Roma

Roma

Well, Rome is a city that everyone feels they must see in their life time, and I am glad that I went and saw all the history, but I don't really think I will go back. I felt that Rome is such a dirty city and the people are all rude and it is so over priced. I just think this is a city that you want to spend as little time in as possible. 4 days was too long of a stay for me. But, I don't want to give you the impression that I hated every minute of it. These are my favorite memories of the city.

Ancient City

 Roman Forum and Palatine Hill: The Roman Forum (Foro Romano/Latin: Forum Romanum) is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum. For centuries was the center of Roman public life: elections, venue for public speeches, trials, and the nucleus of commercial affairs. It has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world and in all history. Located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills the forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archeological excavations attracting numerous sightseers. Many of the most important and oldest  structures of the ancient city were located on or near the Forum.

Arch of Constantine

Temple of Castor and Pollux

 Temple of Augustine

Arch of Tito

Temple of Saturn

A view of the Forum from the Temple of Saturn

Temple of Vesta

To me it was just unbelievable that I was among buildings and temples that dated back all the way to the 700's BC. I can't even really wrap my mind around the age of these buildings or how they were built back then. I mean they definitely didn't have machinery back then like we do now.

Arch of Septimius Severus

Palatine Hill Palace

Bronze door of the Palatine Hill Palace

Colosseum

Originally the Flavian Amphitheater (Anfiteatro Flavio o Colosseo/Latin: Amphitheatum Flavium) is an elliptical amphitheater in the center of the city of Rome. The largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering. Just East of the Roman Forum its construction started in 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80AD under Titus, with further modifacations mad during Domitian’s reign (81-96) The name “Amphitheatrum Flavium” derives from both Vespsian’s and Titus’s family name (Flavius, from the gen Flavia). Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine. Although in the 21^st century it stays partially ruined because of damage caused by devastating earthquakes and stone robbers, the Colosseum is an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome. It is one of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions and still has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the pope leads a torchlit “Way of the Cross” procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum. Also, it is depicted on the Italian 5 cent euro. 

It is fantastically giant. This picture almost makes it seem small until you see the people waiting to get in it.

The Colosseum is being restored so that it doesn't fall apart in the next 1,000 years. This is awesome and at the same time a little sad.

Most of the Floor of the Colosseum was removed or already gone. You can now see the underground chambers.

The Colosseum is HUGE!! Look at all the little people in there.

The view while going through the archways.

I know I have been going on and on about how huge it is, but none of the other pictures really got the point across. Here is a picture not all zoomed out like before with Eric for scale.

Vatican

 the world’s smallest state, center of Catholicism, and home to the Pope. The Vatican museum is known worldwide.

1st I will start off by saying that the Papal Swiss Guards look absolutely terrifying... I do really like their boot covers though... 

The Vatican also has their own police force. Again, terrifying.

The view of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica from the Vatican Museum's garden. 

This bronze ball is called "sphere within a sphere" The artist has not told the public what the significance is so that it is left up to the interpretation of the people. I liked that. It was really awesome looking, but I thought it was a little out of place in the gardens. It rotates around though leaving some to think that the inside sphere is the world and today's society is the outside sphere, others think that it is actually a criticism on today's Christianity and a joke that it was placed in the Vatican Museum's Garden. 

I loved this statue. It was just so random to me. 

The art in the Vatican Museum was the most amazing collection that I have ever seen. And is one of the biggest collections of art in the world. It was started by Pope Julius II in the early 16th Century.

 The ceilings in the Museum were amazing. I loved when we were about to walk into the hall with the ceiling of the pictures below. Our tour guide said, "alright the carved ceiling behind me is from the 17th century. Ok, I just lied to you. The ceiling behind me isn't carved at all. It is painted. I know! Amazing!" I thought this was so funny, and the ceiling is absolutely amazing.

St. Peter’s Square:

Piazza San Pietro. This grand and magnificent square has retained its classical beauty and serves as the place from which the masses receive the Pope’s weekly blessing.

I thought the square was just breathtaking. I loved it. I mean all the buildings are absolutely giant and they are just so interesting to look out. I feel like you could spend all day just in the square. 

Because everything is so huge around you in the square you feel small. And I mean even though I'm pretty sure the intent of all the grand buildings isn't to make you feel small (I think it's to make the church seem very important) I think this is a good feeling. I didn't feel insignificant in the square, but it did make me think that no I wasn't the center of the universe and there were bigger things out there. I think this is a pretty cool thing to think while in a holy state such as the Vatican

The view of the square from the front of St. Peter's Basilica. 

This is St. Peter's Square before the start of the Papal Mass. It's a lot different than the picture above it right?

St. Peter’s Basilica

the Papal Basilica (latin: Basilica Sancti Petri) officially known in Italian as Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano. It is Late Renaissance church located within Vatican city. Saint Peter’s Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian Church in the world. While it is neither the mother church of the Roman Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, Sain Peter’s is regarded as one of the holiest Chatholic sites. It has been described as “holding unique position in the Christian world” and as “the greatest of all churches of Christendom”. In Roman Catholic tradition, the basilica is the burial site of its namesake Saint Peter, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and, according to tradition, was the first Bishop of Rome and therefore first in the line of the Papal succession. Tradition and some historical evidence hold that Saint Peter’s tomb is directly below the altar of the basilica. For this reason, many Popes have been interred at St Peter’s since the Early Christian period. There has been a church on this site since the 4^th century. Construction of the present basilica, over the old Constantinian basilica, began on 18^th April 1506 and was completed on 18^th November 1626. St Peter’s is famous as a place of pilgrimage, for its liturgical functions and for its historal association. It is associated with the papacy, with the Counter-reformation and with numerous artist, most significantly Michelangelo. As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the greatest building of its age. St. Peter’s is on one of the four churches of Rome that hold the rank of Major Basilica. Contrary to popular misconception, it is not a cathedral as it not the seat of a bishop, the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome is located in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. 

The basilica is just massive! It is beautiful outside and in. I was actually lucky enough to go to a Papal Mass here at St. Peter's Basilica. I didn't take pictures during the mass. I didn't feel right doing that. I did love the mass though. Not really because it was presided over by the Pope, but because when it came to the time of the mass where everyone says "Peace be with you" to one another it was a very eye opening experience for me. Everyone who I shook hands with spoke a different language than me. We were all there at the same time in the same place and shared a moment of peace and love towards each other; not because we knew each other or because we even spoke the same language, but because we all believed in the same things. We were all there because we had faith and this was the most religious and touching moment that I have had in any church ever.

The alter inside St. Peter's was just ridiculously huge. All these pictures were taken when I went back to the Basilica for a tour.  

With all the tourists walking around this place no longer really felt that religious, but what I did like is that all around the basilica rooms were shut off from the main room so people could pray. These small quiet places for prayer did feel extremely religious. They were almost overwhelming.

There was so much art and decoration in the Basilica, but I loved this piece a lot. This really gives the affect of Jesus looking over us all.

The rooms/ceilings/walls were all so decorated. It is definitely a distracting place for mass.

I loved the confession booths in the basilica. They are gorgeous. It has been years since I gave a confession, but I think I would give one in here.

This decorative grate in the Basilica might seem a little weird, but if you either know people or have the money for it you can tour the catacombs under St. Peter's Basilica. The Necropolis under the Basilica is where St. Peter himself was buried.

La Pieta

 The most beautiful work inside St. Peter’s Basilica is Michelangelo’s famous La Pieta. Considered by many to the most moving piece of sculpture ever created. 

This was an absolutely breathtaking sculpture. I mean I can't believe it was just one piece of stone before being carved. I did however wish it hadn't been behind glass. It made it feel more like a museum piece than a religious art piece in one of the holiest places in the world.

Sistine Chapel (latin: Sacellum Sixtinum/Italian: Cappella Sistina)

 is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists includeing Michealangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturichio and others. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted 1,100 sq m (12,000 sq ft) of the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. The ceiling, and especially the last judgment (1535-15410, is widely believed to be Michelangelo’s crowning achievement in painting. The chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who restored the old Cappella Magna between 1477 and 1480. During this period a team of painters that included Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli and Domenco Ghrilandaio created a series of frescoed panels depicting the life of Moses and the life of Christ, offset by papal portraits above the trompe I’oeil drapery below. These paintins were completed in 1482, and on 15^th August 1483, Sixtus IV celebrated the first mass in the Sistine Chapel for the Feast of the Assumption, at which ceremony the chapel was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Since the time of Sixtus IV, the chapel has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today it is the site of the Papal conclave, the process by which a new Pope is selected. 

The painting that are squares in the middle are the ones done by Michelangelo and the of course the last judgment is the huge painting with the blue sky behind it. The blue that is the same blue that appears in many of the paintings is actually the original color of the chapel. Michelangelo painted the Pope as the devil in the last judgment because he was so mad that the Pope forced him to paint in the chapel again and near the very end of his life.

Oh and pictures aren't really allowed... One of the people in my tour group got caught taking a picture and he got taken away by a Vatican Guard.

Pantheon

 commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD. The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered, concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Panthon’s dome is still the world’s largest oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 meters (142ft). It is one of the best-preserved of all Roman buildings. It has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7^th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Roman Catholic church dedicated to “St. Mary and the Martyrs” but informally known as “Santa Maria della Rotonda”. The square in front of the Panthon is called Piazza della Rotonda. Dedicated to the 7 planetary divinites and featuring an interior of gorgeous marble, the Partheon is one the most impressive monuments of Augustan Rome. 

I didn't really like like it looked all the impressive from outside, but hey what do I know?

I like this picture because you can kind of see the rotunda part of the Pantheon behind the Roman facade. 

This was the most impressive part of the Pantheon for me. I loved that there was actually a huge hole in the middle of the ceiling. While we were there we there it was slightly raining, so there was a big blocked off square in the middle of the floor because it was wet. I guess that is the downside to having a huge whole in your ceiling.

It was a religious place, but because it was just crawling with tourists, myself included, it didn't feel like a religious place at all.

Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi)

A fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy. Standing 26 meters (85.3 feet) high and 20 meters (65.6 feet) wide. It is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world.

The Fountain really was quite spectacular, however you had to fight the huge crowds of tourists to even get close to it. I think this is a fantastic attraction in Rome. Also, I liked that this fountain had quite a bit of movement in it. And the building that it is on is pretty fantastic itself without the fountain.

Not as famous/not famous things that I really liked

Victor Emmanuel Monument

This building is just impressive looking. We saw the top/back of it while we were in the forum. There were people on the roof, so we decided that we had to go up to the top also.

I really liked these pictures with the Italian Flag and the decorative statues on the building.

One of the statues on top up "close". It is still above you while you are on the roof. But it is absolutely giant. I mean you can see it really well from the ground.

First in this picture you can see how high up we are and the piece of grass I took the picture of the building from. But second like this picture of this street. Its not quite straight. I like that.

Random Fountain 

I really liked this fountain. I thought it was fun. And the thing about big cities with lots of history is that if something isn't super famous or done by someone super famous not really takes notice of it. Which I mean I have definitely been guilty of that, but I also really think that is sad.

I was so freakin glad to leave Rome. It wasn't that I hated every minute of it obviously, but it wasn't an enjoyable city. Also, I was so glad to return to a place where I could speak the language.