Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
ROME, pt. 2
Saturday, September 13
In the morning we all piled on the bus to go to Vatican City. St. Peter's Square is HUGE! It's surrounded by a semi-circle of two sections of 140 columns. On top of each set of columns are 70 statues. In the center of the square is a large obelisk flanked by four lions, which are symbols of Christianity. There are two fountains on either side. The columns are aligned on a radiating circle, so if you stand in a certain spot, you can only see one row of columns, instead of four. It's pretty cool when they're all aligned.
We had to wait at the end of a huge line wrapping all the way around the square. After we passed through the metal detectors and were checked for dress (no bare shoulders or knees here) we finally entered the largest cathedral in the world. It's really spectaular. The scale is so massive. The letters that form the inscription around the top of the walls are six feet high. On the marble floor running the length of the central nave, there are markings showing how long the largest churches in the world are in comparison with St. Peter's. Included are Notre Dame, Westminster Abbey, and St. Paul's in London.
Originally, the basilica was built on this site by Emperor Constantine, but that building was demolished by Pope Julius II in order to rebuild and entirely new church. A slew of architects worked on the cathedral, including Raphael and Michelangelo, who built the dome.
The basilica is built upon the supposed grave of St. Peter, one of the apostles. Housed in the cathedral are four famous relics (according to legend at any rate): part of the spear which pierced Jesus' side on the cross, part of the cross and nails that held Jesus to it, the funereal shroud of Jesus, and the head of St. Anthony.
Bernini cast the huge bronze arch, called the baldacchio, that stands directly underneath the dome. Because it took such a long time to build, part of the basilica is in the Renaissance style and part is Baroque. It took 21 Popes before the building was completed.
After St. Peter's we walked down the main avenue to the Castel Sant Angelo. Originally, the fortress was the tomb of Hadrian, richly decorated in marble and supporting a rooftop garden and many statues. When the Christians conquered Rome, however, they stripped the fort of its decoration for use in their own buildings. Now it's quite bare. The building is attached via secret passageway to St. Peter's, so the Pope can escape here in case of invasion, since it's so defensible. The view from the top was amazing. We could see a large portion of the city, cut through by the winding Tiber River, as well as St. Peter's. You really have to see the cathedral from a distance to appreciate how huge the dome is.
We were given free time after that, so Katy and I went to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. The museums are huge and winding. At one point, we accidentally ended up back at the beginning and had to walk all the way through again. We saw the gardens of statues, including the Room of the Muses, the Egyptian galleries, the classical Roman galleries, the Raphael Rooms, and, finally, the Sistine Chapel itself. It wasn't what I was expecting at all, somehow. The ceilings were so high, it's incredible to think Michelangelo was suspended from them for four years of his life. We weren't allowed to take pictures, sadly. It would have been nice to have a pair of binoculars to see the details better. The frescoes on the ceiling represent scenes from Genesis, and they are surrounded by portraits of saints. The Last Judgment, which comprises the wall above the alter, is enormous. Heaven is portrayed at the top, with Jesus and the Virgin Mary centrally located. The Earth is on the lower left corner, where angels and demons fight over mortal souls. Hell in on the lower right, and the Devil lurks in the corner with a snake wrapped around him. It's too much to take in all at once, really.
Below Michelangelo's work are twelve frescoes of various Biblical scenes done by various artists, such as Botticelli. Apparently, Raphael was painting his rooms at the same time Michelangelo was working on the ceiling, and when he saw them, he was so impressed that he painted Michelangelo into his School of Athens.
After the Sistine Chapel (and a long nap) we went to dinner at the same little restaurant. That night was White Night, when all of the piazzas are lit up and there's music and free concerts everywhere. "White night" is an Italian colloquialism for staying up all night. We went to the Piazza Navona, where there were Italian break-dancers, a tango performance, and a live band playing classic rock covers. It was a lot of fun!
- comments