Sunday, April 17, 2011

Return to Vatican City

We had an 11:30 Friday morning admission to the Vatican Museums and were on the bus and in a thick traffic jam by 9 AM. When we got to the Laurentina Metro station, it was closed: a Metro transit worker strike! Perhaps the gods really don't want us to see the Vatican Museums, we began to think. But we joined forces with a Swedish couple who had found a bus, already quite crowded, headed into the city center, and hopped aboard. An hour later we hopped off, within walking distance, we thought, of the Vatican.

The bus passed right by the Pyramide, a monument put up by
an emperor or general in the later Empire








Interestingly, one does see Mussolini's name here and there








And everywhere in the old city, there are plots well below
street level, filled with ruins








This one, the "Sacred Area of Largo Argentina," is a whole
city block; four temple ruins








We have become far more discriminating about
whom we ask for directions; Vicki figured
these ladies might know which bus went to
Vatican City











The bus they recommended took us right to St. Peter's








And after another walk, the Vatican Museums,
and, no lines!












Finally, we're in, stopping at the first of many, many gift
stores

Friday, April 15, 2011

Santa Maria del Populo

On the northern side of the Piazza de Populo is the church of St. Mary del Populo, one of Bernini's architectural creations, where many of the era's elite Romans were buried, and also home to two more very famous Caravaggios.

Santa Maria del Populo







The dome








(Annibale) Caracci's Assumption (we like
the Caracci bros)










The church has two Caravaggios, facing each
other in a closed chapel, maybe 12 feet apart;
hardly viewable, and no pix, too (this and others
snagged off of Wikipedia); this is his crucifixion
of St. Peter; again demonstrating Caravaggio's
fondness for butt-shots











And this his "conversion on the road to
Damascus"; a horse butt-shot; I rest my case









Villa Borghese and Piazza del Populo

The next day we had reservations for the Villa Borghese, easily one of the world's greatest "small" museums, and living proof that while you can never have enough Bernini, it is possible to have too much Caravaggio. The Borghese collection has not merely a no pix policy; they actually confiscate your camera as you enter. So there will be no pix from me. Nevertheless, you can go to www.galleriaborghese.it to see photos of the major works. Vicki actually likes the Caravaggios; I liked his David and Goliath, and The Fruit. We both liked Bernini's Apollo and Diana, the most exquisite sculpture I have seen, and Canova's Pauline Bonaparte. I liked all the Bernini works. The museum has timed admissions and a two-hour limit, every minute of which we used. [See posts from later years...when they finally decided to permit fotos].
Pines of Rome, in the Villa Borghese park; Respighi has always 
been my favorite Italian composer








Villa Borghese









In the giftstore, Caravaggio's The Fruit











Back in the park, a very eclectic place








Nice Goethe statue, among many others











And everywhere you look, another obelisk;
Rome has nearly as many obelisks as churches











From the Belvedere, the King Victor Emmanuel monument,
a celebration of the newly united Italy's first ruler (1861),
completed in 1911, built over  both Roman ruins
and Catholic churches (the unification was completed
when Garibaldi's and Victor-Manny's armies defeated
the Papal armies; many Romans don't like Il Vittoriano








Looking down on the Piazza del Populo, from the Belvedere









In the Piazza; nice symmetry, huh?










Looking back to the Belvedere










Arch of the Via Flaminia, northern portal to the city

Palatine

While we had visited the Forum on earlier occasions, we had not ventured up the nearby Palatine Hill (whence comes our word "palace"). Its best known attractions are the views, the vestiges of earliest Rome and "Romulus' hut," Augustus' palace, and the emperors' stadium.
Looking down the hill toward the Coliseum and Arch of
Constantine








And in the distance, the Vatican








Post-holes like these go back to the 8th century BCE, the
time of the traditional founding of Rome; thus, what was
reverred even in ancient times as Romulus' hut









Model of mud-hut Rome in the Palatine museum








Interior of remains of Augustus' palace








Ceiling vault








More interior decoration









Ditto, detail











Top of Palatine Hill








Emperors' stadium

Foro Romano

The next day we undertook both the Forum and the adjoining Palatine Hill, which I will treat in separate posts.
The Arch of Titus, commemorating...








Victory over the Jews (who resisted desperately in the 1st
century)








One of my favorite views, the ruins of a late empire
basilika, actually just one of its wings...a domed building
the size of a football field









Looking up toward the Palatine Hill








Remains of the temple of the Vestal Virgins










In the sanctuary of the Vestal Virgins








Site where Julius Caesar's body was cremated; evidently some
people are still grieving








Looking toward the Temple of Saturn, the Arch of Septimius
Severus








One of the later Senate buildings








The Arch of Septimius Severus








Remains of the Temple of Saturn








Looking back to the Arch of Titus, across the length of the
Forum

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Coliseum

We have visited the Coliseum a couple times before, but it never fails to impress. Knowing a bit more of ancient engineering, construction, culture, et cetera, as we do now, made it even more interesting than past visits. Plus, as we have seen throughout Italy, the interpretative signage is getting very good. And in Engish too.
It's colossal










Aerial view of ancient Rome; the Coliseum is there in the
upper left corner (we chartered a time-travel helicopter)
Interior view, nave and crypt; the Coliseum wasn't quarried,
like most of ancient Rome, since some Christians had been
killed there


Us, there
More interior, including the travertine fourth level; travertine 
was the lightest of building materials (?)

Counter-weights for the 30-some lifts, used to
haul animals and other things into the arena

Roman graffiti
The nearby Arch of Constantine