ROME

Using the excellent and cheap public transport system, we took three days to see the sights of Rome and even then felt there was so much more to see.  Day 1 was spent visiting the Vatican Museums and St Peter’s Basilica, Day 2, the ruins of ancient Rome and Day 3 other places of interest around the city.

DAY 1.  Nothing could have prepared us for the splendour of the Palace which houses the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.  We walked for what seemed like miles through galleries whose walls and ceilings were covered with glorious paintings and gold leaf.

It was overwhelming.

Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs in the Sistine Chapel – arguably Michelangelo’s finest masterpiece.  Although primarily a sculptor he was prevailed upon by Pope Julius II to decorate the ceiling of the chapel in 1508.  To do so Michelangelo designed a curved scaffold system so he could lie on his back sloping with his head downwards.  Several assistants prepared the plaster which had to be painted while still wet.  The end wall of the chapel is a huge depiction of the Final Judgement while the ceiling covers the stories of the creation and the flood.  Perhaps the best known part of this mammoth painting is the creation of Adam of which this is a photograph of a photograph!

We had a personal conducted tour of St Peter’s Basilica by two American priests doing part of their training in Rome.  Built over the place where it is believed St Peter was executed and buried, it is set at the top of a huge square where preparations were being made for thousands of pilgrims to gather for a final blessing by Pope Benedict before his retirement. 

St Peter’s is certainly on the grand scale and decorated all over with paintings and sculptures.  The lettering at the top of this picture is about five to six feet high!

Works by many famous artists are to be found here but perhaps the most memorable is a beautiful sculpture of Mary receiving Jesus’ body when it was taken down from the cross.

Known as the Pieta, it was sculpted by Michelangelo in 1498 when he was just 23 years old!  As we left St Peter’s the Swiss Guard were on duty in their winter uniforms.

DAY 2.  Ancient Rome – the Palatino.  This was Rome’s poshest neighbourhood and home to several emperors including Augustus and Domitian whose vast complex, which served as the main imperial palace for 300 years, is now a very large archeological site. 

It is not difficult to imagine the splendour that was Rome in those days, helped by collections of sculptures and even sections of plaster from the walls still with the original painting in good condition.

Nearby is a triumphal arch built in 312 AD to honour Emperor Constantine’s victory over his rival Maxentius at the battle of Ponte Milvio …

... and a little further on is the Colosseum …

… built for Emperor Vespasian in 69-79 AD.  On an average day between 16,000 and 19,000 people would gather there to see the “games” in which thousands of animals, gladiators, condemned prisoners and more than a few Christians died for their entertainment.  (The total capacity was around 50,000!)

The outer walls were topped by 240 masts that held a canvas awning protecting spectators from the sun and the 80 entrance arches allowed the thousands of spectators to enter and leave in a matter of minutes.  The central arena had a wooden floor beneath which about 1000 people were employed in a complex of rooms with cages and machinery to hoist animals and stage sets onto the arena whose floor was covered in sand to prevent combatants slipping and to soak up the blood!

DAY 3.  Scattered around Rome are many interesting buildings and sculptures, both ancient and modern and here are just a few.  The Pantheon, built in 27 BC, modified for Hadrian in 120 AD, when it was dedicated to the classical gods, and consecrated as a church in 608 AD, it has the largest unreinforced brick dome ever built.

In 2010 a very modern set of “Stations of the Cross” was added to the walls.  This one depicts Jesus meeting his mother on the way to Golgotha.  Both figures appear to be part of the cross itself suggesting that Mary shared her son’s agony.

The Trevi fountain, designed by Nicola Salvi in 1732, attracts thousands of tourists every day.  Many throw coins in promising to return to Rome one day.  The money, about €3000 a day, is officially collected for the charity Caritas but a rogue known as Dartagnan has also been helping himself for years claiming that it was not theft as the money had been thrown away!

Near the Pantheon is the 13^th Century church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva built on the site of an ancient temple to Minerva.  It contains a little known but lovely statue by Michelangelo depicting the Risen Christ holding a cross.

Towering over the Piazza Venesia, the huge Il Vittoriano Monument, now housing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, was started in 1885 to commemorate Italian unification.

And so we left Rome and headed south towards the Naples area where other surprises awaited us – don’t miss the next exciting instalment in a few days’ time!!