Colosseum and a three level church

There are so many churches in Italy and of course Rome has masses of them. This morning we had a bit of free time so we went to Chiesa di Santa Maria della Vittoria which was only a couple of blocks away as they had a statue by Bernini.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini came after Michaelangelo and is considered one of the greatest Baroque style artists of his time - 1598 to 1680.

In this church they had a statue called the Ecstasy of St Theresa and it was pretty good. There was some question about whether it sexualised St Theresa as her habit was slightly open and she was showing off her bare feet but either way as a piece of art it was amazing. How he managed to create the folds of her habit out of stone shows real talent.

Anyway we needed another church fix so we went across the road to Chiesa di San Bernardo alleTerme another interesting though simpler church with no windows except one at the top of the dome.

And if that wasn’t enough we then went to Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major which had another Bernini statue made of bronze showing King Philip IV of Spain. Once again, stunning! This church also holds what is believed to be the remains of the manger Jesus was born in.

We then headed across town to view the colosseum. Amazing. First century AD, held about 80,000 Romans from the Emperor to the plebs, was covered, and offered fantastic entertainment - feeding christians to lions, gladiator battles and much more. Of course once Emperor Constantine 1 came along, the first Christian Emperor, some of the activities were no longer viewed as appropriate so it fell into disrepair. Over the centuries it was restored, damaged by earthquakes, plundered for valuable stone and iron, restored again until we have the mix we have today.

The colosseum was originally made from travertine and tufa, which is volcanic ash mixed with water and dried. Cement had not been invested yet so large iron staples held the big blocks together. Over time it was changed with Hadrian using bricks and cement around the year 123.

It really is a must-see. Thousands of other people thought so as well!

After the colosseum we went next door to the Roman Forum which dates back even further to the 5th century BC and is where markets, meeting places, church services, and other communal activities happened. It is quite humbling to stand among ruins that are more than 2,000 years old.

After viewing the Forum we walked around to the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II which is also the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WW1. We took some photos from the outside and by then we needed a rest so went for lunch.

After lunch (and gelato) we needed another church fix (4 churches in one day must be a record!) but this one was really interesting. We went to the Basilica di San Clemente a couple of blocks from the Colosseum.

This church looks like a lot of others with the obligatory Saint’s tomb and amazing artwork but it is what is under it that really gets interesting. At the top it is a twelfth century basilica, underneath that they have excavated a fourth century church complete with frescoes, columns, and tombs, AND under that they have excavated a first century building which is believed to be associated with the mint of ancient Rome or possibly a noble person’s house. The bottom level had running water thanks to a spring that had been incorporated into the structure. Suffice to say it was pretty interesting though we couldn’t take any photos on the lower levels.

St Cyril’s tomb was discovered in the second level and since he is important to the Slavic people there are a lot of pilgrims going to this church. It has also had its fair share of popes visit with John Paul II being a recent visitor.

After visiting the church we headed back to the hotel for a beer and some dinner. A very interesting day.Les mer