Starting just outside one of these walls we began by entering the Vatican Museum which held numerous paintings, frescos, and tapestries commissioned by the Church during the early Renaissance. After a single hallway with these works that was easily 2 football field lengths long, we were escorted to our next stop, the Sistine Chapel. Stepping into the huge room, I never realized how many paintings would be covering the walls and ceiling inside. Seeing the famous Creation of Adam and The Last Judgment painted on the ceiling by Michelangelo was another jaw dropping experience.
After leaving the chapel we made our way to St. Peter's Basilica, the largest Christian church in the world. Walking inside is like stepping into another world. The entire church from floors to walls to ceiling is covered with marble, and since the dome reaches a height of over 450 feet it is easy to see how it took 120 years for the structure to finally be completed. I wasn't expecting to see the tomb of Pope John Paul II, but just 2 minutes after entering we walked a few feet away from the resting place of the Pope that I grew up with. In fact around 120 of all of the Popes were entombed underneath the church floors, and in the center of the huge cavernous basilica was the tomb of Saint Peter, one of the 12 apostles and the first Pope of the Catholic Church, mind blowing.
Once again it was another surreal experience, but I was kinda bummed that the pope-mobile wasn't on display for the public to see and that I didn't get to give the Pope a giant Catholic hug. However, after the tour we went to a Church gift shop that sold everything from rosaries to crosses and most in the group bought a rosary or two for their grandmas (me included since I didn't want an angry Nana when I got back), that were blessed in the Basilica later that day.
After our visit to the Vatican we were in dire need of a power nap, so we headed back to the hotel for a quick refresher, and then we were back out the door to visit the inside of the Pantheon. Built around the same time as the Colosseum, the Pantheon was one of the first uses of concrete by the Romans back in the 2nd century AD and is much better shape than it's grandieur cousin the Colosseum. After learning so much about the famous structure in our Art History course a few years ago it was pretty sweet to see it all in person.
After a final pasta dinner in the Italian capital, we walked to the Colosseum with a bottle of wine to watch the moon rise since it was supposedly even more grandiose at night. Once again, Mike's advice didn't disappoint and after an hour of enjoying one last glimpse of a testament to the world's greatest empire we headed back to the hotel to get some much need rest for tomorrow's long journey to Florence in the heart of Tuscany.
Ready for a swim in the ocean to get away from the heat,
Josh
a large hallway longer than a football field before entering the Sistine Chapel, where no photos were allowed
view out onto St. Peter's Square
a view into St. Peter's Basilica
sweet view of one of the domes inside the church
a view from under St. Peter's altar in the center of the church
St. Peter's is the largest Christian church in the world
one last view from the Square towards St. Peter's
visiting the Trevi Fountain again during the day
visited the Pantheon again to go inside
inside the Pantheon
One final view of The Colosseum after dinner with some wine before departing Rome for Florence in the morning
No comments:
Post a Comment