Heart of Rome and other Rome, Italy Things to Do Tips

This piazza seems to be the traffic center of Rome. We stopped here for a refreshing beer and some great people watching - there were people everywhere, cars from all directions and of course hundreds of the ubiquitous Vespas. In the center of it all, on a pedastal in the middle of the intersection was a traffic cop dressed in black trousers, white shirt, helmet and gloves. Watching him direct (?) the traffic, we felt that there should be some lively and grand symphony as background to amplify his dramatic waves, whistles and gestures. The piazza also faces the huge Victor Emmanuel monument and the balcony from which Mussolini delivered his ranting speeches and stirred up the Fascists into a rabid mass.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Near intersection of via del Corso and Plebescito Battisti

The Campidoglio or Capito Hill is a great piece of archtecture by Michelangelo. It is entered by this magnificent staircase leading up from the Piazza Venezia. At the top you are greeted by a huge statue of Marcus Aurelius and his horse. The buildings are magnificent Renaissance structures built as the seat of govenment. I understand they are still used for this purpose. While we were there we saw a young couple having wedding photos made. We had also seen a wedding party at the Forum. What a great setting for a wedding! And it is great to see that these places are not dead memorials but part of the life of the city,

Leave a Comment

This mammoth structure is a monument to Victor Emmanuel, the first president of the unified Italy, built around the turn of the 20th C probably in hopes of being a unifying symbol of the marriage of the various regions that comprise present day Italy. It is massive and starkly modern compared to some of its surroundings but is not unattractive. It backs up to the Campidoglio and the Forum and faces Piazza Venecia. I read that the locals have various names for it: "the wedding cake," "the typewriter" and "the dentures." You can get some idea of its size by seeing how small the automobiles are in front of it.

Leave a Comment

Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is the only Gothic church in Rome, but you have to go inside to appreciate it. It is very unimposing from the outside, but a magnificent place inside. It was built in the 8th C over the ruins of an ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Minerva. It has several distinctions apart from its beauty. The obelisk in the photo is a 6th C Egyptian one which is mounted on a Bernini elephant and topped with a cross. I am always glad to see these ancient works preserved (even though they were doubtless acquired by devious and/or violent means) but I wish they wouldn't feel like they have to baptise them all with a cross. Also, inside the church is a Michelangelo statue of Christ, a Fra Lippo Lippi fresco of scenes from the life of St. Thomas Aquinas and the body of St. Catherine of Siena.

Leave a Comment

Address: Piazza della Minerva
Directions: southeast of the Pantheon

In the Palazzo dei Conservatore, which is one of the world's oldest museums (500 years), is the 5th Century BCE "Etruscan Wolf" bronze with nursing figures of Romulus and Remus which were added by Pollaiuolo in the 15th C. Legend has it that Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus (no relation to Uncle Remus). They are said to be the twin sons of the god Mars and one Rhea Silvia who had been dedicated as a vestal virgin by her uncle who had deposed her father, the king. Imagine his surprise and outrage when she gave birth! She was imprisoned and the twins were cast adrift in the Tiber (shades of Moses). The Tiber flooded, the twins basket washed up around what is now Rome where they were found by a woodpecker and the she-wolf who nursed them until they were found and raised by a herdsman and his wife. Isn't this pretty much the way your home town was founded too?

Leave a Comment

Address: Capitoline Hill

A visit to the Forum was the first thing on our agenda when we arrived in Rome. We wandered around open-mouthed for about an hour and a half. I am sure this is overstating it, but we felt like we were ind the cradle of Western civilization. It is hard to imagine all that took place here, but it feels like you are walking where Nero, among countless Caesars, ruled, plotted and had lunch. In the photo is the massive Arch of Titus, celebrating the Roman victory over the Jews in 70 AD. It is also a reminder of the struggles of the Jews for several millenia and reminds us that so many of the problems, aninosities and sufferings of the past are still with us today.

You can see the size of this monument from my appearing dwarfed by it on the steps.

Leave a Comment

For 1200 years Rome's Pantheon dome was the largest in Europe - until Brunelleschi did his magnificent one on the Duomo in Florence. This site was probably an ancient gathering place as it was where two streams converged. Now there is a small piazza in front ot the Pantheon with an ornate fountain in the center of which is an obelisk (probably looted from somewhere in North Africa). Of course a cross has been added to the top as the Pantheon was made a church in the 7th C. The circular interior is lined with alternating tabernacles and chapels (I don't know the difference excep the chapels are larger) all of which are devoted to ornate tombs, beautiful paintings, magnificent sculptures and impressive memorials to great figures in Roman and/or church history. Touring them is like wandering through the history of the place and viewing wonderful works of art by many of the great artists of the day. The first Pantheon was built in ght 1st C BCE but was destroyed by fire and this one rebuilt in the 2nd C.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Just east of Piazza Novona

St. Peter's is probably the most impressive church in the world. Its sheer size is incredible: over 600 feet long, 400 feet wide and cover over 6 acres. Of course it is holy ground for Christians all over the world and also for anyone who appreciates great art. Michelangelo of course designed the overwhelming dome, his Pieta is here and Bernini did the large bronze canopy which towers 70 feet over the high altar which is over St. Peter's tomb. A little further behind the altar is St. Peter's throne with Bernini's starburst dove window above.

I was sorry not to get any photos inside the church, but always honor the requests for no flash or no photos and really dislike tourists who ignore them.

Leave a Comment

I regret not being able to get a decent photo of St. Peter's Square, but you really have to see it for yourself anyway. Bernini designed this grand approach, the Piazza of St. Peter 's. It is surrounded by 300 columns with fountains on one side and accommodates the immense crowds that gather to see and be blessed by the Pope. Bernini himself described the Colonade as "the motherly arms of the church" embracing pilgrims and visitors as they enter the piazza. There is an Egyptian obelisk in the center which was the turning point for chariot races in the time of Nero. In this piazza is also the site where Peter was purportedly crucified - upside down so as not to imitate Jesus' crucifixion. It is one of the largest and certainly grandest plazas in the world.

Leave a Comment

Michelangelo's Pieta is probably one of the best known works of sculpture in the world and it is certainly one of the most moving. With her son's body across her lap, you can see both the pride and pain in Mary's face. If memory serves me (it seldom does) there was an attack on this great work and it is now only seen behind a clear shield. What a shame, but I am sure it can still be well viewed and appreciated.

Michelangelo did this when he was only 24 years of age. What a genius!

Leave a Comment