Friday

Friday in a nutshell


• Mamertine Prison
• Forum    pics
• San Clemente and the Temple of Mithras    pics
• San Giovanni in Laterano    pic
• Metro to a great lunch
• Santa Maria Maggiore (San Pressede closed)    pic
• Galleria Doria Pamphilj    pic
• Choir practice at Santa Maria Madelena    pic
• Back to Osteria De Mario

Ten feet away is the Forum itself. This is where Julius Caesar walked and writhed around before and after being stabbed. There is not a lot left. Rome had a really difficult middle-ages, and the buildings were knocked down by marauders or taken apart because it was easier than quarrying fresh rock. To Dan's left, the corner of the well-preserved brick building is one exception. It is the Roman Senate building, and was in really terrific shape. Right behind him is the Rostrum, where public speakers would orate. These are the side vaults of a formerly huge hall of justice. You can see the construction style looks a lot like the Pantheon's dome.

San Clemente is an amazing place. It is a 12th century cathedral built on top of a 4th century cathedral, built on top of a BC Temple of Mithras. You go into a beautiful sanctuary with gorgeous mosaics. That's what these pictures are from. Then you go down a level and you can see the remnants of the next church down. It has frescoes and tombs of ancient cardinals or bishops. This in turn had been built on top of a Temple of Mithras. It is one of the most unique spots to see how Rome is literally layered on top of itself. You can walk all around the stone rooms, and see an alter with a dancing bull on it. On both sides of the temple are spots where you can look even further down and see a couple of springs flowing underground. We walked down the street to San Giovanni in Laterano. This is the first christian church in Rome. All the popes were crowned here until 1870. Being the Bishop of Rome, this is the Pope's gig. Nobody but him gets to use the main alter. Also in here is a piece of the table of the Last Supper. I learned that, by eavesdropping on this very annoying tour guide of some sort. Not really a tour guide - he was just taking two women around, and was super patronizing. "Now, do you know what it was called when blah blah blah... very good!" But he seemed to know a lot, so Dad & I bent an ear for a while.

The Galleria Doria Pamphilj is in the same pallazo as the hotel. The rooms are spectacular and really show how the rich folk lived. This portait shows Mr. Doria Pamphilj, Pope Innocent X to you and me. As a painting, it set the standard for portraiture after its unveiling. The Pope is said to have cried out, "it is too true!" upon seeing it. This bust is of his sister-in-law. She apparently had the bright idea that it was unbecoming of the Catholic Church to make any money from the brothels of Rome, and had all the income redirected to the Doria Pamphilj's private account. It's good that people like her were around to protect the Church.

We decided to back to Mario's for dinner and try some of their other wares. I stopped and took this picture at the fountain in front of the Pantheon, in the Piazza Rotunda. I just liked it because the guy had a dog coming out of the back of his head. OR, perhaps, it's a dog with a human mask on his rear end - which leads one to think that just maybe that's not water flowing! You can see a McDondald's sign in the background - I'm happy to say we never went there.

We saw that Santa Maria Magdalena's was still open, so we stuck our head in. It turned out that their choir was getting ready to have a concert the next night, and we had walked in on choir practice. They looked like any small congregation choir, but what a setting. Check out their organ pipes in this pic!