Days 1 & 2, November 27-28, 2017 – Rome, Italy
I know it’s hard to believe, but our entire trip to Rome via
Amsterdam was uneventful AND right on schedule!! We arrived at our apartment, which is just a
third of a mile from the Vatican, less than an hour after our plane landed. No
sooner had we put down our luggage, we met with Deacon Colin who has been
studying here for the last 3 ½ years and we got a quick, exciting walking tour
of this area.
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| Saint Peter's Basilica |
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| Castel Sant'Angelo |
Vatican City … Besides walking all the back streets and alleys
enjoying the many little shops and restaurants, little pizza and sandwich stops,
gelato counters (we had to stop for some … yumm) and street vendors attempting
to sell us their wares, we took a quick look at the Piazza San Pietro and the
Basilica of San Pietro. Then we walked across the Tiber River on the Corso
Vittorio Emanuele II bridge with its huge sculptures along the sides and a
beautiful view of the Castel Sant’Angelo.
This structure was built in 135 by Emperor Hadrian, who wanted to use it
as his mausoleum, but a short time later it was turned into a fortress to
protect the Pope from the Roman mobs and sundry invaders.
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| Saint Pio assisting Jesus in carrying the Cross |
San Salvatore in Lauro … Known to the Romans as Saint Jesus, it
dates to the 11th century and contains the works of six different
artists. It also contains the tomb of Pope Eugene IV. The beautiful wooden statue of Saint Pio, in the
place of Simon of Cyrene, helping Jesus carry His cross was my favorite.
Actually, there were several pieces specially dedicated to Saint Padre Pio
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| Fountain of Four Rivers |
P
iazza Navona … An oblong piazza built to relate to the stadium
built there by Emperor Domitian in the late first century A.D., this is one of
Italy’s largest squares with two small
fountains on either end and a larger one in the middle. Pope Innocent X, from 1644-1655, is mainly
responsible for the square’s appearance
today. The current Brazilian Embassy was his preferred residence. There is
quite a story about the challenge of Pope Innocent X to build the largest
fountain, the Fountain of the Four Rivers. It was sculptured by Rome’s famous
Gian Lorenzo Bernini who is beloved by the Romans and consists of four marble
sculptures of river gods representing the four corners of the earth – the Nile
representing Africa, the Danube representing Europe, the Tigris representing Asia and Plata which represents both North and South
America. The fountain is topped by the Obelisk of Domitian, an obelisk first
erected by Emperor Domitian dedicated to the Egyptian gods in 80 A.D. It’s
interesting how many of these types of art were “recycled” from previous
decades. Bernini found a way to repair the obelisk and erect it on top of the
fountain, placing a dove of Innocent X on the top.
Sant’Agnese in Agone … This church is also in the Piazza Novana
and is dedicated to St. Agnes, a virgin and martyr who was tortured and died
for her faith at age 12 or 13. The
church was built in 306 over the top of some catacombs where Saint Agnes was
entombed. Her body has since been moved to her birth home, but her skull is in
one of the side chapels of Sant’Agnes’ church.
This was a very moving, holy place.
Another interesting tidbit is that Saint Agnes is symbolized by the lamb
(Agnus, L. lamb), which indicates purity.
And every year on her feast day, January 21, two unblemished lambs are
blessed at the Basilica and the wool from these lambs is used to create
palliums, special vestments given to each Archbishop, to symbolize his
authority, by the Pope.
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| Front pillars of The Pantheon |
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| Inside The Pantheon |
The Pantheon … This architectural marvel is 2000 years old, its
name derived from the Greek pan theios (to all the gods) and may have served as
a temple. It is a round structure with 20-foot thick walls, constructed with
wooden frames to support poured concrete. Even the dome is poured concrete
mixed with different stones, the lightest stones on the top, the largest
unsupported concrete dome in the world. The height and diameter of the interior
is the same, 142 ft. The very top of the dome is a 30-foot hole which is the
only light source in the building but also lets in the rain in sheets of
droplets. No worry, though, because the
floor is designed in a convex shape with holes in the tiles to whisk away the
water! Because it is now a Catholic
church of
Sancta Maria ad Martyres, on Pentecost, the
firefighters of the city “rain down” rose pedals into the building from the
dome hole. We’re told it is quite a beautiful sight to see! The floor’s geometric design is made from
colorful stones, each representing a different area or country the Romans
conquered. There are also several tombs
in the building including that of Victor Emanuel II, who united Italy into a
country in the mid 19
th century, as well as the and many nice statutes of
saints around the walls.
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Caravorggio's The Vocation of Saint Matthew
and Saint Matthew and the Angel |
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Caravorggio's Saint Matthew and the Angel
and The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew |
Eglise Saint Louise Des Francais … Our last church, at least for me, was
absolutely stunning! This is the Baroque
style national church of France where Masses are said in French. It was built
in the sixteenth century and was dedicated to Saint Louis IX, a former King of
France. The side chapels, the altar, the
ceiling, the archways are all beautiful gold fresco popping out at you
everywhere. One of the chapels represents the life of Saint Cecilia. Charlemagne, St. Louis, St. Denis plus others
are also noted. The most famous chapel area off to the front left is the
masterpiece of Caravorggio which consists of three huge paintings of the life
of Saint Matthew. The first, The Vocation of Saint Matthew, shows Jesus calling him to be His disciple; the
second, Saint Matthew and the Angel, has an angel indicating to him that he
should start writing his Gospel from the beginning; and the third is The
Martyrdom of Saint Matthew. Very
inspiring! But also cute was the etched inscription in the marble above the
holy font at the entrance which states something to the effect that by Blessing
yourself with the holy water and praying for Saint Louis, one will receive 10
days of indulgences. Sounds easy enough,
right??
It’s now getting late; we’re getting hungry and Deacon Colin
needs to be elsewhere … we’re so thankful for his walk with us today! … So he
shows us how to master the bus system a bit and we part ways, Deacon to another obligation and us to sample
Roman cuisine and check out the local grocery for beer, wine and breakfast
goodies … after which we crashed in bed
since we’ve been up for well over 32 hours at this point! We’re thankful for the safe journey here and
are Blessed by Deacon’s time with us this afternoon.
