castel Sant’Angelo was built in the 2nd Century as a tomb for Emperor Hadrian. From the inside and out it looks like a big fortress. An underground passage links Castel Sant’Angelo with the Vatican so popes could flee here if they were in danger. The rooms in the fortress now house art museums, but they were used for a wide variety of other purposes during its history, including torturing captives and housing the mistress and children of Pope Alexander VI.
Trevi Fountain was based on the design of Nicolo Salvi and completed in 1762. The main figure in the design is Neptunus Rex with two allegorical figures representing health and fertility on either side of him.
Near Trevi Fountain are the famous Spanish Steps. The steps, that I know of, don’t have any particular historical value, but they are beautiful, and once you reach the bottom of them you are welcomed to a wonderful world of shopping – Dior, Gucci, Prada, etc.
Near the Spanish Steps, however, is the Keats-Shelley house where John Keats died of tuberculosis after moving to Rome. It’s not all that interesting unless you are interested in literature, which I am.
A few short blocks from the Spanish Steps is Piazza del Popolo, where it is said the ashes of Nero were enshrined until 11th Century residents started complaining to the Pope about his ghost.
Piazza del Popolo houses several basilicas, including Santa Maria del Popolo, the home to two Carvaggio paintings. The first depicts the crucifixion of Peter and the second depicts the blinding of Saul by God before his conversion to Christianity. You can probably Google better pictures than I was able to take if you are interested.
The Colosseum doesn’t really need explanation. It was used as an arena for the Romans to watch people battle exotic animals. Normally the people were criminals, and there is much doubt about whether Christians were fed to the lions here. About 20% of the people put in the arena with the animals died.
Near the Colosseum are other sites of ancient Rome. This was where it was all happening in the ancient world, although only ruins remain. It’s still quite fascinating to wander through them and imagine how the ancient Romans may have lived.
One part of ancient Rome is Circo Massimo, where chariot races and other entertainment took place. At the far end of the field is “the killing field” where Christians were martyred, criminals killed, etc.
“There is no monument there,” our tour guide told us. “But I guess that is the monument. Nothing will ever be built there.”
That silenced us as we looked at the empty field.
“And last year there was a sold-out Genesis concert right there.”
Ok, that ruined it.
Near Circo Massimo is Santa Maria in Cosmedin, a small church with two famous items. The first item on the outside is the Mouth of Truth, a large disk said to chop off the hand of anyone who didn’t tell the disk the truth. To keep the legend alive, priests used to stand behind the mouth every once in a while with an axe or scorpions and, yes, chop off someone’s hand.
The disk was made famous in the movie Roman Holiday when Gregory Peck stuck his hand in and then brought it back out with his hand inside his coat sleeve, causing Audrey Hepburn to scream.
Inside the church is the skull of St. Valentine. Valentine used to marry Roman soldiers to their girlfriends secretly. At the time, it was illegal for Roman soldiers to marry, primarily because the Roman government didn’t want to have to pay widow’s fees should the soldiers die in battle. When the government found out Valentine was doing this, they beheaded him on February 14, and his skull now rests on display in Santa Maria in Cosmedin.
One of our last stops in Rome was the Christian Catacombs. The Catacombs are outside the ancient Roman walls and they are where many Christian martyrs were buried. The whole thing is 20 km and four stories. It’s amazing to imagine. They used to let the bones just lie where people could see them, but tourists started stealing the bones, so they are no longer visible any more.
Our last stop in Rome was Basilica di San Clemente. The interesting thing about this church was that it was built unwittingly atop a secular house and pagan temple. You can explore the eerie basement of the church on your own.
As you can see, we saw so much history in Rome. Whew. I hope to keep up with this blog and have a new one sometime after we leave Naples. Ciao!
Our time in Rome included lots and lots of sightseeing, and as promised in the photo album, I am going to just go through each sight with a brief description of what it was we saw. It was all very fascinating.
The first, and one of the most fascinating, places we saw was Vatican City. Both Dave and I had never imagined the Vatican as a museum. However, the Vatican has one of the world’s greatest art collections. You could spend days just wandering through the decorous galleries.
Of course, the most famous work of art at the Vatican is the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. I don’t have a photo of if since we weren’t supposed to take pictures in the chapel, but it’s incredible. It even captured Dave’s imagination, and he isn’t very interested in art.
Michelangelo desired to be a sculptor, and when he was young he found a piece of marble into which he sculpted a beautiful cherub (angel). He had a friend who was willing to take the art into Rome and sell it for him, but he suggested Michelangelo could make more money if he punctured holes and dirtied the piece so people would think it was old. His friend turned out to be right, and the pope bought the piece for 200 shekels.
Later, the pope discovered the fraud and sought out Michelangelo to punish him. When he found him, Michelangelo was just as shocked as he had only received 30 shekels for his piece. Because Michelangelo was so talented, the pope decided to commission him to create 44 sculptures for his tomb. He hadn’t even completed one when he was taken off the project to create the Sistine Chapel.
After wandering through the Vatican Museum for four hours, we found ourselves in St. Peter’s Square, where the pope gives his audiences. St. Peter’s Basilica stands in St. Peter’s Square. This enormous and breathtaking basilica is almost more than one can take in at one visit (especially after spending four hours in the Vatican Museum). Raphael, Michelangelo, Bramante, and Maderno all have work exhibited in this church.
Dave and I happened to be at St. Peter’s during Mass, and so we sat through part of the service. Despite not being Catholic and the Mass being in Italian, we still found ourselves awed by the whole experience.
Our second day in Rome we visited a lot of Catholic churches. The first one was Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, where the Pope comes to celebrate Mass on some holidays. It was built in 314 AD by Constantine.
Across the street from this basilica is the Santuario della Scala Santa. It is believed that these steps, transported from Jerusalem to Rome by Constantine, were the steps Jesus climbed before Pontius Pilate sentenced him to crucifixion. Some, however, believe the steps were only from the 4th Century. The steps are now covered in wood and draw pilgrims from all over who climb the twenty-eight steps on their knees.
Our next stop was Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, one of Rome’s four major basilicas and home to the tomb of Bernini, Italy’s most important baroque sculptor.
Our last stop for the day was at the Basilica di San Pietro di Vincoli. This interesting church holds two important items. The first is the chains that bound Peter while in Palestine.
The second is Michelangelo’s Moses. Moses was created as the first of the 44 figures for Pope Julius II’s tomb. In this sculpture, Moses is coming down off the mountain with the ten commandments to see the Isrealites worshipping the golden calf. Hence his stern face. Michelangelo didn’t even get to finish Moses before he was taken off the project to paint the Sistine Chapel. He came back to the work in his 50s and finished it. Michelangelo studied dead bodies in his spare time and is praised for his anatomy shown here on Moses’ arms. The face of Moses is the face of Pope Julius II. And the crack on Moses’ left knee is said to have been created by Michelangelo himself when he finished the piece. It looked so lifelike to him that he threw his hammer at it and said, “Speak to me!” Which, of course, it didn’t, but he crack from the hammer is still there.
The next day we visited the Pantheon, the only ancient building still intact in Rome. The incredible thing about the Pantheon is the perfectly spherical dome resting on a cylinder. The building is exactly 142 ft high and 142 ft wide. A open circle at the center of the dome is used for ventilation, and on the day we visited it was raining, and the rain poured in through the opening at the top. Raphael is buried in the Pantheon.
Castel Sant’Angelo was built in the 2nd Century as a tomb for Emperor Hadrian. From the inside and out it looks like a big fortress. An underground passage links Castel Sant’Angelo with the Vatican so popes could flee here if they were in danger. The rooms in the fortress now house art museums, but they were used for a wide variety of other purposes during its history, including torturing captives and housing the mistress and children of Pope Alexander VI.
Trevi Fountain was based on the design of Nicolo Salvi and completed in 1762. The main figure in the design is Neptunus Rex with two allegorical figures representing health and fertility on either side of him.
Near Trevi Fountain are the famous Spanish Steps. The steps, that I know of, don’t have any particular historical value, but they are beautiful, and once you reach the bottom of them you are welcomed to a wonderful world of shopping – Dior, Gucci, Prada, etc.
Near the Spanish Steps, however, is the Keats-Shelley house where John Keats died of tuberculosis after moving to Rome. It’s not all that interesting unless you are interested in literature, which I am.
A few short blocks from the Spanish Steps is Piazza del Popolo, where it is said the ashes of Nero were enshrined until 11th Century residents started complaining to the Pope about his ghost.
Piazza del Popolo houses several basilicas, including Santa Maria del Popolo, the home to two Carvaggio paintings. The first depicts the crucifixion of Peter and the second depicts the blinding of Saul by God before his conversion to Christianity. You can probably Google better pictures than I was able to take if you are interested.
The Colosseum doesn’t really need explanation. It was used as an arena for the Romans to watch people battle exotic animals. Normally the people were criminals, and there is much doubt about whether Christians were fed to the lions here. About 20% of the people put in the arena with the animals died.
Near the Colosseum are other sites of ancient Rome. This was where it was all happening in the ancient world, although only ruins remain. It’s still quite fascinating to wander through them and imagine how the ancient Romans may have lived.
One part of ancient Rome is Circo Massimo, where chariot races and other entertainment took place. At the far end of the field is “the killing field” where Christians were martyred, criminals killed, etc.
“There is no monument there,” our tour guide told us. “But I guess that is the monument. Nothing will ever be built there.”
That silenced us as we looked at the empty field.
“And last year there was a sold-out Genesis concert right there.”
Ok, that ruined it.
Near Circo Massimo is Santa Maria in Cosmedin, a small church with two famous items. The first item on the outside is the Mouth of Truth, a large disk said to chop off the hand of anyone who didn’t tell the disk the truth. To keep the legend alive, priests used to stand behind the mouth every once in a while with an axe or scorpions and, yes, chop off someone’s hand.
The disk was made famous in the movie Roman Holiday when Gregory Peck stuck his hand in and then brought it back out with his hand inside his coat sleeve, causing Audrey Hepburn to scream.
Inside the church is the skull of St. Valentine. Valentine used to marry Roman soldiers to their girlfriends secretly. At the time, it was illegal for Roman soldiers to marry, primarily because the Roman government didn’t want to have to pay widow’s fees should the soldiers die in battle. When the government found out Valentine was doing this, they beheaded him on February 14, and his skull now rests on display in Santa Maria in Cosmedin.
One of our last stops in Rome was the Christian Catacombs. The Catacombs are outside the ancient Roman walls and they are where many Christian martyrs were buried. The whole thing is 20 km and four stories. It’s amazing to imagine. They used to let the bones just lie where people could see them, but tourists started stealing the bones, so they are no longer visible any more.
Our last stop in Rome was Basilica di San Clemente. The interesting thing about this church was that it was built unwittingly atop a secular house and pagan temple. You can explore the eerie basement of the church on your own.
As you can see, we saw so much history in Rome. Whew. I hope to keep up with this blog and have a new one sometime after we leave Naples. Ciao!
posted by Lindsay | 5:17 AM
1 Comments:
Great pitchers!
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