Follow-up on Today's Walk

Our group walk today followed Courtney’s tour of markets. The walk that she outlined stopped first at the market in Testaccio, about two minutes away from our TAs’ apartments. I have visited this indoor market once before and it was the first market I went to in Rome. On my first visit, I walked away with about a pound of provolone cheese, when I only really wanted a piece, because asking for an amount in Italian is very confusing. The entire market is indoors, which provided a nice break from the sun. Monday was boiling hot, even when our group met at nine o’clock in the morning. We walked around the market, but did not take long. I was hesitant to buy anything that I might see later at another market. The stands mainly consisted of fruits and vegetables, cheeses, meats, and bread. A small selection of clothes, shoes, and bags is located near the entrance.

The second stop was at the market in Campo di Fiori. This outdoor market takes up the entire piazza with a much larger selection of produce and items to buy. I felt more comfortable browsing the different stands outdoors with many more people doing the same thing. This market is known for drawing in more tourists, probably because it covers a large space, in a well known piazza. The outdoor atmosphere entices locals and tourists to walk around and shop, or just look. After walking from end to end to get a feel for everything there was to offer, I was drawn to the tables of jewelry, scarves, and bags, then to the stands of Italia t-shirts. After getting a couple gifts for friends and family and a couple of grocery items for myself, I was satisfied with my market experience. I have not yet had the opportunity to go this market until now since we are usually in class when it is open in the morning, so I was happy to finally have the experience.

Jonkoping and Rome

My friend from Penn State, Gillian, visited me over the weekend. For the past seven weeks, she has been studying abroad in Jonkoping, Sweden, and has travelled to other northern European countries like Estonia, Denmark, Finland, and Norway. Jonkoping is a small city south of Stockholm, located on the edge of a large lake. As we walked around in Rome this weekend, Gillian was amazed at how old everything is in Rome – almost every building, church, and structure looks ancient. It was a huge culture shock compared to Sweden, she said, where the architecture is much more modern. Most of the buildings there have been built in the last century. There are a few sky scrapers, a lot of apartment complexes, and newer shops and restaurants.
(Image: Jonkoping, Sweden. http://www.sasnet.lu.se/bilder/jonkoping.jpg)

It was a lot of fun to show the city of Rome to Gillian and share her initial reactions to being here for the first time. Rome really is an ancient city, and I am still amazed by this, even after living here for weeks.

Santa Maria in Trastevere, Basilica San Pietro, and Scala Santa

Santa Maria in Trastevere, Basilica San Pietro, and Scala Santa are three churches in Rome to which people from the city, from Italy, and from all over the world make pilgrimage journeys. All three are famous Christian sites of worship for important reasons.

The Eyewitness Guide to Rome describes Santa Maria in Trastevere as “probably the first official Christian place of worship to be built in Rome” (212). Supposedly built in the 3rd century, the beautiful golden mosaics that decorate the outer façade and inner altar area date to the 12th century when Pope Innocent II had the church re-done in a Romanesque style. Santa Maria is a Christian and tourist focal point, especially in Trastevere. It may have been the first church dedicated to Mary, though this is according to legend.

St. Peter’s Basilica, probably the best known church in Rome and the main church of Roman Catholicism, is a major pilgrimage site. It took more than a century to build, beginning in the 15th century under the rule of Pope Julius II. Bernini’s gilded bronze baldacchino is a highlight of the interior. The 448 foot dome was designed by Michelangelo, and gives a fantastic view of the entire city of Rome from the top. The Piazza San Pietro, surrounded by the colonnade designed by Bernini, fills with thousands of people on religious holidays, Sundays, and Wednesdays to receive blessing from the Pope.

Scala Santa, or the holy staircase, consists of 28 stairs that have been believed (since the 7th century) to have been ascended by Christ. The original stairs were moved from Jerusalem to their site at the old Lateran Palace. The sacred stairs can only be climbed by people on their knees, a daunting task performed by devout Christians.

Walk to Three Pilgrimage Churches

Destinations: Santa Maria in Trastevere, St. Peter’s Basilica, and Scala Santa
- Start: Via S. Maria in Cappella
- Left on Via dei Genovesi
- Right on Vicolo Tabacchi
- Continue down Via C. Marmaggi
- Cross Viale Trastevere (the main road) onto Via dei Fratte di Trastevere
- Take the first right on Via dei Fienaroli
- Left on Via Arco S. Calisto, follow to Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, where the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere is located
- Go north-east out of the piazza, through Piazza S. Apollonia
- Continue north to Via del Moro, following this road to Piazza Trilussa (right next to the Tiber River)
- Left on the Lungotevere (the road along the river)
- Follow this road past three bridges
- Left at the fourth bridge, Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, onto Borgo Santo Spirito
- Right on Via SS Michele e Magno, which will put you into Piazza Pio XII
- The Basilica San Pietro will be on your left
- Take the main road out of the square, Via della Conciliazione
- Continue straight towards the river
- Veer right through Piazza Giovanni XXII to Lungotevere Vaticano
- Follow the road along the river past two bridges
- Cross the river at the third bridge, Ponte Cavour
- Ahead will be Piazza Porto di Ripetta, where the Ara Pacis will be in front of you
- Behind this is the Mausoleo Augusto
- Go around the Mausoleo to the left onto Via dei Pontefici
- Cross Via del Corso to Via della Croce
- Get on the Metro at Spagna (the Spanish Steps)
- Take the Metro to San Giovanni
- Back track on foot through the Giardini di Porta S. Giovanni towards Via Fontana, passing San Giovanni in Laterano on the left
- Scala Santa will be on the right

The Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums in Vatican city holds one of the most valuable collections of art in the world. The collections are extensive, and cover a large time period in the history of art, from Egyptian and Assyrian art to modern religious art from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Four rooms decorated my Raphael are some of the main features of the Vatican Museums. Over the course of 16 years, from 1508 to 1524, Raphael worked for Pope Julius II painting frescoes in his private rooms. He covered up previously existing frescoes commissioned by Alexander VI who had been in power before Julius II. Raphael’s frescoes brought him fame, even though he died before their ultimate completion.

(Raphael's School of Athens, in the Raphael Rooms, http://www.rome.info/museums/vatican/raphael-rooms/raphael.jpg)

The Sistine Chapel is perhaps the most famous part of the Vatican Museums as it displays Michelangelo’s finest fresco painting. The walls of the chapel are decorated by him as well as various other famous artists of the 15th and 16th centuries. Michelangelo’s Last Judgment fresco on the wall of the altar is a stunning representation of souls rising to God or falling into the depths of hell.

(Michelangelo's Last Judgment from the Sistine Chapel, http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/images/vatican/sistine-chapel/last-judgment-wga-350.jpg)

The Sistine Ceiling, also by Michelangelo and painted between 1508 and 1512, is an immense undertaking. Michelangelo painted the entire ceiling from scaffolding. The two main scenes, the Creation of Adam and Fall of Man, are placed in the center. Surrounding panels show scenes from both the Old and New Testaments. The figures are unique with their muscular body types, and a modern restoration revealed the paintings’ brilliant colors.

(Michelangelo's Creation of Adam from the Sistine ceiling, http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/sistine-chapel-michelangelo-paintings-5.jpg)

An admission fee is required to see the museums, except for the last Sunday of the month.

Hours: Mon-Sat, 8:45am-4:45pm, last admission at 3:20pm; last Sun of the month, 8:45-1:45pm, last admission at 12:20pm

(See Eyewitness Travel Guide: Rome)

San Luigi dei Francesi

The church of San Luigi dei Francesi, located in the Piazza of the same name, is the official French church in Rome. It is known for holding three famous paintings by the artist Caravaggio. These were his first three religious works, painted between 1597 and 1602, all depicting the subject of St. Matthew. The Calling of St. Matthew, the Martyrdom of St. Matthew, and St. Matthew and the Angel all hang in the fifth chapel on the left in the church, called the Contarelli Chapel. Cardinal Contarelli left an endowment and specific instructions for the decoration of this chapel. Though the Cardinal died in 1585, Caravaggio was not contracted to do the paintings until 1599. The artist Giuseppe Cesari was the first choice of the church to complete the paintings, but when he got tied up in other Papal commissions, Cardinal Del Monte, who was in charge of the money, suggested Caravaggio.

(The Calling of St. Matthew, http://virgo.bibl.u-szeged.hu/wm/paint/auth/caravaggio/calling/calling.jpg)

The Calling of St. Matthew, recognized as the most famous of the three works, depicts the Biblical story when Jesus, seeing the tax-collector Matthew at work, pointed to him and said “follow me”, and Matthew rose and followed him. Jesus’ hand in this painting resembles the hand in the Creation of Adam by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.

(The Martyrdom of St. Matthew, http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/figures/st-matthew-martyr.jpg)

In all three paintings, Caravaggio uses dramatic chiaroscuro, or contrast between light and dark, to accentuate the dramatic nature of the subjects and highlight important parts of the painting.

(St. Matthew and the Angel, http://www.hobby-o.com/matthewinspirationlarge.jpg)

Hours: 8am-12:30pm, 3:30-7pm daily

No admission fee

(See Eyewitness Travel Guide: Rome)

Angels and Demons

Over the course of the semester we have been watching viewing films for one of our classes, Rhetoric of Film: Italian Cinema. The films are Italian, and most are black and white, filmed around the mid-20th century. The city of Rome provides a backdrop for these films, and in many of them it is easy to recognize famous sites, like the Pantheon. Because of Rome’s beauty and history, it has continued to be used as the setting for movies after those we have been watching in class.

We saw this first hand on Friday as we watched a scene for the movie Angels and Demons being shot. One end of Piazza Navona set the scene. A crowd gathered around to catch glimpses of Tom Hanks, the star of the film. All the scene entailed was Tom Hanks getting out of a police car, dressed in a suit, then walking with two police men toward the other side of the piazza and pointing at something ahead of him. The director, Ron Howard, ran back and forth during every take.

As I watch our films in class, I continually recognize sights that I have seen, decades later. Now I will have to go see Angels and Demons in the theater so I can see the Piazza Navona scene that I witnessed first hand.