May 12---last day in Rome

I began once again by boarding the #64 bus and going to Termini because I wanted to visit the Baths of Diocletian.  The most interesting part, to me, was the church designed by Michelangelo that had been part of the baths.  Today, it is very elaborate, as shown above.  I was there on a Sunday morning so, after a little exploring, I went to the Mass.  It was excellent, and I was glad I sat down a little early as "visitors" were held at the door and not seated in the pews, as I was.  I actually sat next to one of the most interesting features of the church, La Meridiana.  It was laid out in 1702 and points due north.  It acts as a sundial and is also a calendar.  A little ray of sun comes in through a hole cut high in the wall. It was overcast when I was there, so I didn't get to see it as it functions.  Here is a picture of a portion of it:

It is completely roped off as they don't want people walking on it.

After the Mass, I went to another church where I saw a famous Bernini statue showing Saint Teresa in ecstasy.  On a sunny day, the light shines in and illuminates her.  There is a quote printed out that explains Bernini's inspiration.  In that quote, Saint Teresa describes how she was pierced by an angel.  It is all very dramatic.  She felt pain and also ecstasy. I didn't take this picture. It wasn't that well-lit for me, but it is a beautiful statue and I could feel the emotion,

I then walked down the Via XX Septiembre laid out in 1870 to commemorate Italian nationalism.  I saw the Fountain of Moses which was quite dirty.  I didn't take a picture.  I then reached an intersection where there are four fountains.  It was pretty interesting.  I had expected a fountain in the center, but there were four fountains on building surrounding the intersection.  This is one of them:

This one is the goddess Juno.  

I continued on to the Palazzo del Quirinale which is the residence of the President of Italy.  It was open and tourable---but I didn't have reservations!  So I hung out for awhile in the Piazza del Quirinale which was great.  Here's a photo:

I then wound my way back to my favorite restaurant.  It was still pretty early, but Italians eat lunch late....particularly on the weekends.  I didn't write the name of it down, but I had polenta with meat sauce and it was amazing.  I was sitting outside and it started to rain and then hail, so I moved inside.  I had pretty much finished the polenta, but had a little more wine.  I left there and went to throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain since it was my last day in Rome.  It was still raining, but I threw in a euro.   I wandered back and (I love this) my polenta bowl was still on the table.  So Italian--why go out in the rain to clean up?  Just do it when the rain really stops.

I hopped back onto the #64 bus to go to my apartment.  It was very crowded!!!  Sad to say, I think that is when I lost my phone...or it was stolen.  We had been advised to be careful of pickpockets on that bus, so I guess it should have been expected...but it wasn't.  I had planned on taking uber to the airport, but you can't do that without a phone.  I remembered seeing a taxi stand near my apartment, so that is how I got to the airport the next morning and headed for home.

It was a great trip!!!

May 11--Pilgrim's Rome---three churches

Church of Santa Prassede

This is the church I wanted to see a couple of days ago, but it was closed.  I was glad I went back.  The exterior, shown above, was not particularly impressive.  But inside---WOW!  It was originally built in 522 AD, and had been remodeled during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.  What impressed me the most was the mosaics.  They show the Byzantine influence and are similar to those I had seen in Ravenna. I didn't get good pictures and couldn't find ones on the internet that would work.

Another important feature in this church is the Chapel of St. Zeno.  It is only illuminated when you put in a euro.  I had brought euros because I had read about it before arriving, but I still couldn't get a picture. I found this one on-line of the ceiling:

The chapel was small, but impressive and absolutely covered in mosaics.  It also has a relic that is purported to be fragments of a pillar that was used to flagellate Jesus.  Whether one believes that or not, this was a place of peace and serenity..

Church of San Giovanni in Laterno
The next church I went to was the first Christian church in Rome, opened in about 318 AD.  It was the home church of the popes and, until 1870, the popes were crowned here.  There is still a chair that a Pope sits in after election.  For example, Pope Francis sat there on April 7, 2013.

It is a huge church with a statue of Constantine on the portico.  I think that may be original, but not much of the church is now.  It has been remodeled many times.  The ceiling is from the Renaissance.  Statues of the apostles stepping out "to spread the word" are from the Baroque period, as is most of the interior.

It is pretty impressive and the "in Laterno" designation means that it was the seat of the Pope and the original cathedral of Rome.

Oh, I forgot to mention the "holy stairs."  They are near San Giovanni in Laterno and are said to be stairs that Jesus climbed on the day he died.  They were brought to Rome by Emperor Constantine's mother.  They were behind a locked gate when I saw them.  I hadn't planned on going up them anyway as you are supposed to go on your knees and say a prayer at each step.

Basilica of San Clemente
This was by far the most interesting of the churches I saw on this day.  It is a 12th century church built on top of a 5th century church built on top of a pagan temple.  The apse of the church is a mosaic with lots of gold.  Jesus is shown on the cross with the apostles as doves, the circular designs symbolize a Tree of Life, and there are animals and saints.

Another interesting art piece is in a chapel called the Chapel of St. Catherine.  It has frescoes all over it, including one by Masolino showing space perspective and telling a story of the martyred St. Catherine:

These perspectives were innovative at the time.  This blog is too long for me to elaborate on the story that is told.

Going down to the lower church from the fourth century, I saw more frescoes:

What is left of the fourth century church is modest, but beautiful:

And then I went to the Temple of Mithras:

This is another photo taken from the web.  It is a Mithraic temple. The pillar in the center is a reproduction and shows Mithras fighting a bull.  The cult of Mithras believed that he was responsible for bringing new life every Spring.  There were some other smaller rooms, but this is where the men (and it was only men) reclined and ate a ritual meal.  The ruins of this, and the fourth century church, were found by monks who were clearing out debris in the 19th century.   It is a real treasure.

May 10--Museo dei Fori Imperiali, Mortali/Immortali, Trajan

It was great to be part of a Road Scholar tour, but (by necessity) there were things I wanted to see that weren't included.  That is why I took a second week on my own.  I went to the Museo dei Foro Imperiali, which I had passed many times because it was close to the hotel.  I can see why Road Scholars didn't include it.  The museum itself is not that impressive.  There are lots of fragments of statues, columns, etc. and reconstructed statues.  The picture above is the upper interior with original arches.  It was part of Trajan's Forum.   There is a lot of natural light.  The lower floor has display rooms.  While I was there, there was a special exhibit titled "Mortali/Immortali."  It was a little confusing because it was about ancient Chinese treasures...which were not what I had come to see.

The truly spectacular thing is being able to walk out above Trajan's Market and Forum and take in some truly spectacular views....plus, it was a beautiful day.  Here's an example:

The Victor Emmanual Monument dominates the scene.  See that statue of a rider on a horse on the right?  I read that statue is so large that the moustache of the rider is five feet long.  But I was actually more interested in the remains of the Trajan's Market stalls in the foreground.  Trajan was Emporer 98-117 AD. In addition to the Market, there was a huge Forum.  I have to admit that I haven't taken the time to make distinctions of the various Fora---the Roman Forum, Caesar's Forum, and ones created by Augustus, Vespasian, Nerva, and this one by Trajan.

The above view interested me because it shows some of the excavation work going on now and also showcases some of the distinctive Italian pines.

In the view below, Trajan's Column is shown.  It was constructed during Trajan's reign and shows scenes of various military victories in a bas relief spiral going to the top.  It had a statue of Trajan at one time, but now the statue at the top is St. Peter.