"CIAO ROMA"
The old saying goes when in Rome do as the Romans do, unfortunately we did as the tourist do on our trip here with the intentions on going back for a second visit. There is just so much to take in that we really didn't have the time to get off the tourist trails. If you have lived in Italy as I have which I'll cover in my upcoming post you will find that the Italian's as in any other country are a lot more expressive in their natural surroundings and I would suggest to anyone, many of you are probably already are aware getting to know the real people in any country its best to get off of the beaten path of the tourist and go to the places that the locals frequent.
I have to admit that we were not able to visit the Colosseum our lost because even to this day its one the most talked about buildings from the Roman era. In fact the word "Colosseum" is the most popular search term for any building on the internet (or so Italian tourism would have us believe). You might be asking yourself; Why was the Colosseum built? The building of the Ancient Roman Colosseum was widely regarded as a political move of the time, intended for entertaining and, possibly more importantly, distracting Rome's population from more serious issues of the time such as oligarchy, nepotism and corruption in the senate and church (hmmm, some things don't change).
After some schemes that fell through by previous Popes (a wool factory for Rome's prostitutes, and even a bull ring) Pope Benedict XIV declared the site a place were Christians had been martyred (even though there is no documentation of this and historians negate this supposition) and thereby consecrated the building to the Passion of Christ and installed the Stations of the Cross.(To this day on Easter Friday the Pope leads the Stations of the cross, and a meditation is read at each of the fourteen stages of Christ's passion situated around the Perimeter of the Roman Colosseum.) So as you can see it is almost a must to fit this in on your trip to Rome.
The main objective of our visit was the Vatican City which in itself made our drive from our home in beautiful Zovencedo well worth the trip.
Once again I save my hometown for future post :)Vatican City is a day affair with so much to see, the history of Rome is beyond belief but I'll try not to get into a history lesson but stay on the fun and excitement of just having the opportunity to visit.
The Museums alone can take you all day which also include the Gallery of Tapestries, a collection of various 15th and 17th century tapestries; the Gallery of Maps, decorated under the pontificate of Gregory XIII (1572-1585) and restored by Urban VIII (1623-1644); the Sobieski Room and the Room of the Immaculate Conception; the Raphael Stanze and the Loggia, which were decorated by order of Julius II and Leo X (1513-1521); the Chapel of Nicholas V (1447-1455), painted by Fra Angelico; the Sistine Chapel, which takes the name of its founder, Pope Sixtus IV; the Borgia Apartment, where Pope Alexander VI lived until his death (1492-1503); the Vatican Pinacoteca, created under Pius XI (1922-1932) in a special building near the new entrance to the Museums; the Missionary-Ethnological Museum which was founded by Pius XI in 1926, arranged on the upper floors of the Lateran Palace and later transferred, under Pope John XXIII, to the Vatican where it has been opened again to the public in the same building which housed the former Lateran collections. In 1973 the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Religious Art was added and inaugurated by Pope Paul VI (1963-1978) in the Borgia Apartment. The Vatican Historical Museum, founded in 1973 and transferred in 1987 to the Papal Apartment in the Lateran Palace, houses a series of papal portraits along with objects of the past Pontifical Military Corps and of the Pontifical Chapel and Family and historic ceremonial objects no longer in use. The Carriage and Automobile Museum is a section of the Vatican Historical Museum. In the year 2000, the Vatican Museums opened a new large entrance that provides visitor information and other services; on display are many new artworks, two of which were specially created for this grand entrance hall.It's hard to stay away from bring up the history of Rome as I take you trough a tour in this post. So as not to bore you with history here are a few pictures, a picture can be worth a thousand words !
Vatican City Guards.
Saint Peter's Basilica.
The Atlante Star Hotel where we stayed was a great location near Vatican City and a very reasonable price.
A view from the hotel restaurant.
The dome of St. Peter's was designed by Michelangelo, who became chief architect in 1546. At the time of his death (1564), the dome was finished as far as the drum, the base on which domes sit. The dome was vaulted between 1585 and 1590 by the architect Giacomo della Porta with the assistance of Domenico Fontana, who was probably the best engineer of the day. Fontana built the lantern the following year, and the ball was placed in 1593.
The great double dome is made of brick and is 42.3 metres in interior diameter (almost as large as the Pantheon), rising to 120 metres above the floor. In the early 18th century cracks appeared in the dome, so four iron chains were installed between the two shells to bind it. The four piers of the crossing that support the dome are each 60 feet (18 meters) across.
parabola: it has a vertical thrust, which is made more emphatic by the bold ribbing that springs from the paired Corinthian columns, which appear to be part of the drum, but which stand away from it like buttresses, to absorb the outward thrust of the dome's weight. Above, the vaulted dome rises to Fontana's two-stage lantern, capped with a spire.
For those of you who were wanting to know what the Pope is up to these days !
Madrid, Spain, Jul 30, 2011 / 06:26 pm (CNA).- Sixty children dressed in the uniform of the Swiss Guards will welcome Pope Benedict XVI during World Youth Day this August in Madrid.
The director of the group, nicknamed the “Young Swiss Guards,” told Fides news agency that the group was born out of affection for the Pope after John Paul II’s first visit to Spain in 1982.
Bl. John Paul II visited the country again in 1993 and 2003, always accompanied by the young Swiss Guards.
The group will welcome the Pope at the airport in Barajas, Spain and will greet him there at the end of World Youth Day.
Their uniforms took about 5,000 hours of work to create and used more than 450 meters of fabric and 4,200 meters of fabric tape.
Unlike their young imitators, the Pontifical Swiss Guards number 110 and are responsible for the Pope’s safety. They guard his home and assist him during important ceremonies celebrated in the Vatican.
The guard marked its 505th anniversary in January. On Jan. 22, 1506, 150 Swiss soldiers entered the Vatican at the request of Pope Julius II. It is the oldest standing army in the world.
Just "Me" loving being surrounded by so much history.
We were really taken with the city and the many sites they have to offer in Roma.
As the Sun sets on the City it was time for us to take a seat and rest awhile (below).
Such a beautiful City...
"Ok" my friends this is a very quick tour of a must see city "PEACE." ARRIVEDERCI ROMA !
