On a church crawl!

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Geo: 41.8955, 12.4823

This was a huge day, to tick off so much that we still wanted to see in Rome - so we headed off on a Church Crawl.....like a pub crawl, but very different!!!!

Cathy guided us onto the bus (still love getting on the bus at the Colosseo!!!) past the Forum and around Piazza Venezia (The Victor Emanuele II monument, or the Typewriter!) and onto the Church of the Gesu - HQ of Jesuits around the world. It is a beautiful, ornate baroque church, built in the 1500s, on the site of a smaller church where St Ignatius prayed in front of a painting of the Virgin Mary (the painting is still here). The kids also saw a familiar site - the arm of St Francis Xavier, which (as part of the Holy Year of Grace) visited the school last year and grossed the kids out! Still did it, this time!!

We then walked along the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, past the Largo di Torre Argentina - a square that has four Roman temples from the 4th to 1st centuries BC, and perhaps the remains of the Curia and Pompey's Theatre - which is where Julius Caesar was stabbed). Most interesting to the kids (Matt) is that there is now a cat santuary in the Largo - hundreds of wild cats are fed there and make their homes amongst the ruins.

Further down the Corso is the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, which is a beautiful Baroque church. It is the setting for Act One in the opera Tosca (which ends at the Castel S'Angelo), and was for a long time the third largest dome in Rome (after St Peters and the Pantheon). Just beautiful!

Down the side of the Sant'Andrea, we went along a street called Via de Grotta Pina - this street is still in the shape of a theatre, and is also thought to be the theatre of Pompey, meaning that the Passetto del Briscione is where Caesar was stabbed.

It was cold, and emerging into the sunshine and bustle of the Campo di Fiori was the perfect breakfast spot. We loved the markets - the fresh veges were very interesting, and we watched the old ladies preparing the puntarelle (a Roman specialty chicory salad vegetable, served with an anchovy based vinaigrette). Lots of fun looking at and buying some souvenirs (gloves for Georgia, a Roman centurian apron for Matthew) and great coffee.

Then we went for a walk past Palazzo Farnese (now the French embassy), down to the via Guilia (which was an early town planning attempt to create a straight street to connect government offices, and a Farnese plan to join the Palazzo Farnese to the Farnesina on the other side of the river), back to campo dei Fiori and a biscuit shop, then to Piazza Navona.

Piazza Navona - I could sit in the sun here for hours! Unfortunately, we didn't have time this time - next time, I think I will come to Rome for a month so I can sit and take my fill! This wonderful open space was once a Stadium where ancient romans came to watch chariot races, and in the middle ages, a rich family had the piazza flooded for its summer celebrations. The Bernini Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) is wonderful - the 1st century BC obelisk is held up by four river gods - Nile (with his face covered as the source of the Nile hadn't been found), the Danube, the Ganges and the Rio. Apparently, Bernini didn't like Borremeo's (his rival) work at Sant'Agnese so the river god facing it is cowering in fright/distaste.

From there, we went to the French Church - San Luigi In Francese to see the Caravaggio paintings depicting the life of St Matthew, then to Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza (the patron saint of lawyers, and a beautiful light filled star shaped Baroque church - very different to all the others) to the Piazza della Rotonda to see the Pantheon - thought of you, Mark and Tracey Perissinotto (who had this as their wedding cake). The light, the size, the space, the amazing fact that this was built 2000 years ago, and yet is still the largest non-reinforced concrete dome in the world - it blows me away every time...This is a building that has been in continuous use for 2000 years, and is truly timeless.

Cathy kept us moving, and we ducked around the corner to see the Elephant and Obelisk - it is the shortest of the 8 ancient Egyptian obelisks in Rome, and is supported on a Bernini-designed statue of an elephant. Then into Santa Maria sopra Minerva - a church built on the remnants of a temple to Minerva. It is beautiful Gothic church - I love the blue sky ceiling, with a statue of Christ the Redeemer by Michaelangelo and the body (less the head!) of St Catherine of Siena - we'd seen her head in Siena in 2010.

By then, we were flagging....and a fantastic table at a restaurant right on the piazza della Rotonda was available. Sitting in the sun, the smell of pizza cooking, with a view of (another) Egyptian obelisk and the Pantheon, with Cathy and Steven and the kids - heaven!

We then went another couple of blocks to see the Saint Ignatius church - this baroque styled church was built in the 16th century, and has the most wonderful ceiling. The trompe l'oeil paintings are wonderful - last time we were here, the children lay on the floor to properly appreciate them, and I think this would be the best way to take it all in. And there is also the fake dome - apparently, a real dome would have blocked a view of some nuns, or the Jesuits didn't have the money - in any case, it is a very clever painting which tricks your eyes to seeing a large dome - just wonderful.

Did you think the church crawl was done - not at all! We jumped on a bus to cross back towards home, to San Giovanni in Laterano. This is one of the oldest churches - it has been a basilica since 324AD - and is the first of the four papal basilicas of Rome (the others are St Peter's (the Vatican), St Paul Outside the Walls and Santa Maria Maggiore). It is also the throne of the Popes - all cardinals have a church in Rome, and the Pope's church is always San Giovanni in Laterno. The popes lived at this basilica from 324AD until thr flight to Avignon in 1309. The basilica was sacked and burned whilst the popes were in exile - it was rebuilt in the 1600s, and is truly massive in size - the second largest in Rome (after St Peter's) and one of the largest in the world. The High Altar can only be used by the Pope, and contains a relic of the communion table of St Peter, and the baldacchino which hangs over the High Altar contains a reliquary with the heads of St Peter and St Paul. The Altar of the Holy Sacrament contains a cedar table that is said to be the one used by Christ at the Last Supper.The kids were very impressed with the enormous statues of the saints- which didn't seem huge until we stood below them!

The obelisk outside Laterno (to the side, where we caught the bus, in the Piazza John Paul II) is from 15th century BC, and is the tallest obelisk in Rome and the largest standing ancient Egyptian obelisk in the world, weighing 455 tons. It stood for centuries in the Circus Maximus, but fell in the 5th century AD and lay hidden in mud for 1000 years.

And we still had more churches to see! We walked down to Santa Croce in Gerusalemme - again, such an old church as it was built in 325AD to hold the relics brought to Rome by St Helena (mother of Emperor Constantine). She brought boatloads of soil from Jerusalem with her, and covered the floor of the basilica, so it is said to be "in Jerusalem". The relics here were incredible. I'm not sure what I think of relics, but if they were to be true, a mother of the Emperor would have got them, and only 300 years after the death of Christ.....We saw part of the sign from above the Crucifix, thorns from the Crown of Thorns, a nail from the Cross, parts of the Cross, the index finger that St Thomas placed in the side of Christ, some of the Holy Sepulchre and part of the crib of Jesus. Who knows....There's been a scandal at Santa Croce in recent years - the abbot (a "flamboyant former Milan fashion designer"!) apparently transformed the church by opening a hotel and holding concerts and televised bible-reading marathons....

We then went home briefly, to meet Ian, before heading out to enjoy our last night in Rome - going across to Trastevere (a revitalised part of town!) - and one more church before our meal - Santa Maria in Trastevere (another of the four major basilicas). I have to 'fess - my head was spinning by this point, and now, writing the blog, I can't remember if we were able to go in to see the mosaics or not... Dinner was lovely, at a small restaurant where the food was fantastic, and the company outstanding - it has been so special to have this time with Ian and Cathy....

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