Santa Maria Maggiore

Santa Maria Maggiore, renowned for its mosaics, is in the same neighborhood, so we strolled over and finished the long but exciting day there.

A very large old church, dating from the earlier fifth century;
one of the four Papal churches; the gold in the ceiling is said
to have been the first brought back from Peru...

The oldest Christian mosaics in Rome; over the altar

Up closer

The major panels were high up, far away, poorly lit; many

seemed to be battle scenes...

Some saintly types

In a side chapel, some of the Byzantine feather dancers I like

And, yes, more Holy Spirits in the gift shoppe

Ecstasy of St. Theresa

It was to be a one museum/three church day. From St. Mary of the Baths we wandered to St. Mary of the Ecstasies to see Bernini's very, very famous St. Theresa in Ecstasy. (Someone once observed that of Europe's approximately 10,000 major churches and cathedrals, 9,983 are Mary churches; thus, when in doubt, it is alway a good bet that this is a St. Mary of the Whatever church; anyhow, this might be St. Mary in Victory; or something else). For useful background, do read up on St. Theresa...

Baroque interior, to the hilt, so to speak

(Theresa would appreciate the metaphor)

Bernini pulled out all the theatrical stops on

this one, including

A voyeuristic audience of the donors who commissioned

the work

Closer up

Extremely closer up..."Oh, GOD, oh GOD, oh GOD...

that was GREAT!"

The Carmelites run this church, and there was thus a liquor

store on the premises; Holy Spirits for those overcome

by all the ecstasy

Baths of Diocletian

Near the Museo Nazionale Romane, in the Termini/Repubblica area, are the remains of the Baths of Diocletian, a third century structure, I think, that is now, of course, a church.

Doesn't look like a church, I know, but there it is, the Church 
of St. Mary of the Baths or somesuch

There is a dome as you enter, with an oculus, like the Pantheon

With an abstract stained glass thing

Looking down/up the nave/transept; Michaelangelo designed the thing, 
transforming the baths into a church; but then when the Piazza Repubblica 
was built, in the 17th century, I think, they decided to remodel, making his
nave into the transept; it doesn't work, IMHO

Vicki by one of the eight original Roman pink marble columns

The church also features this interesting old astronomical/
astrological device

And while we were there, an interesting display on Galileo, 
arguing, as best I could tell, that he really was a faithful son 
of the Church and not really asserting anything contrary to 
Doctrine...PS...nevertheless, it moves

Museo Nazionale Romano

High on our list of priorities, something we had not visited before, was the National Roman Museum. Indeed we have seen plenty of Roman history and art, and not just in Italy. But the National Roman Museum has some of the best specimens, some truly unique holdings, all beautifully displayed (and in English too, mostly).

Augustus as Pontifex Maximus (chief priest)

Bronze copy of a Greek boxer

Venus

Vicki and Rick Steves; we probably have

owned and used most of his books, and do own

all the DVDs, and have used his stuff almost

daily since coming to Europe in April of

2009; so it was a special thrill to run into him;

he and his photographer and videographer

were shooting in the MNR, "freshening up"

some of his previous PBS shows on Italy;

later on he asked us to pose for some incidental

shots, which, as Vicki says, will probably end

up on the cutting-room floor; but maybe not;

and no, I did not call him Rickie Stevie...

The discus-thrower, very famous

Bronze Dionysus

In addition to the hundreds of statues and busts, then

there were entire rooms of frescoes and mosaics, the

frescoes particularly intact and vibrant

A gorgeous Nile scene

Fresco dining scene

Throughout Rome's glory days, there were four and four

only major chariot-racing teams (Nero tried a league-

expansion but it didn't take): the Green, the Red, the White,

and the Blue (the Romans were definitely into the whole

brevity thing); anyhow, this mini mosaic is one of the few

representations of chariot-racing, their most popular mass

entertainment

The basement of the museum is mostly the coin collection--

something we generally don't get much into--but this one, and

the various apparati for examining the coins close-up, was

extensive, special, and well worth the time; after the "fall" of

Rome in 476, the Goths ruled, under the auspices of the

Eastern Emperor in Constantinople (the Empire didn't really

fall until 1453, but that's another story) and were authorized

to mint their own money; this is an example with Alaric

pictured

Incredibly fine gold work, with an illustration from Pompei that

we saw at the Naples Archaeological Museum

It's an incredible museum, but for us the most impressive

sight was this room, four walls of which were from a large

garden fresco scene in a villa, no doubt, the palette suggestive

of Monet, the subjects and perspectives nearly east Asian... 

Thus

And thus

Roman Roamin' IV

So Vicki arrived at Ostiense station, from Fiumicino,

per my directions, at about 13:30, Sunday, May 8; I

had been waiting at Binario 11, per our understanding, since

13:00; thrilled to be re-united, we took the Metro and bus back

to Laurentina and the campground, where, after valiantly

unpacking following a 20 hour trip, and 9 hours off schedule,

she crashed...

Next day, however, in jet-lag denial, we were out in central

Rome; she wanted to see the Pantheon again, something

I am always willing to do...

And the church of St. Mary Supra Minerva,

with an elephant obelisk (just like in Sicily) out

front; we conjecture the "supra" meant built

over a temple to Minerva; but it might mean

Mary superceding Minerva, which also fits

With its very, very forgettable Christ Bearing the

Cross, by Michaelangelo

But a moving scene of devotion

Not moved for long, we are back at the priestly

vestments store

Priestly undies (if you have ever wondered

about such things)

Marcus Aurelius' column; another of the good

emperors

Another detail of which

Every town has its eyesores; most  towns are nothing but

eyesores; but in Rome even the eyesores can look good in the

right light

Pantheon

I'm no architect nor historian, but I have always thought that the Pantheon, the temple to all the gods, is the greatest and oldest of all extant buildings, the most ingenious of the classical era, begun by Augustus and completed by Hadrian, who, some say, designed the great dome himself; the grandeur of Rome all in one place. No photo can capture it. But it is worth many.

From the back side it's not all that impressive--ignoring the fact it's 2,000 years old

The facade, begun by Augustus and his chief architect and son-in-law, Marcus 
Agrippa, is more promising

It's when you stand at the great 20 foot original bronze doors and gaze up at the 
sunlight blazing through the oculum, 140 feet overhead, and understand that the 
width of the rotunda is exactly equal to its height...that it begins to overwhelm you

As I said, no photo can do it justice

1500 years after the Pantheon was built, Brunelleschi--
who was attempting the great dome in Florence--was 
permitted to drill into the Pantheon's dome to see how 
it was done; here, I think, are the holes he left 

Rafael's tomb

Another exterior view