When In Rome...

I have always enjoyed traveling to different places, both in the United States and throughout the world, over the course of my life.  My career in the U.S. Navy afforded me the opportunity to see some pretty amazing places too.  I could have forgone ever seeing the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia however.  (When I was a younger boy, I always thought that the endless stretches of sand that go on for hundreds and hundreds of miles was just a Hollywood creation.  Nope.  They are real.)

During my hiatus from writing on this blog, my wife and I were able to do some traveling over those couple of years.  We got to see some incredible places, meet some fantastic people, explore some amazing historical sites, and eat some scrumptious food along the way.  One of the places we went to was a huge bucket-list location, especially for my beloved, as we spent some time in Rome, Italy.  My wife was worried that it would not live up to the expectations she had before we ventured there.  I can happily report that it not only lived up to them, but wildly surpassed them.  

 

These are just a few of the hundreds and hundreds of pictures of sites we saw as we traveled to the eternal city of Rome, Italy.

 

Our first few days in Rome were spent exploring the tiny city-state of Vatican City, which I will share with our readers on a future post.  (It was truly one of the most spectacular museums and places that I have ever been blessed to see.) This picture below is the view looking west from the Castel Sant' Angelo towards Vatican City.  The dome of St. Peter's Basilica is center in the background.

 

 

This is the front of Castel Sant' Angelo (Castle of the Holy Angel) as seen from the middle of the Ponte Sant' Angelo Bridge over the Tiber River.  It was built in 135–139 AD by the Roman Emperor Hadrian to be used as his mausoleum.  It was converted into a fortress in the 5th century as a refuge for various Popes in times of martial trouble. The Pope could escape to the castle through a protected passageway from the Lateran as required. 

 

 

 

In 590 Pope Gregory the Great was leading a penitential procession to pray for the end of a plague that had devastated the people. During the procession, he had a vision of the archangel Michael sheathing his sword over the castle, thus signifying the end of the horrific plague.  It was that vision which was the inspiration for the castle's renaming and the adornment of the statue of Michael the Archangel that rests on top of it.

 

 

A view from the upper bulwarks of the castle looking out across the Tiber River at the angel bridge, Ponte Sant' Angelo.

 

The Ponte Sant' Angelo bridge was constructed by Hadrian in 135 AD.  In the 16th century Pope Clement VII had statues of Saints Peter and Paul placed at the end of the bridge. In 1688, ten additional statues of angels, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, were mounted on the parapets.  The artistry of the statues is truly amazing.

 

 

 

Here are a few of my favorite of Bernini's beautiful sculptures on this magnificent bridge.

While it is inarguable what a brilliant sculptor Bernini was, I found it amusing that he was also quite prescient as he carved this angel holding its own "selfie stick." There are seemingly countless cathedrals and basilicas throughout the Roman metropolitan area.  This is the entrance to the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, which has been called “the mother of all churches in the world.” It represents the mixture between the Pagan and Christian eras. It was the first Christian basilica built in the city and the Pope’s main place of worship.

Across the street from the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano was the site of one of the most profound events in my life: the holy stairs or Scala Sancta.  The 28 stairs of marble, which according to Christian tradition are the very ones that our Lord Jesus Christ climbed in Pontius Pilate's palace in Jerusalem on the day he was sentenced to death.  Saint Helen had these stairs transported to Rome in 326 AD.  

The marble stairs were covered in wood planks in 1723 by order of Pope Innocent XIII to protect them from further wear by pilgrims who are obliged to climb the stairs only on their knees over the centuries.

When I arrived there, it was during a very short two month window of time during which the walnut coverings had been removed and pilgrims were allowed to climb these very worn marble stairs on their knees. Further there are three places of a "particularly evocative nature and of sacred importance where it is believed that Christ left traces of His blood."  There are three crosses set in the marble to signify where His blood fell.  The property is owned by the Vatican and is free of charge to those who wish to climb it on their knees to the church above.  

 

It was very moving to climb these 28 steps on my knees, saying a prayer at each step, with scores of other pilgrims all around me.  I touched the crosses where Christ's blood fell upon the steps.  It was truly an indescribable experience.

 

 It was requested that no pictures of the stairs be taken, so the photo below is one that is not mine but taken from a Vatican site.  The wood coverings have since been replaced on the marble stairs.

 

 

This is one of the crosses and grate marking where Christ's blood fell upon the ancient stairs.

These are views of Palatine Hill and the ancient Roman Forum. The Forum was the marketplace of Rome, and later a gathering space for triumphal processions, criminal trials and gladiatorial matches.

The Roman Forum was home to some of the oldest and most important buildings in the ancient city. Today it is a mass of ruins, including shrines and temples, such as the House of the Vestal Virgins. The most ancient monuments at the Roman Forum are from the first kings of Rome, dating back to the sixth century BC.

 

 

This is the view from Palatine Hill towards the Roman Parliament  Building in the distance.  (It is the white building with the statues on top of either end.)

 

 

Zooming in on Parliament...

 

 

  Beautiful fields of wild flowers were in bloom among the ruins in the Forum. 

 

 

Next, is the remarkable structure of the Pantheon.  It was originally constructed around 25 B.C. by Roman statesman Marcus Agrippa, and is thought to have been designed as a temple for the Roman gods. (pan = all, theo = god).  It was largely destroyed and then rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian again around 128 A.D.

 

In 609, Pope Boniface IV got permission from Byzantine emperor Phocas to convert the Pantheon into a Christian church, known in Latin as Sancta Maria ad Martyres (St. Mary and the Martyrs).  It was the first Roman pagan temple to be consecrated as a Christian church.

 

 

Inside the Pantheon is the remarkably engineered dome constructed of volcanic "tufa" stone and lighter pumice towards the top.  The skills to build it so long ago are truly amazing even by modern standards. 

 

 

The ground floor of the Pantheon.  Notice the ornate marble floor.

This is Fontana del Moro on Piazza Navona and is just one of myriads of beautiful works of art in fountain form throughout the city of Rome.

 

  

Neptune's Fountain also in the Piazza Navona.

 

 

This is looking down the road towards the Spanish Steps which connect the Piazza di Spagna with the Trinità dei Monti church at the top of the 135 step staircase.

 

Another view of the church from the Piazza di Spagna.  The Spanish steps were literally just two or three blocks from the AirB&B we rented.  It was a wonderful place to relax, eat gelato, people watch, and see amazing street performers.

This is the Arch of Constantine I, and was built in 315 A.D.  It was built to celebrate Emperor Constantine's victory over the tyrant Maxentius on 28th October 312 A.D. at the battle of Milvian Bridge in Rome. It is the largest surviving Roman triumphal arch and the last great monument of Imperial Rome. It is located right in between the Coliseum and the Roman Forum areas. And of course, the iconic Roman Coliseum where Russell Crowe defeated the evil Roman emperor in hand to hand combat, or something like that.

 

As I said, there are so many Basilicas and amazing sites throughout the city that it is impossible to see them all without spending at least a month there.  That said, there were also some unexpected surprises along the way.  This rather unremarkable-looking Basilica from the exterior provided not only some much needed relief from the heat of the Roman sun, but also was beautiful in the extreme on the inside.

 

 Below is the main part of the nave that was being prepared for a wedding.

 

 

  

This was a side chapel in the same basilica. 

 

Here is a sculpture of the head of Saint John the Baptist after King Herod had him executed that was within this basilica.  The simplicity of it with the darkened chapel behind it really made for a a stark and eerily beautiful contrast.

And of course, no trip to Rome can ever be complete without seeing the amazing Trevi Fountain.  The Trevi Fountain in its current form dates back from 1762 when after many years of works at the hand of Nicola Salvi, it was finalized by Giuseppe Pannini.  The fountain itself is magical.  My wife and I walked to the fountain from our AirB&B each night to sit in front of the fountain with hundreds of our closest Roman friends and tourists.  We ate gelato and kissed as we sat snuggled up to each other.  

 

The legend surrounding the fountain is if you throw one coin into the fountain, you will one day return to Rome. If you throw two coins, you will fall in love with an attractive Italian. If you throw three coins, you will marry the person that you met.  Evidently there were several Italian gentlemen roaming the area looking for likely women throwing two or three coins into the fountain. My wife and I each threw a single coin over our shoulders into the fountain so that we may indeed some day return together to this truly amazing city; the eternal city of Rome.