Rome-ing Around
Rome-ing Around
Main entrance into Rome through the city wall during Imperial times.
Rome, within the ancient walls, is small enough to easily walk to almost everything that most tourists want to see in under an hour. Our hotel was only a few minutes walk from the Colosseum, Imperial Forum and Palatine Hill, the emperors' palace. A half-hour's walk (more or less) would have taken us to Vatican City. In between was the Pantheon, a Roman temple recycled into a Christian church.
Sarah and the Forum Romana
It is a straight walk from the main gate of ancient Rome to the emperor's palace and takes about one-half hour.
We take our time in museums and historic sites, so we only used the 4 euro unlimited Metro day pass on days in which we wanted to see several smaller sites which were not clustered.
Some of the major buildings were saved from destruction because they were turned into churches such as St. Paul (Outside the Wall), the largest church in the world until St. Peter's was built at the Vatican. The Senate House of the Roman Forum became a large church as did the enormous entrance to the Baths of Diocletian. (The rest of the baths are a ruin.)
There are lots of churches in Rome. Sometimes more than one on a block. Almost all of them are exquisitely decorated and free of charge. Not only do the churches contain works of art, they are works of art. You don't have to be Catholic when you go in although they would most likely appreciate it if you were Catholic when you went out.
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. The nave is about 600 feet long. Michelangelo's Pieta was made when he was 24 years old.
Although not as elaborate as many, San Clemente has something interesting: The 12th-century church was built on top of a 4th-century church which was built on top of a Mithraic temple built over an earlier Roman building. The underground structures were forgotten until discovered in the 19th century. Photos were not allowed, but this link provides better photos than I could have taken.
San Giovanni in Laterano, another great basilica, was the first Christian church in the city of Rome C. 318 C.E.
Even smaller churches have great art.
St. Peter in Chains has Michelangelo's "Moses."
Santa Maria della Vittoria has Bernini's "St. Teresa in Ecstasy."
Basilica San Paolo Fuori le Mura (St. Paul's Outside the Wall) was originally a Roman basilica and the last major construction project of Imperial Rome c. 380 C.E. It was the world's largest Christian church until St. Peter's Basilica was built at the Vatican.
Below is the interior.
Sculpture appears to be everywhere: Greek statues brought from Greece and Greek-style statues made by the Romans; Christian statues made by Romans after Christianity became acceptable (and some from before); more Egyptian obelisks than are in Egypt.
I am sure that I would have appreciated much of what I saw to a better degree if I were better versed in various mythologies. [So many gods, so many saints, so many festivals; so little time.]
One of the museums that we visited on our seven-day Archeologia Pass, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, claims to have the largest collection of Roman statues in the world. We spent a long time there; a very long time.
Rome has four major churches and we visited each one (as well as many others, large and small). The largest was St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Its nave is the length of two football fields.
St. Peter's is so large that Sarah used binoculars to see details on the ceiling.
A church on the Pilgrim's Tour had an item of religious interest to us: Steps reputedly from Pontius Pilate's residence in Jerusalem. Penitents walk up the steps on their knees saying prayers at each step.
Sarah and the Forum RomanaIt is a straight walk from the main gate of ancient Rome to the emperor's palace and takes about one-half hour.
We take our time in museums and historic sites, so we only used the 4 euro unlimited Metro day pass on days in which we wanted to see several smaller sites which were not clustered.
Some of the major buildings were saved from destruction because they were turned into churches such as St. Paul (Outside the Wall), the largest church in the world until St. Peter's was built at the Vatican. The Senate House of the Roman Forum became a large church as did the enormous entrance to the Baths of Diocletian. (The rest of the baths are a ruin.)
There are lots of churches in Rome. Sometimes more than one on a block. Almost all of them are exquisitely decorated and free of charge. Not only do the churches contain works of art, they are works of art. You don't have to be Catholic when you go in although they would most likely appreciate it if you were Catholic when you went out.
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. The nave is about 600 feet long. Michelangelo's Pieta was made when he was 24 years old.Although not as elaborate as many, San Clemente has something interesting: The 12th-century church was built on top of a 4th-century church which was built on top of a Mithraic temple built over an earlier Roman building. The underground structures were forgotten until discovered in the 19th century. Photos were not allowed, but this link provides better photos than I could have taken.
San Giovanni in Laterano, another great basilica, was the first Christian church in the city of Rome C. 318 C.E.
Even smaller churches have great art.St. Peter in Chains has Michelangelo's "Moses."
Santa Maria della Vittoria has Bernini's "St. Teresa in Ecstasy."
Basilica San Paolo Fuori le Mura (St. Paul's Outside the Wall) was originally a Roman basilica and the last major construction project of Imperial Rome c. 380 C.E. It was the world's largest Christian church until St. Peter's Basilica was built at the Vatican.Below is the interior.
Sculpture appears to be everywhere: Greek statues brought from Greece and Greek-style statues made by the Romans; Christian statues made by Romans after Christianity became acceptable (and some from before); more Egyptian obelisks than are in Egypt.
I am sure that I would have appreciated much of what I saw to a better degree if I were better versed in various mythologies. [So many gods, so many saints, so many festivals; so little time.]
One of the museums that we visited on our seven-day Archeologia Pass, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, claims to have the largest collection of Roman statues in the world. We spent a long time there; a very long time.
Rome has four major churches and we visited each one (as well as many others, large and small). The largest was St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Its nave is the length of two football fields.
St. Peter's is so large that Sarah used binoculars to see details on the ceiling.
A church on the Pilgrim's Tour had an item of religious interest to us: Steps reputedly from Pontius Pilate's residence in Jerusalem. Penitents walk up the steps on their knees saying prayers at each step.
Ostia Antica
Close enough to Rome to get to by a one euro train ride, we made Ostia Antica a day trip. Ostia Antica was Rome's port on the Mediterranean Sea beginning almost 2,500 years ago. Sea-going vessels were loaded or off-loaded and barges took goods to and from Rome, about 20 miles up the Tiber.Today neither cities have artifacts: Ostia Antica's disappeared centuries ago, some taken by the original inhabitants, and Pompeii's are in museums along with casts of the original inhabitants. Neither site has been completely excavated.
Ostia Antica had been Rome's major port city and naval base, reaching a population of more than 100,000. We saw a theatre, tavern, and numerous shops. We saw early apartment houses with multiple stories and no plumbing. We saw extensive baths (the equivalent to today's gym/health club where people participated in sports, then soaked). We saw temples to various gods and the second oldest synagogue in the Jewish Diaspora.
Getting Around Italy
EuroStar
posted by Allen and Sarah at 4:32 PM
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