ThoughtMart : Assortment of Ideas: A Tour of Monumental Rome

Thursday, 12 Sept, began with a Monumental Tour of Rome. It began near the church of Saint Camillus de Lellis, but there was no time for a visit. The bells from the church tolled just as our tour was beginning.

Fountain of Moses

Above is the fountain of Moses, which is across the street from Santa Maria della Vittoria, a church I visited the day before. Moses is in the middle. These pictures were taken from a moving tour bus.

Many buildings at intersections had plaques like the one shown above giving names to the streets. Many did not. It was difficult some times to know which street you were on.

Piazza Repubblica was about two blocks from the Fountain of Moses, and at the center of the Piazza is a very large fountain, seen below.

Fountain in Piazza Repubblica

When mom and I were in Rome in 1996, we would catch the Metro at Piazza Repubblica.

Trevi Fountain

We walked to the Trevi fountain, seen above, and spent several minutes there. The water is piped in from 60 km away, and it was built by a wealthy family centuries ago.

The guide informed us that many people throw coins in the fountain, and that the money collected feeds 80,000 people a day.

There were also some Gypsies pan handling among the crowd.

Palace turned into a Galleria

We went through a building that had been a Palace and had been converted into a Galleria. The picture above shows part of the interior of the Galleria. The columns that you can see are marble, come from Egypt, and were made about 300 BC. They were brought to Rome about 300 AD. The Palace was built around 1600 AD.

Egyptian Obelisk in front of Parliament building

Above is an Egyptian Obelisk. There are seven of them in Rome, brought to Rome in the 1st or 2nd century AD. There's another at St Peter's.

PANTHEON -- St Mary of the Angels and Martyrs

Our next stop was the Pantheon, completed in the 2nd Century AD, as a Roman Temple to all the gods. It has been converted into a Catholic Church. It has a domed roof with a hole in the center of the dome. On sunny days, the sunlight moves around the interior of the dome, as the sun progresses through the sky. In inclement weather, not so much.

Raphael, the famous Renascence painter, is buried here, as well as the first king of Italy.

Pantheon with fountain in foreground

Interior of St Mary of the Angels and Martyrs, the main altar is still used. It is an active church.

Side altar. Note the roughness of the stonework.

Side altar. Note the contrast with the picture above.

Piazza Navona

We continued walking from Piazza della Rotondo to Piazza Navona. The picture below shows the Four Rivers Fountain in the Piazza, with the church of the agony of St Agnes in the background.

There were paintings of Roman sights being sold in the Piazza, and many cafes and such around it.