The first was near Piazza della Rotondo and is the church Santa Maria Maddalena.
Facade
Main Altar
Side Altar
Another Side Altar
From there, I went in search of the church of St Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order. It was nearby, but not on this street.
I happened upon the row of columns shown below.
Columns
I found these on google maps and they are labeled as the Temple of Hadrian.
I was having some difficulty finding the church of St Ignatius Loyola, so I asked a passerby in my best Italian where it was. We had some difficulty communicating, and at one point he thought I was asking about "The Jesu." But finally he gave me some guidance, and then I found a sign on a street corner pointing toward it.
Church of St Francis Xavier
Before I reached the church of St Ignatius Loyola, I passed the church of St Francis Xavier, one of Ignatius' earliest followers, and a missionary. As you can see in the picture above there was a cord across the entrance indicating that you shouldn't go in. So I just snapped this picture.
Less than a block west of the church of St Francis Xavier, was the church of St Ignatius Loyola.
St Ignatius Loyola -- facade
Main Altar
Side Altar
Side Altar
Ceiling
From the church of St Ignatius, I went to the Piazza Navona and the church of St Agnes in agony. It was very lovely inside, with some soft music playing. There were side altars to St Agnes, who was burned alive, and St Sebastian, who was martyred by arrow shots.
I stayed there for while, long enough to pray the rosary. Then I proceeded to the Vatican Museum. The line to get into the museum wrapped around a couple of turns of the City Walls of Vatican City, for about a quarter of a mile.
Since I had bought a ticket with an appointed time through my hotel, I was able to skip the line, and go to the ticket counter.
Not only were there a ton of people in line to enter the museum, but the museum was already crowded. I got an audio guide, which came with a map. Some parts of the museum were not crowded, other areas had great crowds and tour groups with a guide speaking various languages.
As I got closer to the Sistine Chapel, the crowds increased in density. I was jostled by people hurrying past me to get to the Chapel earlier. Even old people were jostling and bumping me to get ahead.
In the chapel there was a block of people in the center area, and some passageways around them. The guards encouraged us to keep moving and go through the passageways. I was able to move into the block of people in the middle, when some people there left.
There were people taking pictures in the Chapel and the guards kept saying "no pictures," and "quiet please." There was a low murmuring going on from everywhere in the chapel.
I was able to spend several minutes just standing and looking. First at the ceiling, then at the Last Judgement, behind the main altar. Additionally, there were frescoes along both walls.
After the Sistine Chapel, I went to the Pinacoteca, which housed many fine paintings. That is where Raphael's Transfiguration is displayed. Unlike most of the rest of the museum there were some chairs in the Pinacoteca, so you could sit down and spend some time looking at the works of art.
When I emerged from the museum, I was exhausted and hungry. My tour had taken three and half hours, and I had eaten no lunch.
Home again, home again, jiggedy jig:
On Wednesday, 18 Sept 2013, I was unable to be at Mass again, because my ride to the Airport was coming at 7 AM, (1 AM Ohio time). My sister and brother-in-law met me at the airport at around 9:30 PM that same day. A very long trip home.
I was particularly glad to be at Mass, in English, at 7:15 AM on Thursday morning.
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