Monthly Archives: December 2008

The Pantheon and The Vittoriano

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This morning it was bitter cold, overcast, and windy, with on and off rain. We debated going into Rome, kind of afraid to leave Kosmos in the heavy wind. We decided we were being paranoid, though, and went.

The first thing on today’s list of sites to see was the Pantheon. We exited the Colosseum Metro station to see our connecting bus leaving. Darn. It was really cold and had started raining again, so we took shelter in a nearby café for some hot food and beverages to warm us up. After lunch, we caught a bus that dropped us a few blocks away from the Pantheon. Fortunately, we didn’t have to stand in the rain long.

On the walk over, we passed a statue of an obelisk strapped to the back of an elephant, quite similar to the one that we had seen in Catania. We are pretty sure that the obelisk in Catania isn’t a real Egyptian artifact. It just didn’t have that real Egyptian look to it. However, in passing by this statue, it was immediately evident to us that the obelisk had been pilfered from Thebes (Luxor), Egypt. It is made of the marble that is dominant in most of the temples in Thebes we saw, and it is inscribed with hieroglyphics, looking incredibly similar to the obelisks we had seen in Thebes. We checked Lonely Planet, and, sure enough, it is a real Egyptian obelisk dating from the 6th century BC. The statue was designed by famed sculptor Bernini.

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We can’t remember if Continue reading →

St. Peter’s Basilica

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Continued from yesterday… Then we hopped on the subway and went back to the Vatican, this time to see St. Peter’s Basilica. As we walked around the Vatican walls towards St. Peter’s, we noticed a white line painted in the street paralleling the walls. We think that is the border. We passed by the entrance into Vatican City, guarded by two real Swiss guards. Their uniforms are Continue reading →

The Roman and Imperial Forums

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Continued from yesterday”¦ The land the Roman Forums are built on had originally been a swamp between the Palantine and Capitoline hills. It was decided that Rome’s city center needed a more central location, so they built a series of canals that drained the swamp. The original Forum really was the city center — a shopping mall, civic center and religious complex. By 46 BC, the original Forum was Continue reading →

The Colosseum and The Palantine

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Yesterday we decided we needed a complete and total day of rest, a true Sabbath where you do absolutely nothing at all. It was what the doctor ordered. We awoke today feeling less tired and zombiesque and more like ourselves, though we didn’t feel totally back to normal, either.

This morning we took the train back into Rome. We went to the Colosseum first, a noticeably shorter subway ride than the Vatican. As you exit the “Colosseum” station, you are literally across the famous structure. We weren’t expecting it to be so close and we gaped in awe at it. Of course, we were immediately pegged as tourists and recruited to join a tour. The Colosseum, Palantine, and Roman Forums are all side by side and a guided tour of all three was only $17.00 USD each. They even gave us headsets so we could hear the tour guide. It was cheaper than getting the audio guide to all three places, so we joined the tour.

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The Colosseum tour was excellent. The guide did a good job. From the outside, the Colosseum looks exactly like the photos you have all seen. The theater was a Greek invention (semicircle around a stage) but the amphitheater (sticking two theaters together) was a Roman invention. The Colosseum held 50,000 70,000 people (depending on which source you site), but, believe it or not, was not the largest stadium built in their day. No one made another amphitheater as large as the Colosseum until the twentieth century.

The Colosseum was built by the Emperor Vespain to “please the people”, meaning to provide entertainment to distract people from their dreary lives. It was inaugurated in Continue reading →

The Vatican Museums – Part 2

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Continued from yesterday”¦ Going back to the dozen or so painted rooms “¦ Some of the rooms were chapels, some living quarters or offices of the popes. Most of these rooms were painted by incredibly famous artists, such as Raphael and Perugino. Most were done in roughly the same time period as the Sistine (late 1400’s through the 1500’s). Every inch of ceiling and wall were painted. Each painting had a religious theme. Something that really struck us as odd is that many of these paintings incorporated images of pagan Greek/Roman gods and goddesses, as well as Greek scholars and philosophers, alongside Jesus and bishops. There were also scenes depicting stories from pagan mythology, both Greek and Egyptian. We think the paintings are bizarre given how adamant the church was at destroying heretical pagan religious beliefs and repressing Greek knowledge. There are some bible scenes depicted, as well (of course). Probably the majority of the artwork was depictions of martyrdoms, conquests, miracles and other significant events from post bible Christian history. Every one of these rooms was spectacular. Every one of the rooms you could sit in for days just staring at the walls and ceilings before you really could fully take in and appreciate the artwork. Here are a couple photos. We know the paintings look small, but remember that these are whole entire walls in fairly large rooms.

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In addition to the regular tour, there were several optional galleries along the way, as well, usually doorways off to the side where you could leave the main trail. Every single optional gallery was huge, with a trove of exhibits. The Greek & Roman art gallery has Continue reading →