We got up nice and early and headed down to the Colosseum
ready for the 8:30 ticket office opening.
You know, to avoid the queues I’d heard so much about.
As we approached, we could see huge crowds. But they weren’t at the Colosseum. Instead they were
lining the streets waving red, white and green flags. There was only a small group of people lined
up at the Colosseum, and the gates were closed.
OK, something weird is going on.
I look on the internet again, nothing on the official site. Colosseum open every day except XMAS, Jan 1
and May 1. Today is June 1. So what’s the deal? Google searches came up with nothing. Nothing on twitter either.
I decided to walk down to the Palatine Hill Entrance, but
there were a lot of military types around there, and when I approached closer, I was
told I couldn’t get through. They
didn’t speak enough English or have the inclination to explain any further.
A tour group had tried the same thing and were
also turned away.
OK, back at the Colosseum a security guard with “A little”
English said there was a military parade, and maybe the Colosseum would be open
about 12, or 1PM, maybe. Hmmm.
OK, official web page should maybe say that. Or some signs around to let us know, maybe. Even in Italian…
Google searching with the additional info showed that today
was Republic Day, that all the archaeological sites down here were closed, and there
was going to be a huge parade and a flyby of fighter jets. Start time, in an hour or so at some point I
didn’t really know where.
An American couple came up and asked me in Italian where the
ticket office was, and I gave them the run down on what I’d discovered. Looks like a number of tour groups were also
caught out.
We thought to stay and watch, but weren’t sure how long
before the parade would make its way past us, and it looked like we were just
about to get trapped on this side of the parade route, so we just managed to
get through the crowds to the other side of the road.
Up on the hill, there were no good vantage points so we moved
on. Just as we got down into the narrow
streets between the tall buildings, we heard the fighter jets fly past. Damn!
That would have been a sight to see.
I could just see the trailing green, white and red smoke above the houses
where they had passed.
Today is not going very well. Our plans have been stuffed up quite a bit
before we had even started.
We managed to fight our way through the crowds of people and
get back to the apartment. Michelle decided
to stay at the apartment as she was having no end of problems with her feet so I
did an impromptu walk of the major tourist attractions.
Walking along Via delle Quattro Fontaine brought me past the
namesake of the street. Each corner of the
intersection with Via del Quirinale had a fountain dating back to the 16th
Century. Two of the fountains
represented rivers, being the Tiber and Anienne, and the other two, Roman goddesses
and also maybe rivers. The representation
of rivers in fountains was a feature I came across again in my exploration through Rome.
Further along I came to a large square, Piazza Barberini, which featured a very attractive 17th Century baroque fountain called Triton’s Fountain; the water was so
clear and blue.
I had decided to visit the crypt of the Capuchin Monks. I’d heard of what lay
beneath the basilica, but nothing could really prepare me for what was actually
awaiting.
From the entrance you are lead through a fairly
comprehensive museum, outlining the history and beliefs of the monks supported
by relics, outfits, paintings, books hot off the Guttenberg Press and the life
history of some of the more preeminent monks.
The monkish life sounded like hell to me. Vows of poverty, never to have more than one
of anything, except maybe two shoes, clothes designed to be uncomfortable, flails to inflict more pain. And to live the humble life of a hermit, so
that in their simple and humble and pained life, they are more attuned to the
needs of others to better provide service such as caring for the infirm, or
the sufferers of epidemics and such.
They make an incredible sacrifice.
Then you enter the crypt…
The origins of what is inside are not fully understood. One of the monks, for reasons best known to
himself, arranged the shipping of the remains of 3,700 deceased monks to the
basilica, and then proceeded to arrange their bones and remains into skillful,
morbid and macabre art. And not just
arrangements for aesthetic benefits, but to convey meaning and interpretation
of God, Jesus and other facets of the religious experience. With bones.
And dead monks.
Creepy, and yet totally enthralling.
Ribs where arranged across the ceilings creating intricate
patterns; femurs where stacked against walls to create frameworks and dividers
where full monk skeletons still enrobed in their habits were standing
watch. Skulls with scapulas as wings
were suspended above the walkways and chandeliers were made from sacrums. Some five or six separate alcoves along 30 or
so metres all filled with dead monks and their bones, painstakingly, meticulously
arranged with monkish patience. I have
never seen, or even imagined anything like it.
And no photos allowed, sorry.
One Italian guy thought he would get away with a photo, and
said something to his son with full bravado. Sure enough a guy came from the
end of the corridor and told him off, quite agitatedly. I thought he was going to take his camera.
But if you do want to see what it looks like, do a google
image search for capuchin monk crypt rome.
A lot of people seemed to have been happy to not respect the church’s
wishes of no photos, and gotten away with it.
As I left the church, I heard the jets fly over again, and
again just caught a glimpse as they circled the city, green, white and red
plumes trailing behind.
Now, to something a little more upbeat. The Trevi Fountain. I was impressed. Both with the fountain, the size of the
fountain, the art and sculptures, and the sheer number of people that also
wanted to share in this experience. The place
was jammed solid full of people.
 |
| Trevi Fountain |
The Spanish Steps, however were not so impressive. In fact they were quite a disappointment. Again the huge crowd of people, but as a site
it was nothing more than steps. The fountain
at the bottom was under maintenance and restoration; in pieces and covered with screens. The Trinità dei Monti church at the top was obscured by scaffolding (an all too common theme on this holiday), and the
azaleas that were supposed to be in place on the steps following Republic Day were nowhere
to be seen. So basically it was a stair
case covered in people. A very wide
staircase, but a staircase nonetheless.
I climbed it, stepping past the people sitting, and walked along Viale
della Trinita dei Monti, which had views right across Rome.
 |
| Spanish Steps, somewhere... |
I walked around the Pincian Gardens, full of countless busts
of renowned Italians, then wound my way down the shady paths to the Piazza del
Popolo, where bands played and stages were being set up for concerts this
evening.
My continued walking took me past the Mausoleum of Augustus,
which dated back to 28BC and held gold urns containing the ashes of the likes
of Augustus himself, a number of Caesers, and couple Neros, Caligula, and
Tiberius all before it was ransacked and then turned into a medieval fortress. The site is now closed to tourists.
The walk along the Tiber River was lovely and cool thanks to
the large and luxuriant plane trees. The
river itself was far below the steep walled banks.
 |
| River Tiber |
Turning mausoleums into medieval castles seemed the trend,
and Castel Sant Angelo is a very impressive reworking of Hadrian’s Tomb.
I crossed the Pons Aelius, also built by Hadrian and now
flanked by the most beautiful baroque angels, each holding items representing
the passion of Christ. The ubiquitous hawkers
of fake handbags and carved African knickknaks best ignored.
 |
| Pons Aelius |
 |
| Hadrian's Mausoleum |
My meanderings now brought me past Frigidarium and some
really good gelato. This one was a
little unusual though, in that after choosing your flavours, you were asked if
you wanted your gelato dipped in chocolate (either white or dark) or dipped in
cream. I chose white chocolate.
Making my way towards The Pantheon I came to Piazza
Navona. A large square with two beautiful
fountains, surrounded by stalls with artists and crafts, restaurants, churches,
buskers and the usual peddlers of crap.
The main central fountain was designed along the theme of representing four
main rivers. In fact, it’s Bernini’s
Fountain of the Four Rivers. Fontana dei
Quattro Fiumi. The four rivers are
represented by larger than life sized figures for each of the continents that the Roman Church had spread its tendrils out through: The Nile for Africa, The Ganges
for Asia, the Danube for Europe and the Río de la Plata for the Americas.
In the centre of the fountain is an Egyptian obelisk (one of
very many in Rome, and in fact the UK and Europe, making me wonder how many of
them are actually still in Egypt???)
The last item on my list for today was the Pantheon. And impressive it was. To this day, the dome remains the largest concrete
structure in the world without any reinforcing. Not
bad for something nearly 1,890 years old!
But I couldn’t go inside!
It was closed, and no signs as to why.
People were trying to peer through the cracks between the huge bronze
doors. One guy was knocking, hoping to
gain entry.
Unable to enter, I lingered only a while in the shade of the
portico, before winding my way through the hundreds of tourists, and past the
school girls screaming and running in circles when the pigeons fluttered too
close, and made my way back to the apartment.
My route took me past the Santa Maria Sopra Minerva with
another Bernini sculpture, a backward looking elephant carrying another one of
those obelisks, and down narrow cobbled streets and lanes till I arrived at Altare
della Patria, a huge marble monument to the 1st King of a unified Italy,
Victor Emmanuel.
Brilliant white, impressive and an overbearing building; the
green, white and red Italian flags were a prominent contrast as the guards stood watch
beneath the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
I expect this building had featured heavily in today’s Republica Day
celebrations.
Along Via dei Fori Imperiali I passed more ruins; the
impressive Forum of Augustus, and the Forum of Trajan, both from the 2nd
Century BC and then I returned to the apartment.
Michelle and I lunched on white pizza and salad nearby, then
headed off together to retrace some of my steps from this morning.
The walk along Via delle Quattro Fontaine and the fountain
in Piazza Barberini, the crypt of the capuchin monks. Michelle had to see that.
This time though we also visited the church above, the Santa Maria
della Concezione dei Cappuccini which was very beautiful, with its paintings and
sculptures in stark contrast to what lay directly beneath.
Next stop, Trevi Fountain and Michelle tossed in her coins
for a return trip to Rome.
We walked through the narrow streets, dodging crowds and
horse drawn carriages on our way to The Pantheon, which was still closed, and then the nearby Piazza Navona.
We visited a few of the churches, The Church of St. Louis of
the French, Chiese Di S. Agnese in Agone with its small fractured skull of
Saint Agnese on display, and sat outside in the sunny piazza and listened to the bands playing. One guy was playing beautiful guitar music
and singing near the Fontana del Moro when an African acrobatic team with drums
fired up nearby and completely drowned him out.
Luckily they moved on quickly.
At the other end of the square was a four piece band with an
instrument I’d not seen before. I believe
it to be a hammered dulcimer. Lovely
sounds, even with an accordion playing :-P
We also dropped into Sant'Andrea della Valle, another church
full of beautiful paintings and sculptures.
Then I came across a real treat. Largo di Torre Argentina. Not just a huge excavation and Roman ruins,
but a Roman ruin occupied by scores of cats!
A veritable colony of cats that are looked after by volunteers.
We continued on past the Altare della Patria and the multiple
other ruins to finish the day at the Colosseum lit by the setting sun.
Flickr photo album is here...
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