On Friday night, we went to the absolutely stunning Trevi Fountain. It was amazingly beautiful, nestled into a little square between the Piazza di Spagna and Piazza Barberini that you would never find, unless you were really looking for it. We went just before dinner when it was lit up really beautifully and all proceeded to take ridiculously tourist-y, yet satisfying pictures of each other.
The legend of the Trevi Fountain is if you throw a coin into the fountain backwards, you are guaranteed to return to Rome, so obviously I had to do it.
Then, early Saturday morning, we made our way into the city once more. This time we made many stops at beautiful and historic churches that we just happened to walk by. One of the churches we made a special stop into was the Pantheon, the oldest Catholic Church in Rome. The pantheon's name means 'many gods' because it was originally a pagan temple devoted to all of the Roman gods. It was changed into a Catholic Church and you can still go to a mass inside, although there are very few pews and very noisy visitors.
The show-stopping feature in the Pantheon is its oculus, a giant hole in the roof that provides natural light to illuminate the building. There is a legend that says it never rains inside the Pantheon, despite the gigantic whole in the roof. The Romans are lying to you. After a typically soggy January week, the floor in the middle of the Pantheon, just below the oculus, was housing some significant puddles. I loved it there, every detail was so beautiful and rich in history.
Inside the Pantheon you can visit the tomb of the famous artist Raphael Santi. It is located on the left side of the altar and is really, very pretty.
Then, we mad our way to Rome's Imperial Forum. The forum is located between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills. It was the heart of Ancient Rome. It housed everything from judicial basilicas to market vendors. Now, the forum is a site of ruins and also an active 'scavi' or excavation site.
Although, once inside, The Forum can look like a glorified park, there is so much history, quite literally lying around. There are a few columns still standing, but the majority of them are not. However, the detail of each column is that much closer and easier to appreciate. Intricate designs of patterns, plants, and flowers are skillfully applied to each marble block.
Lots of people just sit on the thousand+ year old columns and eat lunch, or plan their next site visit, or pose for pictures.
Finally, we went to what is possibly the most famous sit in Rome, the Colosseum. The site of countless deaths, suffering, and panem et circenses. The first thing we saw when we entered the Colosseum was a huge cross. I believe that there are stations of the cross during the Triduum in the Colosseum.
The Colosseum is really amazing to stand inside of and is a testament to the awesome engineering power that the Romans possessed. It had a retractable roof, a basement to house the animals and the gladiators, three sections of spectator seating, and was able to be flooded so that they could have ships inside of the building.
They have a recreation of part of the floor so that visitors can see what it would have looked like on part of the building.
The hardest part of getting around in the Colosseum was climbing the craziest, oldest, steepest steps I have ever seen. Nobody ever tells you about that part of the Colosseum.
It was a really lovely weekend, I appreciated Rome so much more because of this weekend. I loved every second of walking around and seeing little treasures around the city as well as Rome's statement pieces. I can't wait to explore some more in this really lovely and ancient city.
