Travels in Italy--Rome (Part 1 of 2)

Rome is an ancient city, the Eternal City, founded more than 2,700 years ago.  We recently visited Rome and toured some old sites and very old sites. 

To see Rome's many sites, we rambled around the city while taking some photographs.  Please join us on our ramble.

The Spanish Steps:   The famed and much visited Spanish Steps are a series of monumental staircases built during 1723-1725. The 135 steps ascend a steep slope from the Piazza di Spagna up to the Piazza Trinità dei Monti.

The Spanish Steps in Rome

A coupe of novices trying to take a selfie

A view from atop the Spanish Steps, with the dome of St. Peter's Basilica seen in the distance

A random hottie descending the Spanish Steps, thinking to herself, "Is that a gelato shop I see?"

The Santissima Trinità a Via Condotti:   During our ramble around Rome, we stopped in some of the many churches we found along the way.  One church, Santissima Trinità, was a beautiful surprise inside.   Santissima Trinità is one of the national churches of Spain in Rome, built by the Spanish Trinitarians during 1741-1746.  Later in time, the church and its convent became a Dominican college for missionaries.

The Trevi Fountain:   The famous Trevi Fountain is a beautiful Baroque-style fountain in the heart of Rome. The fountain is located at the intersection of three roads, or tre via in Italian, hence the name Trevi.

The fountain is supplied by a water source outside Rome that is fed into the city by an aqueduct built during the 1st century B.C.   The 14 mile aqueduct supplied water to the heart of Rome .  In the 1400's, the aqueduct was restored and later the Trevi Fountain was added in 1762 as one of the endpoints of the aqueduct.  The aqueduct still supplies some of the best drinking water and many locals believe that drinking that water has health benefits. 

The fountain has been restored twice in the past twenty years, most recently in 2015 by Italian fashion house Fendi.  Today, the statues are gleaming white and the water is sparkling blue. 

Throwing coins into the Trevi Fountain is a time-honored tradition.  According to a legend, tossing coins into the fountain while wishing to return to Rome in the future will cause the wish to come true. 

Apparently, a lot of visitors to the fountain want to return to Rome in the future.  Everyday, a LOT of coins are thrown into the fountain, about $4,000 worth of coins.  If you do the math, that is serious change at the end of a year.  The coins are removed periodically and apparently used to subsidize a grocery store for Rome's poor and other charitable activities of Caritas.  We helped the cause. 

For the wish to come true, there is a specific throwing technique:  coins are purportedly meant to be thrown using the right hand over the left shoulder. Check out our technique in the pictures below.

Piazza Navona:   The famous square Piazza Navona is in the heart of Rome.  The square is actually a long rectangle.  It takes its shape and name from history.  During the reign of the Emperor Domitian, a large stadium was built on the site during 80-86 A.D.  The open field of the stadium provided the space and shape for Piazza Navona centuries later.  In the stadium, games were held, also known as agones.  Apparently, over time, the word agones evolved to avone, then navone and today navona. Who knew?

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1651)

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi:  The four rivers are great rivers on the continents to which the papacy had spread--the Nile in Africa, the Ganges in Asia, the Danube in Europe and the Rio de la Plata in the Americas.

The piazza is usually bustling day and night.

Some dude. Probably thinking about what toppings he'll have on his next pizza.

The Church of the Gesù:   The church is the mother church of a Roman Catholic religious order, the Jesuits.  The church was conceived by Saint Ignatius of Loyola during his life and later built during 1568-1580.  The Baroque-style church is beautifully ornate. The dominant color everywhere in the church is gold. 

Church of the Gesù:  the vaulted ceiling of the nave

Church of the Gesù:  the right side of the main altar

Church of the Gesù:  the main altar

The Quirinal Palace:   Located atop Quirinal Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome, the very large Quirinal Palace has been home to dozens of Popes, several Kings of Italy and a dozen presidents of Italy.  The palace, completed in 1583, has about 1.2 million sq. feet, which ranks it 9th largest in the world by area. 

We passed by the Quirinal Palace while an official ceremony was about to occur. 

The Quirinal Palace in Rome, with statues of Castor and Pollux taming the horses in the foreground

Mounted police at Quirinal Palace awaiting the start of a ceremony

Shopping:  Up the street from our hotel, we spotted an outdoor shop with all sorts of terra cotta decorations for a Roman home or garden.  The collection was extensive and is pictured below.

Shop on Via Torino in Rome

The Oratorio del SS. Sacramento:   We visited a small church, the Oratorio del SS. Sacramento, a peaceful refuge where we rested.  While there, we spotted a permanent presepe, or nativity scene. 

Permanent presepe in the Oratorio del SS. Sacramento, Rome

The Pantheon:   The famous Pantheon was a Roman temple to all gods and was later consecrated as the Church of St. Mary and the Martyrs in 609 A.D.  The current building was completed around 126 A.D.  The first two modern kings of Italy are entombed there.

The Pantheon is a very large building with a dome. The oculus at the top provides plenty of natural light and even allows rain to fall inside. 

The pantheon, with some random hottie

The Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva:  The church is the resting place of Saint Catherine of Siena, who died in Rome in 1380 at age 33.  St. Catherine is a Doctor of the Church, a patron saint of Italy (with St. Francis) and a patron saint of Europe (with five other saints).  St. Catherine's sarcophagus with her body is located under the church's main altar. (Her head returned to Siena and is venerated in the Basilica of San Domenico there.) 

St Paul's Within the Walls:   Also known as the American Church in Rome, St. Paul's Within the Walls is an Episcopal church in the center of Rome, hence, within the walls of Rome.  It was the first Protestant church built in Rome (completed in 1880 following the defeat of the Papal States and Unification of Italy in 1870). The Gothic style church has beautiful mosaics. 

In addition to traditional activities, St. Paul's is home to the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center, a day center that provides a menu of services to struggling refugees.   

St. Paul's is a sister church of St. James Episcopal Church, the church we attend in Florence.  St. James provides financial support to the St. Paul's refugee center.

St. Paul's Within the Walls in Rome

Next Up:   More rambling around Rome.