Annika and I walked around the local area trying to find somewhere to sell our printer which we bought in Germany and have carted around with us until now. We won't need it any more but it has served us well and been really necessary. I try not to remember handwriting our all Luke's modules in Turkey (in our cave accommodation!) for him to do which was an absolute nightmare. I'm thinking "Stoic" could be my other middle name! We didn't have any luck in finding a place to sell it so if we don't manage to, we'll give it to our lovely Rome Baptist Church so they can find a home for it!
Annika has had enough of ruins but the rest of us took the Metro to
Circus Maximus and walked down the more than slightly treacherous
un-footpathed cobbled Appian Way to Porta San Sebastiano and the Museum
of the Walls. Apart from 2 or 3 others, we were the only ones exploring
and enjoying this free museum. There were some well done displays and
models of the walls and now that we know Rome well we could recognise
all the places on the model of Rome so it was good! However, the most
exciting part was walking along inside and on the ancient walls and
thinking of the soldiers and guards who would have done the same! On
one side, there were green fields and farms and on the other side a long
drop to a road! And the was the tower, too, which was fun to climb and
the view was excellent. Just the sort of museum for the "ruin weary"
and being free, it was even more enjoyable.
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| Luke targetting the enemy! |
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| Bit of recycling spotted on the stairs! |
The Aurelian Walls were built between 271 AD and 275 AD and enclosed the seven hills of Rome. I would LOVE to be able to walk all around the walls but it is not possible. It was a thrill walking on part of the walls! We are always hoping to find a Roman coin or two!
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| Walk way along the Aurelian Wall |
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| Heaps of fun going through the arches. |
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| Green fields to one side. |
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| Cheeky! |
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| Looking to Porta San Sebastiano |
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| The Arch of Drusus - an aqueduct leading to the Baths at Caracalla, just up the road, was routed on top of this arch. It is not entirely clear as to why it was built. Made of travertine. |
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| View from the tower of the wall - the sky indicates just how cold it was! |
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| ....and the walls go on and on! |
Then
came the long but none-the-less enjoyable walk to the Papal Basilica of
St Mary Major (Maria Maggiore), the last of the 4 Papal Basilicas in
Rome. We walked past the excavation work at Circus Maximus and it was quite thrilling to watch the old path being exposed. Luke could have watched it for hours, in hope of seeing other exciting things revealed! We dragged him away to continue our walk and as it happens, we had unknowingly completed the pilgrimage for
fulfulling the conditions of gaining the Roman Jubilee Indulgence,
instituted by various 14th century Popes.
St
Mary Major was another impressive and slightly overwhelming church
with magnificent floor mosaics, wall mosaics, chapels and frescoes.
The
church was built under Pope Sixtus (AD 432 - 440) and was restored and
extended and refurbished by various Popes throughout the centuries. The
present facade was built in 1740's and the interior was renovated in
16th and 17th centuries. Examples of 5th Century mosaics alongside
beautiful frescoes with every inch of surface area covered with art work
is a lot to take in. This church was particularly dark, may be due to
the dull day outside and the candles in the small chapels were pretty
but conferred little light.
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| The Papal Basilica of St Mary Major |
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| Beautiful |
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| The Borghese Chapel |
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| Borghese Chapel roof |
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| 5th century mosaics (possibly!) |
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| Crypt of the Nativity - reliquary of the Holy Crib |
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| Pius IX - 1880 |
And there was another obelisk outside
this basilica - we were starting to think there might just be a pattern
and there was! The obelisks were erected and some repositioned under
Pope Sixtus V during the Renaissance as landmarks to guide pilgrims
around Rome. That is one of tge reasons that we have noticed obelisks
outside major churches! The obelisks were Christianised by adding a
cross to the top!
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| Here's the obelisk! |
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| Too dangerous to hire |
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| River god Aniene |
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| Goddess Junos |
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| River god Tiber |
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| Goddess Diana |
lovely apartment was so welcomed! We're off to Pompeii tomorrow for the day so picnic is prepared but we'll take warm clothes as well as the winter temperatures have pretty much set in now!
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