Lori and Tim in the UK

Vatican Tour and other churches in Rome

Vatican Tour

We booked a guided tour of the Vatican museums and St. Peter's Basilica since it was Easter weekend and we figured it would be crowded. The tour was ~ 3 hours long which exposes you to about 3.5 of the 9 miles of museum corridors. Certainly didn't get to see it all but we got the highlights.

St. Peter's Basilica dome from the museum entry. We loved the pine trees in the foreground and throughout Rome.. it reminded me of the San Francisco bay area.

This 1st-century Roman bronze "pine cone gives the name Cortile della Pigna to the highest terrace; it was an ancient fountain. Few bronze statues exist since most were melted down and reused for armament in the middle ages.

Cortile della Pigna courtyard.

A marble head of an ancient Roman. it used to sit atop a statue of concrete, which didn't survive.

Statues from ancient Roman times

The statue of Laocoon and his sons, the statue was one of the first pieces of the Vatican museum collected over 500 years ago. Michelangelo told the Pope at the time that his right arm was in the wrong position (he was a sculptor). In the early 1900's, a piece of marble was purchased at a bazaar, which was found to be the missing piece, and was reattached.

This is believed to be an early "thinker" statue.

The gallery of maps, which are hand-painted on the walls

The Gallery of Tapestries - It is divided into 3 rooms, and contains the so-called "New School" series of tapestries loomed after Raphael's death. This one is a tapestry of the Resurrection (1524).

Paintings by Raphael. The four rooms known as the Stanze of Raphael formed part of the apartment situated on the second floor of the Pontifical Palace that was chosen by Julius II della Rovere (pontiff from 1503 to 1513) as his own residence and used also by his successors. The pictorial decoration was executed by Raphael and his school between 1508 and 1524.

School of Athens by Raphael in the Raphael Rooms. The man sitting in the foreground is Michelangelo, who was painting the Sistine chapel when Raphael was painting this fresco.

The Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo Michelangelo was a sculptor and had to be encouraged to paint (The Pope allegedly told the mayor of Florence that they'd invade the city unless he changed his mind and painted the work). The ceiling, and the Last judgement painting over the altar were painted between 1535–1541. A few pics from the Internet below (no photos allowed inside)

The ceiling

Pope Francis was just elected pope in this room

St. Peter's Basilica.

Created by Michelangelo, the Pieta depicts the Virgin Mary holding her only son, Jesus Christ, in her arms. Prior to sculpting the Pieta, Michelangelo was not a very known artist. He was only in his early twenties when he was told, in 1498, to do a life sized sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding her son in her arms. In about two years, from a single slab of marble, Michelangelo created one of the most beautiful sculptures ever.

Pope John Paul II's tomb

Since it was the Saturday before Easter, there was a cross for veneration.

Remains of Pope John XXIII (Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli)

The foot of the statue of St. Peter near the altar (inaccessible on the day we visited). Tradition is to touch his foot (worn).

The Pope's altar. St. Peter's remains are buried underneath it.

Other Churches in Rome

Next, The Pope's cathedral, the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterno is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome and the official seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope.

The heads of St.Peter and Paul are supposedly buried in the top of the altar

Sancta Sanctorum

The Holy Stairs, wooden steps that encase white marble steps, are, according to Roman Catholic tradition, the staircase leading once to the praetorium of Pilate at Jerusalem, hence sanctified by the footsteps of Jesus Christ during his Passion. The marble stairs are visible through openings in the wooden risers. They were moved from Jerusalem to Rome in the 4th century by Saint Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine.

In 1589, Pope Sixtus V relocated the steps to their present location in front of the ancient palatine chapel (the Sancta Sanctorum). Tradition is that you crawl up the stair on your knees stopping at each level to say a prayer. We took the journey up the stairs as well.

San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in chains)

Michelangelo's Moses inside the church. Because of a translation error from Hebrew, "radiant' was thought to mean "horned", so Michaelangelo sculpted Moses with horns

The chains. There are actually 2 sets. One supposedly held St. Peter when he and Paul were in prison in Rome. The other supposedly are the set used when Herod jailed Peter in Jerusalem.

Santa Maria Maddalena
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The Roman Catholic church is named after Saint Mary Magdalene. It is located on the Via della Maddalena, one of the streets leading from the Pantheon.

Around Rome

Pics from Around Rome

Piazza del Popolo, near our Hotel

Our hotel, a good quiet location and semi-central to what we wanted to see

Our patio outside our room

The Tiber River that runs through Rome

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the 4 Rivers, in the Piazza Navona), designed by Bernini, under commission by Pope innocent X in 1650.

Castel Sant'Angelo, near the Vatican, is the Mausoleum of Hadrian, and was commissioned by the Roman Emperor as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum.

The Pantheon, built in 126 AD, is circular with large granite columns in front under the pediment. The rotunda inside, has a circular opening at the top, and still is the worlds largest unreinforced concrete dome. The base of the dome is 5 ft thick, which gradually gets thinner as it rises. given the year it was built, it's still a magnificent structure.

A typical street in Rome

A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the Trevi fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. This was the theme of 1954's "Three Coins in the Fountain" and the Academy Award-winning song by that name which introduced the picture.

One of the guides told us to look for old coffins used as water fountains..

The Mouth of Truth is an image of a man-like face, located in the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. The sculpture is thought to be part of a first century ancient Roman fountain, or perhaps a manhole cover, portraying one of several possible pagan gods. The most famous characteristic of the Mouth, however, is its role as a lie detector. Starting from the Middle Ages, it was believed that if one told a lie with one's hand in the mouth of the sculpture, it would be bitten off. This church is also home to the supposed relics of Saint Valentine.

The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium. It's 6 football fields long.

Tiber Island

View from the top of the Spanish Steps.

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

We took a tour of the ancient Rome ruins and the Colosseum. It was a little difficult to truly visualise what the ruins looked like other than the Colosseum which was still impressive.

The Colosseum is immense and was clad in marble and could accommodate 55,000 spectators who entered the building through over 80 entrances. Above the ground are four stories, the upper story contained seating for lower classes and women.

The lowest story was preserved for prominent citizens. The "ground" level was actually a wooden structure covered with sand. Below the ground were rooms with mechanical devices and cages containing wild animals. The cages could be hoisted, enabling the animals to appear in the middle of the arena.The southern side of the Colosseum was felled by an earthquake in 847. Parts of the building - including the marble cladding - were later used for the construction of other landmark buildings such as the St. Peter's Basilica and Palazzo Farnese. Games were held for a whole day or even several days in a row. They usually started with comical acts and displays of exotic animals and ended with fights to the death between animals and gladiators or between gladiators. These fighters were usually slaves, prisoners of war or condemned criminals.

Start of the tour outside of the Colosseum.

The guide told us that Roman dynasty lasted for 1000 years, 500 years of ascending to power, 300 years of power, and 200 years of decline.

The arch of Titus

The forum in its hey-day

The Forum today

The temple of Julius Caesar - this is where Marc Anthony had Caesar's body cremated after his death.

The stadium of Domitian's Palace

Back to the Colosseum - You're standing at ground level looking up at the stands. You can see the remains of the underground structures. The flooring was made of wood covered by sand. The Colosseum could also be flooded to recreate naval battles (and it also washed our the underground).