Sightseeing in Rome: The Influence of Religion

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Question: In Rome, where the Catholic church has had such influence, how do the Romans view the church and religion (cultural theme)?



On the evening of July 28th, we took a bus to Campo di Fiorre where we were to meet our tour guide for our Twilight walking tour. While waited for our tour to start, we sat on the steps of a statue and listened to a live band play to the crowd at little restaurant tables nearby. Traditional Italian street music with a guitar, accordion, saxophone, tambourine, and clarinet.

Our tour guide spoke very good English, had a good sense of humor, and possessed a great deal of knowledge about the history of the city. We learned throughout the tour that many Romans don't think too fondly of the church and consider the Pope to be "the man," forcing the church and it's agenda on everyone whether they liked it or not. In Rome there are 392 churches with at least one church, if not more, for every piazza. Building a church or commissioning a work of art was a way for the rich families in town to show their status in the community and to gain political favors from the church. This is why the city is covered with lavish churches and endless amounts of artwork.

On the tour we got to see and learn about Campo di Fiorre, the Pantheon, Trevi fountain, and the Spanish Steps. Campo di Fiorre was a lower class piazza that served as a place of rebellion and liberal thinking. It is the only piazza in Rome without a church. The statue of Bruno in the center of the piazza is in memory of a heretic and intellectual who was burned there. The people built the statue even though the church opposed it. The epitaph reads "and the flames rose up". We noticed that in every piazza is a picture or statue or Mary (the mother of Jesus). Our tour guide explained In the evening we took a bus to Campo di Fiorre where we were to meet our tour guide for our Twilight walking tour. While we sat and waited for our tour to start we sat at the steps of the statue and listened to a live band play to the crowd at little restaurant tables nearby. Traditional Italian street music with a guitar, accordion, saxophone, tambourine, and clarinet.

Our tour guide spoke very good English, a good sense of humor, and a great deal of knowledge about the history of the city. Our tour also included a family from LA and from England, both of which were very friendly. The tour guide provide interesting insight and perspective and we were glad to listen. We learned how Romans didn't think too fondly of the church and consider the Pope to be "the man" that forced the church and it's agenda on everyone whether you liked it or not. In Rome there are 392 churches with at least one church if not more for every piazza. Building a church or commissioning a work of art was a way for the rich families in town to show their status in the community and to gain political favors from the church. This is why the city is covered with lavish churches and endless amounts of artwork. The corruption and hypocrisy of the church can be clearly seen when you walk into a church and there is a large central box for offerings to the church and a small tiny hidden box in the corner for offerings to the poor.

We also learned about how Romans pay 47% in taxes. Also, that since there are so many old buildings that need to be restored, companies will sponsor the restoration and use it as a billboard. The only condition is that the billboard must contain an exact photo of what is being restored underneath so people can still tell what the buildings look like. Also, many of the buildings utilize the existing architecture rather than tearing it down and replacing it.

On the tour we got to see and learn about Campo di Fiorre, the Pantheon, Trevi fountain, and the Spanish Steps. Campo di Fiorre was a lower class piazza that served as a place of rebellion and liberal thinking. It is the only piazza in Rome without a church. The statue of Bruno in the center of the piazza is in memory of a heretic and intellectual who was burned there. The people built the statue even though the church opposed it. The epitaph reads "and the flames rose up". In every piazza is a picture or statue or Mary (the mother of Jesus). Our tour guide explained that these images that served as a double meaning. He said that they were a reminder that God was always there, but also that the church was always watching (very much like Big Brother).

When we got to the Pantheon we found out it was closed but we still learned about it from the outside. The colossal columns of the Pantheon were amazing to see. We learned that the entire roof of the Pantheon was constructed of one piece of stone. Each of the columns took a tremendous amount of effort to transport since they came from Turkey and had to be rolled for miles and miles by slaves, rolled onto a boat, rolled miles and miles to where the Pantheon is today, and finally put into place. Many of the greatest structures the world has ever seen were built on the backs of slaves, a fact that is often overlooked. The Pantheon (meaning house of all gods) originally housed all 25 Roman gods. However, the church eventually had all of the gods removed and turned the Pantheon into a Catholic memorial with paintings and statues. From a historical perspective it is sad to think that some of the great ancient artifacts were destroyed and modified in order to be used as religious propaganda.

Next we went to Trevi fountains, which we both enjoyed. According to legend, if you throw a coin from your open right hand over your left shoulder into the fountain (with your back turned and without looking), you will see Rome again one day. We each threw a coin into the fountain. Seems a little like a tourist scam, but all of the money is used to feed the poor in Rome, so we didn't mind. It is interesting that even though this fountain is so old it is actually the newest structure in the piazza. Everything including the pharmacy building is older than the fountain.

Finally we went to the Spanish Steps, which lead up to a church on a hill. These steps were built by a rich family that hated climbing up the hill and getting dirty on the way to and from church. The steps were supposed to bring greater attention to the church, but, ironically, it is the steps that are famous and they actually take away from the focus on the church. "The Spanish Steps" is not the actual name of the steps, but a nickname given because they are in il piazza di Spagna, where the Spanish ambassador lives. We also learned in il piazza di Spagna that there are two ambassadors for every country, one for Rome and one for the Vatican. The Vatican and the grounds on which it sits are considered an entirely different country from the rest of Italy, and it is therefore given its own set of ambassadors.

When we got to the Pantheon we found out it was closed but we still learned about it from the outside. The colossal columns of the Pantheon were amazing to see. We learned that the entire roof of the Pantheon was constructed of one piece of stone. Each of the columns took a tremendous amount of effort to transport since they came from Turkey and had to be rolled for miles and miles by slaves, rolled onto a boat, rolled miles and miles to where the Pantheon is today, and finally put into place. Many of the greatest structures the world has ever seen were built on the backs of slaves, a fact that is often overlooked. The Pantheon (meaning house of all gods) originally housed all 25 Roman gods. However, the church eventually had all of the gods removed and turned the Pantheon into a Catholic memorial with paintings and statues. From a historical perspective, it is sad to think that some of the great ancient artifacts were destroyed and modified in order to be used as religious propaganda.

Through this tour, given by Romans to foreigners, it became clear to us that some Romans and Italians have a less than idealistic few of the Catholic church. To me, the church seems to do so much good in the world, both for those that are Catholic and for those who are not. However, it is also apparent that, throughout the history the church, it has acted both as a religious and political institution, and even it has been corrupted by the power that comes with being those things. As a Catholic, it was interesting to me to see the historical and less favorable perspective of my church in a country where I expected to see it idealized.

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