Michaelangelo’s Masterpieces

We had the morning to ourselves so we headed up early to the Trevi Fountain which is a few blocks from our hotel. Google Maps is a life saver and took us past the Quirinale which is the former Royal and papal residence. Now it is the presidential palace and museum.

Out the front of the Quirinal is the Quirinal Obelisk and fountain. The obelisk came from Egypt when it was a Roman province.

We found the fountain and even at about 8.30am there were a number of people around. Unfortunately they had turned the fountain off and were giving it a bit of a clean but it was still impressive. We didn’t toss the obligatory coins in as we will be back here again at some stage and hopefully it will be running.

The weather has been getting noticeably warmer as we head south and it is very humid so we slowly started to make our way back to the hotel. On the way we dropped into the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels and Martyrs on the Piazza della Repubblica near our hotel. This was originally designed by Michaelangelo and was built on the remains of an old Roman bath. Looking at it from the outside it looks like a Roman ruin but inside it is huge and stunning.

We then met up with the rest of the group and braved the Rome metro to get to the Vatican Museum. It was pretty easy.

The Vatican Museum was seriously packed and getting in is kinda difficult as the Vatican have all sorts of random rules. Anyway we made it through and walked through the galleries. Given the Vatican archives are famously massive there wasn’t a lot on display. We went through a few rooms and looked at a few statues but that was about it.

The Sistine Chapel was beautiful but we couldn’t take any pictures. The guide did explain what the frescoes meant and Dante’s Divine Comedy was the basis for the Last Judgement with the three stages - paradise, purgatory, and inferno - depicted. The ceiling was just stunning. As usual Michaelangelo painted the whole lot on his own and in private. It took about 4 years to do.

Michaelangelo was seriously clever man. He was a sculptor, painter, architect, and fashion designer (he designed the uniforms for the Swiss Guards). Plus he lived until he was 89 in a time when life expectancy was about 50!!

After the Sistine Chapel we went into St Peter’s, the largest Catholic Church in the world and it really is massive. Unfortunately the Pieta (the famous statue of Mary and Jesus) was under restoration so not visible they are also restoring the bronze canopy over the main altar so it was covered in scaffolding.

We looked around the square and saw where the Pope usually appears at the window. Given he is a Jesuit, hence has a vow of poverty, the current Pope has broken with tradition and refuses to live in the Papal Apartment and instead lives in a small apartment close by.

After the tour we were tired and it was beer o’clock so we went back to the hotel, had a couple of drinks at the rooftop bar, and then went to a nice restaurant for dinner.

A memorable day!Weiterlesen