Roman Holiday: The Papal Audience

A trip to Rome wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Vatican.

This was taken in front of St. Peter's Basilica as we awaited the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI.  Every Wednesday, there's a Papal Audience in St. Peter Square. 

Along the balustrade, on top of the façade are statues depicting Christ the Redeemer, flanked by his apostles.  The place of Judas Iscariot is taken by St. John the Baptist.

Swiss Guards of the Holy See can be found mounting guard everywhere, especially whenever the pope makes public appearances.  Their uniforms are made in the colors of the Medici dynasty:  blue, red and yellow.  But don't let the charming costumes fool you.  The Pontifical Swiss Guard is charged with the security of the Vatican, and the Pope's personal safety.

The cobblestones found all over the Vatican, and indeed, Rome, are made of black porphyry tiles, and are called “Sanpietrini” in honor of St. Peter - San Pietro (Peter means rock in Italian).

From the central balcony, called the “Loggia of the Blessings” the new pope is announced:  “Habemus Papam” (We have a Pope).  The Urbi et Orbi blessing is also given from this window.  Anyone who's watched “The Borgias” on TV will recognize this balcony from Season 1.

Two elliptical colonnades encircle St. Peter Square.  They were designed by Bernini as a metaphorical representation of the “maternal arms of the mother church.”  The left one is called “Charlemagne” and the right one is called “Constantine.”  Every little thing has symbolism here, and you really have to be up on your history so you don't miss the nuances.

The obelisk in the center of the square was brought from Egypt in 37 B.C. and transferred to this site in 1586.  It took 900 men and 140 horses to haul it into place.  The bronze ball on top of the obelisk contains a relic of the True Cross.

Visitors from all over the world, the faithful, and the curious flock here every Wednesday for the Papal Audience.  The place holds thousands, and, knowing that there would be a huge crowd, our expectations were low.  Perhaps that is why it was so wonderful.  There is a surprising amount of order and calm about this audience, despite the crowd.  We felt welcomed and enveloped in the genuine warmth of the Pope and the pilgrims.  As a catholic, I was moved.  As a people-watcher, I had a ball!

I'm linking this post to “Oh, the PLACES I've been” delightfully hosted by The Tablescaper.

Roman Holiday: The Pantheon

I'm joining for the first time The Tablescaper in her terrific new blog party, “Oh, The Places I've Been!”  The wonderful memories of our trip to Italy in 2008 keep coming back to me, so I thought I'd share this excursion to one of the most remarkable buildings in Rome - The Pantheon.

Located at the Piazza della Rotonda, originally built as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt circa 125 A.D. during Hadrian's reign.

Fontana del Pantheon, designed by Giacomo della Porta and built by Leonardo Sormani, located in front of the Pantheon.  I was so fascinated by all the architecture that I took copious notes during the trip.  I was such a geek!  For this post, I dug out my little travel notebook to refresh my memory and it was like going back again.

Robert, my husband's brother, and Barb, my sister-in-law, traveling companions extraordinaires.

Entrance to the Pantheon.

Pope Urban VII (1623-1644) ordered the bronze ceiling of the Pantheon's portico melted down.  Most of the bronze was used to make bombards, an early form of cannon that fired stone balls.

The oculus, the Great Eye, is the opening at the top of the Pantheon's coffered, concrete dome, and is the only source of natural light in this building.  The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 142 feet.

Pope Boniface IV converted the Pantheon into a Christian church and consecrated it to Santa Maria ad Martyres.

The tomb of Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone (in Italian, Raffaello), one of the great masters of the Italian High Renaissance.  The  inscription on the tomb was written by Pietro Bembo, a brilliant intellectual of the period:  “Here lies Raphael, by whom Nature feared to be overcome while he was living, and while he was dying, [feared] herself to die.”

And as we came back outside, awed by all we'd seen, we found this stand selling the same book of Rome in, oh, at least 30 languages!  A little modern capitalism to counter all those centuries of history.  From the sublime to the ridiculous!