Vatican City...the religious center of Rome

We have spent some time over the week at Vatican City, the site of St. Peter's Basilica, St. Peter's Square, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums.

Vatican City is not very big, the smallest city state in the world but it attracts the largest number of people who visit Rome and we saw that on our first visit there.

 

Before I left home I bought tickets to the Papal Audience which is held in St. Peter's Square every Wednesday when the Pope is in Rome. It was quite the event!

There are 30,000 tickets given for a seat and the rest of the people stand.Here I am wondering where we will sit.

Here was the line when we got there at 7:15am.

The view across the square from our seats.

A picture of the square from the large tv screens at the front. There were 80,000 people in the square and on the surrounding streets. According to our guide the numbers here are growing every week since the election of this new Pope. His predecessor only drew about 8000 on average to a Papal Audience.

There was a lot of excitement in the air and the program started with names of church and then school groups who were visiting from all over the world. As their names were called there would be much cheering...

A group ahead of us from Philadelphia

This man wrapped in his flag was part of a group from Brazil...

 

Women from Nigeria...

Buddhist monks...

Brides and grooms who were being personally blessed by the Pope, apparently if you have been married in the last 3 months and come to Rome you can request a Papal blessing. We saw many couples going past us to the front.

And Don with his Papa Francesco flag....

Then the Pope arrived in his mobile car and started his trip around the Square...

There were lots of security around him but their job must be difficult as he stopped to chat with the crowd, took sips of people's drinks and took pictures with them. The crowd went crazy shouting and waving.

He also kissed a lot of babies...

We were sitting next to the barricades as he started to come up our pathway so he went right by us...

This is the best picture I got as he was within a few feet of us, unfortunately my camera has a grain of sand in the lens that only appears sometimes.This time it looks like the Pope has a black eye! But I like his smile!!

The rest of the program continues after everyone reaches the main stage and the Pope gives his message in many languages.

He then blesses everyone, their families, those who are sick and any religious items that people brought with them.

It ends with everyone standing saying the Lord's Prayer.

Don really appreciated being in attendance and I enjoyed the experience as well.

The next day we visited the huge Vatican Museums which was another experience given the huge crowds and the vastness of the place.

There are many rooms of wonderful art work, this one of centuries old frescos which were very detailed and colorful.

Masterpieces by Raphael

 

 

Fabulous tapestries

Many inner courtyards with modern art installations.

Corridors of ancient sculptures and many people

A wonderful Bernini staircase that was built so the Popes could climb to the top of the Papal apartments on horseback.

The place also had wonderful ceilings.

Intricate mosaics on the floors

I loved the modern art as well.

Then there was the Sistine Chapel with the ceiling by Michelangelo...

The beautiful walls. ( Both these pictures were taken from the internet as no photos allowed.)

So much art work in one place and that continued into St. Peter's but those pictures are for my next post. Rome is turning out to be a nicer city than we imagined.

 

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Rome...our first impressions

We arrived in Rome by train from Assisi and made our way to our last accommodation for this trip.

We have a beautiful studio in the Jewish Ghetto, a wonderful little neighbourhood which is centrally located. This area of Rome was established by one of the Popes in 1555 and required all the Jews to move here.It was surrounded by walls and the gates were locked at night. They were basically doomed to a life of poverty inside the walls.

One of the gates to the Ghetto under restoration

During WW11 the Nazis rounded up over 1000 Jewish people from the Ghetto and sent them them to Auschwitz

There are plaques on the street outside our building indicating the names of some of these people, a very sad reminder.

Today the neighbourhood is still home to many Jews and many restaurants are kosher. Every morning we wake up to the noise and smells of this neighbourhood.

 

Rome is divided by the Tiber River and we are very close to the banks so we have been walking across some very old bridges.

Ponte Fabricio was built in 62AD and is still used today which I think is amazing! The Romans were great engineers and architects which can be seen everywhere around the city.

On the other side of the bridge is the Trasvertere neighbourhood which seems to be a world away from the busy streets in the rest of Rome. We went for a Twilight Food Tour one evening around the neighbourhood that combined food, wine and history.

We stopped here for antipasti including the best fresh cheese I have ever eaten. It was so good we went back one evening for a meal.

It is called Buratta and it is mozzarella filled with cream, doesn't look like much but it sure was good!

We were given access to a wine cellar that was built in 1 AD...everyone looks happy!

Anna, our guide, pouring the wine.

Our tour was 4 hours so we ate lots and learned a lot about the neighbourhood.

Cookies from the neighbourhood bakery.

Visit to an alimentari where the locals buy their meats, cheese, wine and a few other staples. This one has been here for 80 years.

 

We went in back doors of restaurants...

My favourite was going into the back of a pizza shop to see this 82 year old man who came back to work from retirement. Don said he "kneaded the money", I know sad joke.

The temperature must have been 100 degrees in there and he ran, not walked. Here he is putting on the tomato sauce after he covered the dough in olive oil.

Putting the dough in the wall of ovens that are over 100 years old.

Enjoying a pasta stop...

Finishing with a gelato stop...

I know that the food and wine has gone to my waist line even with all that walking!

Speaking of walking we have done our share here in Rome as well preferring that to the buses and subway but it also means enduring traffic and crowds.

Cars often don't stop for pedestrians and the streets are made of these stones so our feet are sore after walking all day.

There are churches everywhere, over 900 in Rome...

Beautiful sculptures

Another great bridge across the Tiber River...as we walk here we are often reminded of Paris and the Seine River banks.

Old forts...this is Castel Sant Angelo which was built as a tomb for Hadrian, one of the Roman emperors between 130-139 AD. We went in for a visit and couldn't believe how well preserved it was. It is also connected to the Vatican and used as an escape route for the clergy there.

The angel Michael in one of the courtyards.

The Papal Treasury boxes from the 1500s, the large one was outfitted with six locks each done by a different locksmith.

View of Rome from the top...

Church domes and magnificent buildings.

Lots of great fountains including Trevi Fountain completed in 1762. Legend has it that to throw a coin into the fountain means you will return to Rome.

There are always many people sitting around the fountains usually eating gelato and trying to fiqure out a map.I have never seen a city with so many people staring at a map with no idea which way to go. The maps aren't that great and the street signs are almost non-existent.

Lots of artists in the piazzas as well as food vendors...

I always envy anyone who can access this type of food fresh everyday.

Rome is also a city that has been built on top of previous cities, so much so that the locals say the city is like a lasagna. Wherever we walk there are excavation sites in various stages like this one just down the street.

Or this one around the corner..

 

Or you can be walking along and come upon the facade of a a Roman temple.

Rome is truly an interesting city that has hsistory in your face wherever you turn.It is noisy, crowded and chaotic but we are looking forward to seeing what else this city has to offer.

 

 

 

 

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