When it's a castle! More on that shortly. We started the day with our morning routine: school for Aviva, cappuccino (down to four sugar packs) for me. We met up for a delicious lunch and then set off for a quick afternoon of site seeing.
Our first stop was the Castel Sant'Angelo. Built in 139 A.D., this massive brick building was originally a tomb built by the emperor Hadrian (like all Romans, he couldn't be buried within the city walls, so he picked a spot right across the Tiber River - it's all about real estate). He even had a bridge (Ponte Sant'Angelo) built for easy access between the tomb and the city of Rome. Jump 4oo years later, Rome is falling apart with corruption and disease, the popes are gaining power, and above the tomb the archangel Michael appears in front of Pope Gregory the Great and sheaths his sword signaling the plague is over. YEAH!!
The tomb becomes Castel Sant'Angelo (holy angel) and is used by the popes as a fortress and prison. Since the popes needed to hide from the from the constant invasions an elevated corridor (which is still standing) was built that connects the Castel to the Vatican. Today the Castel offers great views and a look at some of the rooms the popes lived in when they were residing at the fort.Next we decided to visit a couple churches near the Pantheon that are highlighted in our tourbook:
- San Luigi dei Francesi - this French national church located in Rome houses three amazing paintings (they could almost pass for a photos they look so realistic) of St Matthew. One is the Call of St Matthew, where Jesus points to him and tells him to be to spread the love, one is the Inspiration of St Matthew, where an angel is helping St Matthew write Jesus' life story, and finally the Martydom of St Matthew, where St Matthew gives up his life instead of his religion.
- San Ignazio - what stands out in this church are the great illusions created by the frescoes in the ceiling, the best being the fake dome. Running out of money, they decided to paint a 3-D dome instead of building a real one. When you enter the church and look at the dome by the alter it looks real, so real that even though I knew it was fake I still wasn't convinced it was a painting. Only when you walk to the front of the church and stand directly underneath the dome painting that it becomes apparent it is an illusion. Hard to describe, but amazing to look at.
Gesu -Built in 1568 A.D., this church honors the founder of Jesuits, St Ignatius. Inside the church is quite dark, making it hard to see the frescoes and the tomb of St Ignatius. Until 5:30 PM. When things go bananas. Choir music is piped in over the loudspeakers and parts of St Ignatius tomb are individually lit up, leading up to a huge musical crescendo in which not just the tomb but the whole church is lit up beautifully. While this is happening the painting above the tomb is lowered to reveal a large silver statue of St Ignatius covered in jewels. The guy knows how to make an entrance!
With the rain looming, we made a stop at the supermarket, went home to have a home cooked meal, and called it a day.
Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:
Mike -KitKat e Stracciatella/Pistaccio combo and Amarena e Cioccolato (had to make up for not having any yesterday)
Aviva - no gelato, but a bag of candy
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