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.