Churches, Cathedrals, and Basilicas

7 April, 2008: Rome Day 3

As the title suggests, the majority of our day was spent inside or around churches this day. We started at the Vatican, where we joined the throngs in admiring the amazing size and décor of the basilica. To be honest, we didn’t know that much about it before, and don’t really know that much more about it now, other than that it is beautiful, and overwhelming. To be sure, we had our guidebooks with us, and read about some of the statues and history, but as we aren’t terribly familiar with our popes or Italian history, it didn’t do us too much good, although we still spent a good hour or so wandering about.

After the Vatican, we went to the Vatican museums, which contain several interesting pieces, but are most well known for the Sistine Chapel frescoes. The Sistine Chapel is commonly attributed to Michelangelo, and he did paint the ceiling, and one of the ends of the room, but the rest of the room is also painted, and contains works by several other painters as well, the most famous one other than Michelangelo being Botticelli. There are only so many superlatives that you can heap upon a place – the museums are great, and the Sistine Chapel is incredible. Even after walking through what seemed like miles of painted ceilings, frescoes, and walls, the Sistine Chapel still managed to stand out.

By that time, the camera was running low on power, so it was time to head back to the apartment to charge the battery, and check on our (hopefully) drying clothes. Unfortunately, our clothes were stubbornly refusing to do anything other than sit there, and might as well have just come out of the washing machine, for all we could tell. We went to the Piazza Navona and got gelati from Tre Scalini and sat for a bit. Then, as I really wanted to see a few more things before we left the next day, I managed to convince Mich and the kids to follow me for one more trek.

One of the things I most wanted to see was the Pantheon. The Pantheon was originally built around 25 BC, but then rebuilt by the Emperor Hadrian in 125 AD. Parts of the original temple remain. The dome is a perfect circle, with a hole at the top to let in the sunlight. After the Pantheon, I persuaded Mich and the kids to follow me to Santa Maria sopra Minerva, which, according to the handy guidebook, is one of the few examples of Gothic architecture in Rome. We poked around a bit before heading to Gesu, the Jesuit church not too far from the Pantheon. As far as I know, this is the only place where the frescoes actually come outside of their frames onto the rest of the space (it’s hard to describe, you’ll have to look at the pictures).

Having made it through three churches in quick succession, I decided to lead my flagging troops back home, although in a round about sort of route, so that I could show Michelle something else. We hadn’t made it but about a block or so before she asked me what I was doing. I didn’t tell her quite yet, until we made it to the Via della Gatta. The name apparently means “Road of the Cat”, and is named for a small marble cat up on the corner of one of the buildings. I pointed it out to Michelle, who is definitely a cat person, that being the whole reason that I brought everyone this way, and she decided to take a picture – mainly so she could laugh later at the fact that I took her a couple of blocks out of the way to see a marble cat. However, a policeman stepped out and told us that no pictures of the cat were allowed. I asked Michelle if she wanted to take a picture of the street sign, and she said that the street would just have to remain in her memories if she couldn’t take a picture of the cat. I still don’t get the “no pictures of the cat” thing.

That being enough for one day, we headed back to Piazza Navona for dinner, and ended up eating at the Tre Scalini. It was a good end to the day – we all had pasta, and were serenaded by various buskers out in the piazza. After the meal, we were too full to have any more gelato, so we headed back to our apartment and our still damp clothes.

The History Lesson

As Westerners, we derive much of our history and culture from the Romans and Greeks. Certainly as Americans, we learn very little about European history, but we do tend to learn about the Roman Empire. Indeed, many of the world's languages are related to Latin, and our legal and political systems still follow some of the precepts set forth by the Romans. Additionally, we still use architectural approaches that were perfected by the Romans. Rome, according to legend, was founded by Romulus (thus the name) in 753 BC. Archaeologists agree that Rome was founded probably somewhere in the middle of the 8th century BC. The city is definitely one of the oldest in the world, and it is hard to state how it feels to stand and see some of the ancient ruins that still somewhat stand upon the Roman Forum. End of the history lesson.

Our apartment was on the Via dei Coronari, which is known for its antiques, and the apartment was about a three minute walk from Piazza Navona, which has a couple of fountains, although one was out of commission while we were there. After a late night, we got off to a late start the following morning. We headed to a small place just north of the Piazza Navona where we got some croissants for the kids and I had a cappuccino. Michelle wanted a caffe latte, and I mistakenly ordered simply a "latte". They asked if I wanted it hot (caldo), to which I replied, somewhat confused, that yes, I wanted it hot. They then asked if I wanted chocolate on top, so I got that as well. It wasn't until we got it that I figured it out - I had ordered simply a milk - not a "caffe latte", so Michelle ended up with basically an Italian hot chocolate.

After that, we tried to figure out the bus routes, and made our way to the Roman Forum, stopping at a small cart for our lunch. Before entering the Forum, we went to the Mamertine prison, which, according to legend, once imprisoned the Apostle Peter. The Roman Forum is a patchwork of old buildings, consisting of temples, arches built by various emperors to celebrate themselves, and old meeting halls. Even the kids, who had no sense of the history of the place enjoyed running about in the "remainings", as they called it. A good number of the pictures below show various buildings and views of the Roman Forum, some looking up towards the Palatine Hill where the emperors kept their residences.

Due to our late arrival, and the fact that our camera battery was already beginning to run low, we headed back to the apartment for a quick rest and to recharge the batteries on the camera. I also made a quick run to the local grocery store for some breakfast food. After our brief respite, we went back to the Forum area for a visit to the Colosseum. It's hard to explain what it's like to see these things. Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but they still fail to capture everything that is felt when you actually see them. We spent an hour or two inside, and told the kids about the gladiator fights and other things that used to take place there.

Coming out, it was getting late, so we headed back to our apartment once again, and then out for dinner in a little place on the back streets behind the Via dei Coronari. All along the way, we kept seeing buildings and churches which just seemed so ancient, part of an ancient city. And so ended our first full day in Rome.

Next: All around the town