23 November 2015 - Teatro Marcello

Tim, Annika and I walked back to our Ingresso Mercato for some more supplies and came back with all we wanted plus a pomegranate for 1.50 Euro/kg.  We had never before bought a pomegranate, and although they are available at home, always rate in the "too exotic for our house" category!  But here, as we are trying to live like the locals and eat local food, pomegranates are everywhere.  They feature in the Old Testament and in many other old texts so do hold an element of connection with the ancient times so it was time to buy one! It was very juicy and drippy and pippy and freshly not too sweet to taste - Four of us enjoyed it but Luke thought it looked like a massacre and retreated!

Yes, chicken ready for sale with heads!

Pomegranate massacre

 Tim had to do one last assessment under exam conditions so while he did this, I took the opportunity of peace to do two more Professional Development units via ANMF.  ANMF provides good material and keeps your education record as well!  I did the assessments at the end of the units and scored well!

I think they call this "touch parking"!

Even though rain was predicted and indeed did drench us a little, we set out with a mission to find the Mamertine Prison where Apostle Paul was believed to have been imprisoned.  However, we did get a bit sidetracked and explored a few other places en route and before we knew it, it was dark, so we headed home!  We had left Annika here as her sore neck was bothering her again and didn't want to leave her for too long.  The Mamertine Prison will have to wait for another day!

View of Rome

Looking to Teatro Marcello (mini Colosseum)

Of course we had a mandatory quick visit to pat the cats at the cat sanctuary and walked back to the Altare della Patria and up the long white stairs to grab a view over Rome in the rain. 

Guards in the rain looking a bit bedraggled.

All sorts of ruins everywhere.  This fresco (1665) was discovered when excavating for the Altare della Patria above and also the 2nd  Century AD buildings around it.

I really wanted to have a closer look at the statues in Piazza Campidoglia after I had researched them last night!  There they were, Castor and Pollux, pieced back together, having originally stood at the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Roman Forum, now standing proudly at the top of the steps.  The Romans believed these "heavenly" twins helped them in battle and they were believed to be excellent horsemen.  

The other statues that I wanted to inspect more closely were at the fountain, the river gods: Nile and Tiberinus.  Nile, representing Egypt, also has a carving of the Sphinx next to him and is holding a cornucopia dripping with fruit including pomegranates. Tiberinus, who originally was Tigris (as opposed to Tiber), had Romulus and Remus and the She-wolf added, to emphasize the Roman river.  What wonderful statues!

Castor

Pollux

Piazza di Campidoglio

River god Nile with sphinx.

River god Tibertius

Romulus and Remus and the She-wolf

Cornucopia with pomegranate and other fruits

I think he had a nose job.

Great and detailed hands - note veins, knuckle wrinkles and nail beds.

Dressed for the rain!

Looking over the Forum and to the hills.

After that the boys "discovered" the back door of a church which turned out to be 13th century Basilica Santa Maria in Ara Coeli (Altar of Heaven)  built on the site of the Temple of Juno Moneta (after whom the word money was coined (joke!)).  It was a beautiful old church with plenty of frescoes and old tombstones (the oldest I saw was from 1434) but it is hard to read the dates because often the marble is so worn.  Once again the floor mosaics were very lovely.

More lovely floor mosaics.

Frescoed pillar

More frescoes

The altar - note patch worked and worn floor - so old!

Down the Michelangelo designed ramp.

 As it was getting darkish, we headed in the direction we thought we should wander and happened upon Teatro Marcello and the Porticus Octaviae.  Porticus Octaviae was built some time after 27 BC and was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 442 AD although the arch remained.  It is cordoned off at present while restoration work takes place.  Teatro Marcello looks like a mini Colosseum and we were amazed to see top sections looking very solid and they appeared to be apartments which considering that it was completed in 17 BC really was astounding. It was built as an open air theatre and could seat 11000 to 20000 people but fell out of use in 4th Century AD!  Like many old buildings, it served as a quarry for other old buildings and therefore lost its exterior marble.

Teatro Marcello

Eerily lit up in the dark evening.

Portico Octaviae

We found ourselves in heart of the Jewish ghetto of Rome which is no longer a ghetto but still hs Jewish shops such as Kosher fast food.  There did seem to be a fair military presence in this area but we are quite used to seeing soldiers armed with their machine guns (pointed to the ground) just milling around.  There are also lots of police in large groups just sort of standing about...often smoking, often playing with their mobile phones.  We are not sure whether or not the number of police and guards has increased since the terrorist attack in Paris but we think it probably has.

By the time we found our way back to the river I was quite disorientated so luckily Tim and Karl were sure of the homeward direction.  The umbrella sellers were out in force, on every corner and did seem to do a fair trade today! 

When we got back, it was straight to a warm bath for Luke. Annika had started cooking dinner so that was great!  She also made some delicious apple cake after dinner which we all really enjoyed!