Traversing Trastavere

On Sunday we did Trastavere, partly for the ambiance, partly to see some of the great churches there. We had visited in 2011, under less deliberate circumstances, and wanted to spend more time in one of Rome's older neighborhoods.

After a long bus ride, 702 to 766 or somesuch, we got off in
Trastevere at the sight of a huge brocante market, one of the
largest we have ever seen; we only did a few blocks of it,
being overwhelmed and late for lunch

Frame store

Went on for blocks and blocks, two, sometimes three aisles,
off-shoots into side streets

Some clothing but mostly collectibles

Ambiance

We ate at a place call Otello, where the roasted artichoke was
a revelation

But the saltimbocca and Chef Boyardee slop were not

Contemporary ambiance

On a random alley

More ambiance

Antiquity never very far

A contemporary water feature facing the little church

Mostly, ambiance means gelato; here, a newer chain, but
with very high quality and matchless variety and innovation
in flavors

Arch at the back of the store

More antiquity

And the Tiber meandering through the city; we took another bus
up the hill to Circo Massimo and the metro from there back
home

Scala Sancti, Or, Holy Stairs, Batman!

Among the sights in Rome I had wanted to see, but never quite made it to, were the Scala Sancti, the Holy Stairs, brought back from Jerusalem by St. Helen, Constantine's mom, during one of her Mediterranean cruises. In 326 AD, to be precise. These are the stairs leading up to Pontius Pilate's palace, which Jesus ascended in order to be judged. And then descended. This is Golden Legend stuff, one assumes, but still one of those things one has to see.... Anyhow, they are just across the piazza from SS Johns Lateran, and despite the ongoing deluge, I was determined to see them.

Ever since we walked past them in the darkness
of our last evening in Rome, November, 2013,
I had thought these were the Holy Stairs;
wrong! they are just some stairs leading up
to some sort of papal palace of yore; the true
Scala Sancti are on the other side of the
building, which we discovered only toward
the end of our outing

In the Holy Stairs building, pondering an
assortment of stairs

Ascendant selfie

The true official story of the Sancta Scala; like all the rest of
the relics, saints, demi-gods, etc., they are walking it back
a bit...

Looking down the upstairs

Pilgrims crawling up the substitute Holy Stairs

For extra credit, climb on your hands only

The rest of the story

Save the Stairs!

Photo of a photo of the real Holy Stairs, now
being renovated; good enough for me

Still in the Lateran area, across from our bus stop, a great old
octagonal building, reminiscent of baptistries we've seen in
other cities

Sure enough, in which more confirmations are going on

Maybe next time

And just up the street, a quadruple arch building...Rome's
wonders are limitless

Archbasilica Of SS Johns In Lateran

So after Christianity was legalized, Constantine built (or converted) four large basilicas/churches in Rome in the early to mid 4th century: St. John Lateran, St. Mary Maggiore, St. Peters, and St Paul's Without the Walls. The original St. Peter's in gone, replaced by the current one; and St. Paul's was largely but faithfully rebuilt after a fire in the early 19th century. St. John Lateran and St. Mary Maggiore are pretty much the original Roman basilicas, if Baroque'n in later centuries. Apart from the architecture and antiquity, it is the mosaics that are of great age and interest in the two original basilicas. We last visited St. John in 2013, an abbreviated visit, since it was late, they were busy, etc. So while our clothes were being washed Saturday, we took the bus out to the Lateran. A second attraction was the Scala Sancti, the Holy Stairs, which we missed entirely in 2013: next post. Oh yes, the full and official name of this church is: the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of All Churches in Rome and in the World. Top that!

And there we are , after a long bus ride; "Lateran" refers not to latitude or latte,
but to the Lateranus family, whose estate Constantine obtained, probably under
some threat, way back in the day; strange how the name Lateran has held on...

St. Peter's and the Vatican get all the attention, but St. John Lateran is still the
oldest of the Papal churches and still the official seat of the Bishop of Rome;
seat, get it?!

The Lateran Piazza features the tallest of Rome's many
Egyptian obelisks; this one a trophy brought home by
Augustus

An old aqueduct nearby...

Anyhow, there's the cathedral, small by Vatican standards, but still pretty big;
interestingly, it's named for both the Johns, the Baptist and the Evangelist; this
is pretty rare, IMHO; in that Revelation was authored by at least three different
hands, it really is a plural St. Johns...

Knave view

Lined, both sides, by super-sized statues of the Apostles, done by Team Bernini

Chancel, etc.

The great half dome and mosaic are dark; but light shines upon
the cathedra of the Bishop of Rome

They were preparing for a celebration, so the lights were out

Organ

In the south transept

A very limited souvenir shoppe (unlike the Vatican, which is
a huge Catholic shopping center)

Nonetheless, St. John's has its amenities, unlike many cathedrals

The humongous bronze doors, originally from the Roman
Senate

Humongous statue of Constantine, outside on the porch; this is 
about all the credit he gets; his mom, St. Helen, got all the
glory; evidently pissed, he never officially converted and
later moved his capital to Constantinople; just a few generations
later, the Christian emperor outlawed all other religions...

We tarried for perhaps an hour; a crowd of very well-dressed people had gathered, 
no children, and so we were hoping for maybe a wedding; wouldn't that be special? 
Alas, there were no children because they were all in a holding tank elsewhere, 
not enduring the lengthy sermon and mass of Confirmation;  here, a nun reads 
scripture; outside, it was pouring down rain, so we tarried further

Holy head-gear and all

National Roman Museum, 2018

Among our favorite places in Rome is the National Roman Museum, which is located just a few steps from Termini, Rome's central station. We visited in 2011 (http://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2011/05/museo-nazionale-romano.html) and again in 2013 (https://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2013/11/national-roman-museum-2013.html). And again in 2018, on Thursday, May 3rd. Alas, we did not run into Rickie Stevie or anybody else of note this time but still savored what is one of the great museums. The pix I posted in 2011 and 2013 give a representative view of the holdings, so I'll just add a few new items here.

Flat-tops were very fashionable in Republican Rome

Also the severe look for the ladies

Among the sculpture halls

Hermaphrodite; always interesting to watch reactions as people walk around
him/her

Still our favorite, the four mural walls of Livia's Villa, its summer (subterranean)
dining room

Among the many impressive mosaics

Across the street, the Baths of Diocletian, now a Mary church, designed
by Michaelangelo

Incredibly fine gold work

Votive cups with itineraries; clever marketing ploy

Near Cavour we found another new gelato joint; very trendy
vegan gelato, cacao concoctions