What a city! There is so much to see and do in Rome, that it is quite overwhelming. The architecture and art found in Rome is absolutely astounding and I am still incredibly impressed by what I saw. The most impressive building I saw in Rome, and quite possibly will ever see, was undoubtedly The Pantheon. In short, the Pantheon was built by Emperor Hadrian around 125 AD as a temple to “all gods”. It was converted into a Catholic church as well as a tomb to great Italians such as the artist Raphael. The Pantheon has a huge reputation as being one of the most influential and amazing buildings of the Roman empire, which gave me very high expectations. Most of the time, when I have high expectations for something, it tends to not live up to those expectations, but not so with the Pantheon. For me, it was even more incredible than I could have imagined. I was struck by how large and impressive it was as well as by the simplicity and grandeur of the design. However, probably the most amazing part to me was how undeniably old it is while at the same time being in very good condition for a building that has stood for almost 1,900 years.
I was also very impressed by the Colosseum, and it certainly lived up to its grand reputation. I was a little surprised by how small it was compared to my impression of it from Gladiator as a huge stadium rivaling those of the modern sports arenas of today. Nevertheless, it was a very impressive building, especially at night time. I have found that the best time to see big epic monuments is at night because there are no crowds, and they are always lit up very well. The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill and Spanish Steps were very interesting as well, but not quite as impressive as the Pantheon and Colosseum. On the way to the Roman Forum we saw the small plaza designed by Michelangelo known as the Campidoglio which features a bronze Roman statue of Marcus Aurelius riding a horse in the center.
One of the days in Rome was dedicated to visiting Vatican City. I saw the Vatican Museum, which holds one of the greatest Renaissance art collections in the world as well as many ancient Roman and Greek sculpture. Of course we also saw the Sistene Chapel, which I found very interesting, and am still trying to understand why Michelangelo painted what he did. There are so many levels of meaning to try to understand the composition. Essentially, the Sistene chapel depicts the history and beliefs taught in the Bible with one blaring omission. There is very limited mention of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I found this disturbing considering that the crucifixion and resurrection are the pivotal for understanding Christianity. The best way to explain this is to use as passage of the Bible I was reminded of concerning the importance of the Resurrection.
“But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”
1 Corinthians 15: 12-19
As I understand it, this passage is saying that if the Resurrection did not happen, then the faith of Christians is meaningless. Therefore, I was surprised that in one of the most amazing and epic artistic depictions of the Bible, in a place held as one of the most sacred chapels in Catholicism, the Resurrection is largely absent. I have to assume that this was an intentional choice by Michelangelo, which makes me wonder why he chose to leave it out.
Another interesting part of the Vatican is of course St. Peters Basilica and St. Peter’s Piazza. I really liked the Piazza which is a surrounded by the marble colonnade designed by Bernini. It is a very well designed space that can hold thousands of people yet also has a comfortable human scale to it. Once inside St. Peter’s one is overwhelmed by the ornate details, paintings and sculpture covering the entire interior of the building. Underneath the massive dome lies the tomb of St. Peter which is covered by the Baldicchino which is a crazy copper structure designed by Bernini. My impressions of St. Peters is a mix between being impressed by the artistry and the feeling that the interior is overdone, like its trying too hard to impress people. Nevertheless, it is a fascinating place to visit, and well worth a visit if you are in Rome.
But that is just the beginning, as there is so much more to experiencing city. Rome is a city that seems like it can't decide if it wants to be ancient, renaissance, contemporary Italian or an international. Therefore it just seems to be a mess of all these things crammed in together in sometimes the most ridiculous way imaginable. If you have any notion that Rome is a peaceful or relaxing place to be, then you would be in for quite a shock. Rome, is quite a chaotic and noisy city. When you are trying to take in a building or sculpture, you almost always are having to fight a crowd of tourists in order to get a good view or are being pestered by vendors trying to sell you some ridiculous toys or souvenirs. I found that for the most part, the tourist groups in Rome are absolutely ridiculous, and incredibly irritating. I’ll get in trouble if I say any more. The street vendors are really annoying because you can’t sit and enjoy a cool famous building without someone coming up to you and asking if you want to buy something.
Sometimes they would even walk into restaurants while I was sitting and enjoying my food and try to get me to buy something. It was just really annoying.
Therefore, the best time to see famous buildings and monuments is at early in the morning and nighttime, in order to avoid the crowds and the vendors. I was able to photograph the Pantheon with no one in the picture because I took it at 7:45 in the morning. As an anti-morning person myself, it is well worth sacrificing some sleep to see the Pantheon in the quiet of the morning. On my last night in Rome I walked around the city with some friends, which I realized was the most epic stroll I have ever taken considering we walked past the Campigoglio designed by Michelangelo, the Roman Forum, the Arch of Constantine and walked all the way around the Colosseum. It was incredible to see the Colosseum at night time and I was able to get a bunch of cool photos of it as well. Seeing the Colosseum at nighttime is a must if you are in Rome.
When you aren’t being overwhelmed by tourists or pestered by vendors, you have to watch out for getting run over by crazy Italians on scooters or cars. In Rome they have no concept of a sidewalk or bike lane. Everyone: cars, pedestrians, bikes, scooter, horses, shares the same road. It is absolutely insane. Especially considering there are like 9,035,896,984,833 scooters everywhere coming at you. They scooters also make the city smell like gasoline, that is, when it doesn’t smell like sewage or cigarettes.
Although the Italians in Rome are insane… they do one thing very well…. Food and Wine. I had some pretty delicious pasta and pizza with really good fresh wine in Rome. I am not very sure how to make sense of this city, as I have seen some of the most amazing things in the world but also had to deal with a lot insanely irritating things. I can say that I am very glad I went, and going with the school was the best way for me to see it. Our Danish tour guide is incredibly knowledgeable about the Renaissance and Italian culture, and he also used to be in the military, which is a major plus in the midst of the insanity of Rome. I would never want to go there as a tourist, but it was amazing to go as a student and try to learn from all there is to see in Rome, and to understand why it is the way it is. In the midst of all the craziness, it truly was a great experience to see Rome.
Here are just a couple photos. I have posted much more here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/steve04/BestOfRome#Enjoy!
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