Today’s post is 1590 words, 34 photos, 1, video, a 7 minute read. Enjoy!

Hi everyone,

This week I continue my series on our stay in Rome by visiting an old temple, a famous fountain, and some foreign steps. Curious? Here’s the story and photos for today. If you missed the first two articles in this series, click here and here.

The Trail to the Temple

After a couple of days of exploring some of the sites in Rome, we were ready for an easier day. It was but we did put on 22,000 steps and got caught in a rain storm. We slept in late that morning and lallygagged over our morning coffee and breakfast. A knock on the door by a couple of workmen that appeared to fix a window curtain, motivated us to quickly dress and depart for the day.

We chose to walk to our first destination, the Pantheon, about a mile from our lodging through a circuitous route around the many construction projects in progress. The Rome Metro system is expanding Line C which requires the digging of shafts where they’ve found many ancient artifacts along the route.  Below is a photo of the Victor Emanuel II National Monument in honor of the first king of a unified Italy. Note the cranes and construction trailers in the foreground. Nearby is the historic Trajan’s Column completed in 113 AD to celebrate Roman Emperor Trajan’s victories in the Dacian Wars.

We walked several blocks then stopped at one of the churches recommended as a must see, the Basilica Santa Maria sopra Minerva. There are more than 930 churches in the city of Rome! So one much chose which one’s to visit or be easily overwhelmed.

The Basilica sits on the Piazza della Minerva, one block from the Pantheon. There are several restaurants in the building surrounding the piazza. This church was built on the site of the ruins of a temple for the goddess Isis. It was built in the late thirteenth century and completed after 90 years of construction. There are several works of art located in this church including Michelangelo’s statutes of Minerva and Christ the Redeemer. The ceiling is what captured my attention, the bright blue, the artwork was stunning. The alter with the black marble columns also stood out. We were glad we stopped for a look see.

The Pantheon

It was close to noon when we arrived at the Pantheon, thus violating one of our travel rules of thumb, getting to popular sites early in the day. For a Tuesday, it was incredibly busy. But if we wanted to see the inside of this temple dedicated to 12 gods, now the “Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs,” we had to get in line. The Pantheon was built during the reign of Emperor Hadrian and dedicated in 126 AD. Since 609 AD it has been a Catholic church.

We got in line to purchase tickets (5 euros) and go through another security check. To our surprise, the line moved rather quickly, we were in the building after about 20 minutes. The Pantheon receives between 7-and-9-million visitors per year, after entering it seemed like a good portion of them were milling around inside. It was packed.

The Pantheon is one of best preserved ancient buildings in Rome. The circular concrete dome is one its unique features. The thickness of the concrete varies from the base at 21 feet to less that 4 feet at the oculus at the top of the dome. To reduce the weight of the dome on the supporting walls, sunken panels were created in a geometric pattern. The concrete is thinner in the center of the panel. The dome is as tall is as it is wide at 142 feet (43.3 m). The oculus, also known as The Eye, is 27 feet (8.3 m) wide and is open to the elements.When it rains there is a drainage system built into the floor. It is quite a beautiful example of early architecture. We didn’t plan ahead, we wished we would have reserved one of the audio tours for better explanations of the many features. Live and learn.

The large room abounds with alters and tombs. Emperors, kings, popes, and artists are spending eternity in the Pantheon. The noise level during the day seemed like it was enough to wake the dead. Good thing the place closes by 7:30 so the dead can have some peace and quiet!

After about 45 minutes, we had enough battling the crowds and trying to stay out of people’s selfies. The Piazza della Rotonda with the Pantheon obelisk in the center was filled with people, some resting, many walking behind tour guides carrying flags, while others were listening to a busking opera singer. She was quite good but under appreciated by the crowd, much better than the beggars with their hand out.

Here’s what she sounded like:

 

 

 

Trevi Fountain

As were leaving the Pantheon, we got sucked into a candy store on the Piazza. We couldn’t resist the urge to buy a few sweets for energy as we walked around Rome. It didn’t take long we were on a sugar high, enjoying our choices but at the same time regretting our decision.

It was a pleasant walk the several blocks to the infamous Trevi Fountain. On our way, we passed several federal government buildings including the Parliament of Italy.

Like the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain was packed with people. Someone told us later that this wasn’t too crowded, come back in the summer for the real crowds. The Baroque fountain was completed in 1762. It stands 86 feet tall (26.3 m) and is 161 feet long (49 m). It is quite a work of art for the public to enjoy. It is one of the most famous and visited fountains in the world. The name comes from the intersection of three streets or a trivium. Legend has it that if you throw a coin over your left shoulder with your right hand, you will return to Rome. This is the second time I’ve been to Trevi Fountain. The first coin toss worked, we’ll see if the second works too. About approximately 3000 coins are tossed in the fountain each day.

Ok, enough about Trevi Fountain, it’s on the tourist trail but if your time is short in Rome, I’d skip it.

We had a good reason to stop the Trevi Fountain, it’s near the Pontifical North American College where we needed to pick up our tickets for the audience with the Pope on Wednesday morning. We were there promptly at 3 PM and met Sister Maria Juan who handed us our tickets. My Traveling Partner had requested the tickets about month prior to our departure to Rome. We and other ticket holders were directed to a small room where one of the seminarians provided an orientation on how the audience would work. It was there we learned the audience would be inside the Paul VI Hall rather than outside in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. He provided good information and hints for a successful morning.

While waiting in line for our tickets, we met Arturo from the Philippines. He and his sister were taking their mother to see the Pope. She would be making the visit in a wheelchair as it was hard for her to walk. Arturo was a fun and energetic guy. We would see him and Sister Maria the following Sunday.

The Spanish Steps

From Trevi Fountain, we walked several blocks to the Spanish Steps in the Piazza di Spagna where the Embassy of Spain is located. At the top of the 135 steps is the Church of Santissima Trinita dei Monti which is the property of France. Confused? I am. From what I could gather there was a years long fight over the construction of the steps. They were finally completed in 1725 but it didn’t take long that they were in poor condition. Over the years, the steps have been restored several times, the most recent in 2016. There are signs discouraging people from sitting and eating on the 135 steps but enforcement is lax and sporadic. These steps have appeared in many movies and has been the site of vandalism by tourists. Again, if time is short, skip the steps.

At the top of the steps, in front of the church, I took this photo of the scene overlooking Rome. We could see 9 churches from this overlook. We did go inside the church at the top of the stair but didn’t stay long.

Galleria Borghese

After saying farewell to the Spanish Steps, we decided to walk the 1 mile to the Galleria Borghese. It’s advertised as the best art gallery in Rome and is situated in the extensive Villa Borghese Gardens. The art gallery is housed in a villa and contains works by Titian, Caravaggio, Bernini, Raphael, Ruben, and many other well known artists. We saw none of those works. I waited until we arrived in Rome and finalize our schedule to book tickets. There were none available. I read in one of the guidebooks that any left over tickets not claimed by 5 PM could be purchased for late entry as the gallery is open until 7 PM. We arrived a few minutes before 5, there were no tickets. Nevertheless, we had a nice walk through the gardens and I took one photo to prove we tried!

From the gallery, we headed to the nearest Metro station. Fortunately, most of the walk was undercover because it began to sprinkle. When we departed the Cavour station, it was pouring rain. There were a couple of guys selling umbrellas and rain ponchos, we bought one of each for 10 euros. They did the job in keeping us mostly dry until we reached our lodgings.

For dinner that evening, I choose the meat loaf. Note the boiled egg in the center of the loaf. It was quite tasty.

That does it for this week. Join me next week for more stories from Rome.

Until then, happy travels!

Tom