Mediterranean Cruise 2016 - Rome

ROME

Our much anticipated day in Rome was shorter than hoped for because of the distance from the port to the city. The bus ride took an hour and a half each way. Since our tour only lasted ten hours the bus ride whittled down the actual time in Rome to six hours. That is not enough time to see very much but we are so grateful for the opportunity to visit there and see what we could. It was magnificent! Our morning was spent at the Vatican. This place is filled with history and glorious works of art. It was amazing to see it in person.

Luckily our tour included reserved group tickets and we did not have to wait in the very long line. Once inside we got our first look at St. Peter's Basilica Dome.

The Vatican gardens are very well kept. We saw interesting things in the gardens like this sculpture, the Papal Palace and the Court of the Pinecone. There is even a Helipad at the Vatican.

There are two magnificent spiral staircases in the Vatican. This one is in one of the Vatican Museums. There are many museums.

We started through the gallerias. They are really impressive. We walked through the Gallery of the Candelabras, the Gallery of Tapestries, and the Gallery of Maps. Practically every square inch is covered in paintings, mosaics, or tapestries. There are statues, busts and sculptures everywhere. The paintings are unbelievable. Here you have a statue of Artemis or Diana. Some say the upper part of the statue is covered with breasts because she is the goddess of childbirth but we were told they are the testicles of bull that were sacrificed. She usually is seen with a bow and arrows because she is also the goddess of woodlands.

The doorway into the Gallery of Tapestries was impressive as were the Flemish tapestries. Most date from the 1500s. The ceilings were painted. Some paintings look like they are done in relief but it is just a painting technique.

The ceiling continues to have every inch covered in paintings. There are 40 maps frescoed on the walls, which represent the Italian regions and the papal properties at the time of Pope Gregory XIII (1572-1585). They were painted between 1580 and 1585. 

At last we enter the much anticipated Sistine Chapel. The chapel was literally filled with people and was surprisingly noisy. You are not allowed to take pictures so I found a couple on the internet to share. The ceiling is very high and filled with depictions of Old Testament stories. The paintings were started in 1508. Michelangelo took a year break in 1510 and completed the paintings in 1512. He returned twenty years later to paint the Last Judgement on the altar wall. He did not want to do the paintings and did not consider himself to be a painter.

Next up was St. Peter's Basilica. It is huge and can accommodate 20,000 people. Although, at first glance, the basilica's interior appears to be elaborately decorated with paintings - from frescoes in the dome to huge paintings hanging on the walls - it's not. Every single one of those "paintings" is actually a mosaic, done with such painstaking detail, and such tiny little pieces of glass that they only appear to be paintings.

The Holy Door is opened only in certain Juliblee years. People who pass through receive an plenary indulgence. (Don't ask me.) Michelangelo's Pieta now is in a case of bulletproof acrylic glass. It has been damaged a few times. This is the only work Michelangelo ever signed. The story is that he heard someone talking about this great statue that Cristoforo Solari had created. It was Michelangelo's statue, of course, and in a fit of pride, he went and added his signature to Mary's sash. He later regretted it and said he would never sign anything ever again.

There are over 100 tombs here including 91 popes and 134 bones that are believed to be those of Peter. A grate in the floor is over the tomb of Peter. The statue of Peter is touched so much that the toes of his left floor have been worn smooth.

The mosaic of the Altar of the Transfiguration is a reproduction of Raphael's famous painting. The opulent canopy over the High Altar is 96 feet tall and is covered in bronze.



The dome of St. Peter’s is massive, more than 100 feet higher than the US Capitol in Washington, DC. The space shuttle, with its external rockets and fuel tank, could fit comfortably within the area of the dome. The Nave is large enough that the Super Bowl could be played in the 611 ft east wing. Impressive indeed!

As we exited the basilica we were in St Peter's square. Another gigantic area. There are statues on the top of the walls all around the square. Obviously the aeriel view was not taken by us. Thank you internet.

As we leave the Vatican we see the very colorful Swiss Guard.

We boarded our bus and drove past some ancient sites on the way to our next stop.
We saw aqueducts, Palatine Hill and the Arch of Constantine. It is impossible to catch it all from a moving bus.

We stopped for lunch right across the street from the Coliseum. It was sad that we did not get to go there.

After lunch we drove around a little more and saw Circus Maximus,  government buildings, other historic buildings and churches, another coliseum (didn't know there was more than one Coliseum), and Altare Della Patria monument.

After a short ride we were on foot to explore along cobblestone streets. We came upon the Trevi Fountain (from the old movie Three Coins in the Fountain). It is the largest in the city, 85 feet high and 65 feet wide. You might be able to see me throwing a coin over my shoulder. A legend is that if a visitor throws a coin into the fountain, they are sure to return to Rome. Could it happen? I had to try.

As we walked toward the Pantheon we passed the Column of Marcus Aurelius built in 193AD and restored in 1589. There is a spiral staircase inside. There were various sculptures along the way. The Solar Obelisk was brought to Rome from Egypt in 10BC. How in the world could they move an object like this? It was carved from red granite. It was damaged and then restored in the 1700s. It is a solar clock.

At last we arrived at the magnificent Pantheon. It was built 2000 years ago to honor all gods. The Pantheon is the only structure of its age and size that has successfully survived the damage of time and gravity, still intact with all its splendor and beauty. The current building was built in 120AD.

The most fascinating part of the Pantheon is its giant dome, with its famous hole in the top (The eye of the Pantheon, or oculus). The dome was the largest in the world for 1300 years and until today it remains the largest unsupported dome in the world! The diameter of the dome is 142ft (the United States Capitol dome is 96 feet in diameter) and is in perfect proportion with the Pantheon by the fact that the distance from the floor to the top of the dome is exactly equal to its diameter.

The tomb of the great painter and architect Raphael is inside the Pantheon.

As we exited the Pantheon things got a little scary for me. I was distracted by a vendor and did not notice our group leaving the area. I don't speak any Italian and quickly became worried. I walked back the way we had entered the area and could not see or hear our group on the headset I was given. Panic began to set in! Something told me to go back where I had become separated from the group and someone would come and find me. Sure enough Bob and Eric Huntsman were soon there and what a relief it was to see them!

Fortunately the group had been given some free time to shop and I was found and returned to the group before many even knew I was missing. Outside the Pantheon there were more obelisks. There are 13 Egyptian and Roman obelisks in the city. The first we saw was in St Peter's square.

And so our day in Rome ends and I was fortunate enough to be with the group when the bus came to take us back to the ship.

Three Bizarre Facts About Ancient Rome

Gladiator blood was recommended by Roman physicians to aid various ailments, including epilepsy and infertility.

Purple clothing was a status symbol and reserved only for emperors or senators. To achieve the color, a dye was made from murex seashells. It was treason for anyone other than the emperor to dress completely in purple.

Urine (because of the ammonia it contains) was used to clean clothes. The urine was collected by fullones (the ancient Roman version of dry cleaners) from around the city.