Borghese Gallery and St. Peter's Basilica

This weekend was a dive into baroque art, religious, sacred and profane, in a big way!!  Yesterday, we went to the Borghese Gallery, which is a museum in the villa of 16^th century Cardinal Borghese, who was the nephew of the then Pope, filled with opulent paintings, sculptures, mosaics, statues and art of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.  Some of the statues by Bernini in the Borghese gallery are just stunning.  His ability to sculpt marble in ways that show the suppleness of skin in the people he is depicting, or wind blowing through hair, or flowing robes, or leaves or flower petals is just mind blowing.   I had to keep reminding myself that this is marble – rock – that he has sculpted into these amazing statues.  And what is even more amazing is that most of the art in the gallery by Bernini is stuff he made in his early 20s!!  I had been told that cameras were not allowed in the gallery so I didn’t bring mine, only to discover when I got there that that particular rule is not followed at all anymore.  So I have no pics from the inside of the gallery, alas.  I did take  few of the extensive and gorgeous grounds around the villa which we walked after we had our two hour tour through the gallery itself.    After our tour through the gallery, we made our way back to Trastevere, stopping at a little shop just outside the Jewish Ghetto which has a delicious assortment of cheeses and cold cuts, like prosciutto.  We stopped for a late afternoon snack/meal of cheese, meats and wine before heading back home.  After we cooled down in the apartment for a little while, we went out along the Tiber river, where there are tents lining the walkway along the river filled with restaurants, bars, eateries, vendors of all sorts etc.  There are thousands of people walking along there and enjoying the scenery and a night out.  We walked along, did a little shopping and had a lite supper by the river, getting home by 10:30 or so.

Today we slept in and then went up to St. Peter’s Square, which is not far from where we are staying.  We went into St. Peter’s Basilica and stayed for Mass.  The basilica really is quite something. Although I saw it when I was here in 2001, it is one of those places that takes your breath away no matter when you walk in there! One change from 2001 was that now to go into the Basilica you have to go through airport-like security before being allowed to enter.  I understand the need for the security but it sure does feel discordant with the nature of the sacred space that you are there to experience.   I enjoyed being at Mass, even though it was all in Italian so I understood very little!  Fortunately, the liturgy is familiar to me so I knew what was going on, just couldn’t follow the language! 

The weather here is beautiful – sunny, blue sky, but really, really HOT!!  Much as I love to walk and can usually go for hours and miles, I get exhausted here pretty quickly because it is just so very, very hot that you wilt in minutes.  One reason I was happy to do St. Peter’s today was that at least we’d be indoors most of the time, out of the sun!

Pics today include a few from the grounds of the Borghese gallery, and some shots at St. Peter’s. 

Catacombs of Priscilla

Today we visited the catacombs of Priscilla.  These catacombs date from the middle of the second century and are among the oldest of Christian catacombs with some incredible frescoes adorning the walls and the Greek chapel within.  Priscilla was a wealthy Christian woman, who likely hosted a house church in her home beneath which the catacombs were later built.  Early Christians were buried in these catacombs. This particular set "housed" 40,000 bodies on three levels going down as deep as 30 meters below the surface.  The frescoes in this particular catacombs are of particular note because in recent years, archeologists and scholars have noted that the depictions of women who are holding their arms in the orans position suggests that perhaps women in the early church were serving as priests or liturgical leaders and the frescoe in the Greek chapel, depicting a scene of the Eucharist is clearly all women, suggesting that women were leading the Eucharist. These frescoes are very early - mid second century - and include the first depiction ever of the Virgin Mary nursing Jesus.   For centuries the official church description of these frescoes simply said that one was a woman praying and the Eucharist scene showed a man as celebrant, but more modern archeological analysis of the drawing and the clothes the character is wearing suggest otherwise!  Given the church's investment in not having anything suggest that women ever had positions of leadership, these frescoes become an example of ancient drawings that give us evidence of women's leadership hiding in plain sight!  In recent years, these frescoes have garnered a lot of attention, particularly among those in the Roman Catholic Church who are pushing for the ordination of women.   Since these date so early in the Church's history, they support the belief that women did hold positions of leadership when the church was a minority sect in the pagan Roman Empire, but when the church later became the church of the empire under Constantine, patriarchy erased that history and put women back in their place of subservience.

Our trip to the catacombs and back home was a series of mishaps although all fun in the end.  We bought bus tickets and found the bus stop not far from our apartment where the bus that goes to the catacombs stops.  We waited nearly 30 minutes for the bus.  When it finally came it went exactly one stop and then everyone was ordered to get off!  We never did know why.  At that point, wanting to not waste any more time, we got a cab to the catacombs.  When we left we walked back to find a bus stop and when we did, the bus that came was  a different number but we decided to chance it.  We wound up riding all over parts of Rome we'd never seen for a couple of hours!  We finally got off the first bus and took a second and when that one seemed to be headed in the wrong direction we got out and walked back to Trastevere, via some of the Central Rome landmarks that I walked through yesterday.   Had my second dose (and Tracy's first!) of the best chocolate gelato in Italy!  

We were not allowed to take photographs in the catacombs, but I've included some stock photos of the frescoes below.  Tonight we're cooking at home and relaxing after all our wandering the streets of Rome in the heat!

Heart of Rome Walk

Today I walked all over central Rome in 90+ degree heat.  Four hours of that and I was done in!  It’s not only the heat, but the crowds are unbelievable and make the heat feel worse!

I started out heading for the Ponte Cristo to go over to the Campo Di Fiori square where there is a market every morning.  On my way out of Trastevere I saw the signs for Villa Farnesina, which I had wanted to visit yesterday but was too late so I detoured over to the villa first.  It’s a lovely Renaissance villa covered in Raphael paintings on walls and ceilings.  It’s tucked on a quiet street here in Trastevere, not far from the dorms where Tracy’s students are living!  The villa was built in the early 1500s for the then richest man in Europe, one Agostino Chigi.  It’s a huge U-shaped building with large salons that are decorated with gorgeous paintings by Raphael, Peruzzi and others.  Some of the scenes are from mythology, some the zodiac, and all of them are sumptuous and beautiful, covering walls and ceilings.  After I toured the villa, I headed across the Tiber on the Ponte Cristo and made my way up to the Campo Di Fiori square which was teeming with activity as the market was underway.

The market is full of stalls selling fruits, vegetables, pasta, spices, kitchen gadgets, clothing, souvenirs…everything you can imagine.  I bought some fruit and nuts to snack on as my lunch and refilled my water bottle at the fountain there and then headed on towards the Piazza Navona.  This is a huge plaza with a famous fountain with statues by Bellini of the four rivers of the world, and it is lined with cafes and restaurants and gelateria and the like.  There I learned that the Tre Scalini gelateria is famous for it’s chocolate ice cream so I decided to try it and I can see why it has the reputation it has!  Delicious!  That was the third course of my eclectic lunch and felt pretty good in the midst of the summer heat.  After leaving the Piazza Navona I headed on towards the Pantheon, which I had visited earlier this week, so I then made my way onwards to the Trevi fountain.  On the way I walked down a lot of little narrow streets lined with shops and cafes.  I stopped into some of them to look around and get a few moments of air conditioning just to keep from expiring!  I ultimately got my ritual tea mug and magnet souvenirs from Rome and also stopped in a lovely shop that makes wooden toys, puppets and plaques for children and got a souvenir for Mackenzie.   I then finally got to the Trevi fountain which was an absolute mob scene, with thousands of tourists trying to see it through the wire mesh fencing that is all around it as it is being repaired.  Makes it hard to really enjoy it because you have to fight your way through a mob to even get close enough to the fence to get a photo.  There is certainly no chance to enjoy the beauty of it.  Then I walked on to the Spanish steps, which, it turns out, are also undergoing renovation and so are also walled off with wire fencing.  You can see them from across the street but you can’t go on them.

At that point it was getting late and I was extremely hot so I decided to walk back to Trastevere via the Via Corso, which seems like Rome’s version of Fifth Avenue or Oxford Street!  Lots of high end stores and galleries.  At the end of the Via Corso is the very impressive Piazza Venezia.  I returned to Trastevere across the Ponte Garibaldi and was very happy to get into the apartment and the air conditioning! 

This evening we are going to attend a talk/lecture at John Cabot University about Brexit.  There will be some European professors on a panel talking about the ramifications and import of Brexit and the EU going forward.  I’m looking forward to hearing a European perspective on it!  So far, the folks we’ve talked to here can’t believe Britain voted out and think it was not a good move on their part!

Pics today show some of the Raphael paintings in the Villa, the fountain at Piazza Navone and the cafe with the best chocolate gelato ever, the Trevi fountain and the Piazza Venezia.

Jewish Ghetto and Churches of Trastevere

Today I walked over to the Jewish Ghetto, which is just on the other side of the Tiber River from where we are staying in Trastevere.  Indeed, there was a point in history when the Jewish Community of Rome lived in Trastevere, before the 16^th century when they were forced into the Ghetto for several hundred years.  There is an excellent museum tracing the history of the Jewish community in Rome, which is right next door to the main synagogue that was built in 1904.  The synagogue is spectacular, quite ornate for a synagogue, reflecting the culture of the country in which it exists!  It’s not quite as over the top as so many of the churches in Rome are, but compared to synagogues in other parts of Europe, this one is pretty fancy!  The Italian Jewish community is unique in that they are neither Sephardic nor Ashkenazi Jews, but rather they are direct descendants of the early Jews of Palestine who fled here after the destruction of the second temple in 79 CE.  I had never realized that the Italian Jewish Community had that distinction, but it makes sense historically, since it was the Roman Empire that destroyed the temple in Jerusalem so it stands to reason that the Jews there who fled would have wound up in another part of the Empire.  The dome at the top of the synagogue is square, because they wanted it to be different from the church domes of Rome.  The rainbow colors of the dome represent the covenant between God and humanity after the flood, when Noah saw the rainbow in the sky and God promised not to destroy humanity by flood again.  When I saw that rainbow colored dome, it reminded me of the stained glass in our Interfaith Chapel at U of R!  The museum has beautiful artifacts of Jewish life and worship, particularly lovely textiles that were used to make the Torah scroll covers and the curtains that go on the ark in the synagogue.  

 

After visiting the synagogue and museum, I walked through the old Ghetto area.  It is much changed from the era when the Jews were forced to live there, and much more trendy and desirable now that it was then!  Indeed, many contemporary Jews in Rome live elsewhere because the old “ghetto” neighborhood is too trendy and expensive!

 

I then crossed back over the river and did a walk through Trastevere.  I started out in a section that is much quieter than the area we are staying in.  I visited the Basilica of St. Cecilia, who is the patron saint of musicians and singers.  She’s a favorite of mine for that reason.  One thing about Rome that is completely consistent, there are absolutely gorgeous churches everywhere you turn!  They are simply spectacular with mosaics and frescoes and paintings and statues and ornate gold leaf and multiple chapels that go on and on.  The basilica of St. Cecilia is built over the site where her house was located.  Indeed, ruins from the house are visible in the crypt area of the basilica.  The little chapel down in the crypt which is built around the saint’s remains is truly a gorgeous work of art.  

 

I also found, on a tiny little side street that looks like an alley, a bakery that makes Italian cookies that are absolutely to die for!  I would never have found it without the guidebook that pointed me in that direction.  I have never seen so many delicious cookies in one place in my life.  I bought a small bag with a sampling of cookies just to snack on and intend to return there with Tracy so that we can buy a more extensive variety.  They made a really nice afternoon treat!

 

After St. Cecilia’s basilica I walked back to our area of Trastevere and went to the big church in the square, Santa Maria.  Another amazingly gorgeous church with spectacular mosaics adorning the nave and above the altar.   Rome is a church rat’s heaven!

 

Pics today include some shots from the synagogue, including the rainbow colored dome and shots from St. Cecilia and Santa Maria, just to give an taste of the beauty of these places!

Anglican Centre of Rome and Tour of St. Paul's House Prison

Rome

Today turned out to be more interesting than I had anticipated!  I went over to the Anglican Centre in Rome, which is near to St. Peter's Square. It is the headquarters for the Anglican Communion's ecumenical dialogues with the Roman Catholic Church.  The Archbishop of Canterbury's Representative to the Holy See works and lives there.  They welcome visitors and suggest you drop by on a Tuesday as they have Holy Eucharist at 12:45 followed by lunch.  So I made my way over there late morning.  It was about a 20 minute walk from where we are staying in Trastevere.  The offices of the Anglican Centre are housed in a huge museum, and there is nothing but a small bronze plaque on a side door to let you know you've come to the right place.   You have to ring a buzzer to get through the first gate and then a lively Italian lady shows you where the tiny, ancient elevator is that takes you up to the third floor where the Centre is located.  When you emerge from the elevator you find a narrow, unmarked hallway which winds around and finally brings you out near the door to the Centre.  Then you have to ring again and they buzz you in!  It's quite a production!  I was a little early so had a chance to speak with Archbishop David Maxon, the current representative from Canterbury.  They have a lovely set up there with a big room with floor to ceiling books which is their library, then a little room that serves as a chapel and a large parlor/living room where lunch is served.  The Archbishop lives there in sleeping quarters back behind the large kitchen!  As I was waiting for the service to begin, the Archbishop came up and asked if I would be willing to read the Intercessory prayers for the service, as someone had not shown up who was supposed to do so.  I agreed.  A few minutes later he came over and asked if I'd mind administering the chalice at communion too, as he had to play music during communion and didn't have anyone else to do that either!  So I was certainly put to work on my first visit!  I got a chuckle when, as we were distributing communion the presiding priest motioned me to follow him after we had communed the group in the chapel.  We walked out of the chapel and through the living room and he whispered, "We have to bring communion to the cook!"   So in we went to the kitchen, gave communion to the cook and then returned to the chapel!  After the service we adjourned to the living room area where we enjoyed Prosecco while awaiting lunch to be served.  I had a chance to chat with priests from Australia and Toronto, and with an English ex-pat living in Rome.  Lunch was a delicious pasta with cheese and lemon sauce and a salad.  After lunch the archbishop asked me if I would be interested in joining him and a few others at 4:30 for a private tour of an archeological dig that is going on under the museum, which I was more than happy to do.  I left the center at about 2:30 and spent the next couple of hours touring the Pantheon and several huge churches that are nearby.  I didn't want to stray too far from the Anglican Centre for fear of getting lost and not being there in time for the tour!  I visited the French Church of San Luigi, which has a beautiful Caravaggio painting of the call of St. Matthew, among other works of art.  At 4:30 I returned to the Anglican Centre and the archbishop took a small group of us (all of whom had been at Eucharist earlier!) down underneath the museum where the National Trust of Italy is doing a major dig, excavating an apartment/house believed to be the place where St. Paul spent two years under house arrest before he was martyred under Emperor Nero.  We toured this ancient ruin, which is way down below street level now, having been buried by silt for centuries.  David walked us through all the evidence that archeologists are amassing as they continue to excavate the site, all of which seems to support what was heretofore considered to be merely legend, that this is the site where Paul spent the 2 years prior to his death.  The museum only allows small groups to go in at certain times of the week and the findings of this excavation are not yet public because the archeologists who are doing the work intend to publish their findings in due course and until that happens they don't want information about what they have found to be too widely published.  So that was an unexpected treasure of a tour to stumble upon!  I left there at 5:30 and then walked back to the apartment.  It's a very hot day in Rome so I was glad to get into the air conditioning and sit down for a bit!

Pics today include some shots of the Anglican Centre and a couple of shots down in the excavation area.

Amalfi Coast to Rome via Gaeta

On Saturday we left Positano and made our way to Gaeta via Castellemare where a friend of Tracy's has an institute.  He picked us up in Positano and drove us to the Institute in Castellemare where we had lunch.  The Institute is involved in the excavation of ancient Roman villas at Stabia, which were buried when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in the late 1st century, at the same time as Pompeii.  Thomas graciously took us out to the site and we toured one of the villas.  It really is a remarkable example of first century, upper crust Roman living, very grand and extensive, overlooking the gulf of Naples.  The excavations are far from complete, and they believe there is a great deal more to be found beneath the layer of volcanic rock in that area.  It will take significant money to finish the excavations.  What they have so far is quite amazing, however.  The villas were first found in the 18th century and lots of the frescoes and other art on the walls was removed at that time and put in private collections.  Some of it has since been recovered and put in museums, but a lot was lost.  At the site, there are many places where reproductions of the original artwork is there now in place of the originals which have been removed for preservation purposes.  After our tour of the villas, Thomas drove us to Gaeta.  We didn't arrive in Gaeta until 7:30 and had to hunt around for the guy who had the key to our little studio apartment.  When we found him we did a quick change and then the three of us went to dinner at a lovely old Gaetan restaurant in a building that probably dates from the Middle Ages.  Gaeta is a lively seaside fishing village with a NATO base and a nautical training school.  It is a popular place for Italian families to vacation, as it has beautiful sandy beaches.  

On Sunday we walked through a national park trail from our part of the city over to the big expanse of beach that is most popular with tourists.  We rented chairs and an umbrella and enjoyed being by the sea.  We had lunch at the beach.  Then we walked back to our apartment via the main market streets and later went to dinner in a lovely little local restaurant where I had my first plate of pasta since coming to Italy!

Monday was a long travel day.  We got the bus from Gaeta to Formia, and then the train to Rome.  We stopped to pick up our bags at Tracy's friend's apartment and then took a taxi to the Trastevere section of Rome where her university is and where the apartment that she rents is located.  It's a very lively and young section of town that is absolutely teeming with activity at all hours.  We got into the apartment and then went out to do grocery shopping, got a load of laundry underway and just settled in.   We had dinner in a lovely trattoria, sitting outside, with Sam and his friend Ian who are here taking courses at John Cabot, where Tracy teaches.   

Pics today are some shots at the excavated villa at Stabia and shots of Gaeta.

Positano Beach Day

After the rigors of yesterday we decided to take the day off from hiking and enjoy the beach life in Positano.  Positano is a lovely little fishing village perched on the cliffs by the gulf of Salerno.  Our hotel is literally on the beach so spending time enjoying the sea and the scenery is pretty easy. We walked back into town and wandered around the shops and saw the end of a wedding in the town church and had lunch and the daily dose of gelato.  We then came back to the hotel and the beach here. I walked up the stairs (250 of them) midway up the cliff that rises up from our hotel.  The lanes in these little towns are tiny alleys with long staircases winding up to the top of the cliffs.  Everyone who lives here must be in fantastic shape because it is really a workout to go anywhere!  Tomorrow we leave for Gaeta, the town that Tracy's family emigrated from where we will spend two nights before returning to Rome.  Pics today are shots of our hotel and the beach near it and shots of the center of Positano, with all the houses built into the cliffs.