First Days In Rome

We've made the transition to Rome, though with some culture shock for all of us.  Florence seems like a sleepy little town in comparison.  There's a ton of traffic here, and every single person seems determined to kill us.  Of course, being Italian they slam on the brakes mere inches from us as we cross the street...but at least they stop.

My apartment is great -- mainly because it's air-conditioned -- and so far, things have gone well.  We visited ancient Rome yesterday: the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill, and the Forum.  Fantastic stuff.  The Colosseum is amazing, of course.  You can't help imagining what it would have been like with 60,000 screaming people in the stands while gladiators killed each other on the sand below.  Just next door is the Palatine Hill, where Rome was born, according to legend; the twins Romulus and Remus were supposedly suckled by a she-wolf in a cave on that hill, and it's where emperors built their villas in later times.  And there's the Forum, which was the civic center of ancient Rome -- "the most important meeting-place in the world," as one historian put it.  Today it's just ruins, but you can still see traces of ancient temples and other buildings.  It's all amazingly evocative, even after more than 2,000 years.

I have a bunch of photos, so here they are, with occasional annotations:

The lavish monument to Vittorio Emmanuele II, the first king of a unified Italy.  Known to locals as "the wedding cake" and "the typewriter."

Trajan's Column.  Beautiful.  This photo doesn't do it justice.

And now......the Colosseum:

 

The Palatine Hill:

(They planted these blue and purple flowers where there were once pools and fountains.  It's a beautiful effect.)

The Forum:

(The ancient temple of Romulus.  Those are the original bronze doors, more than 2,000 years old.)

Today we dove into the wonderful world of the Jesuits.  As I've been studying them for the past 10 years or so, I thought it only right that my students should meet them as well.  (Plus, they played a major role in the trial of Galileo.)  We visited Il Gesu, the first Jesuit church in Rome and the location of the tomb of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order.  I loved it; so did the students!  It's a great example of baroque opulence, with gold, precious stones, and colored marble everywhere.  Then we headed to the church of Sant'Ignazio, the other great Jesuit church, before making a stop at the Pantheon, which was nearby.  I love the Pantheon -- one of the oldest buildings in the city, it had the largest freestanding dome in the world for almost 2,000 years....until the Superdome was constructed in New Orleans.  A part of me can't help wincing at that...

This afternoon we were very lucky to get a tour of the Pontifical Gregorian University.  First founded by the Jesuits in 1553 as the Roman College, it's now one of the msot important Catholic universities in the world, serving 2,500 students from around the globe.  The building was beautiful, but then we went up to the roof and discovered some of the most amazing views in the entire city.  I really loved it, and I think the students enjoyed it as well.

More photos!

Il Gesu.

The shrine of St. Francis Xavier, one of the first Europeans to visit Japan, India, and other parts of Southeast Asia.  In the oval is a reliquary containing part of his right arm "with which he baptized 300,000 converts."

The tomb of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

The church of Sant'Ignazio.

 

When you first step inside, the dome is pretty obvious.....

 

....but as you walk underneath it, you realize it's a clever optical illusion.  The ceiling is actually flat, because they couldn't afford an actual dome, so they commissioned an artist to paint the appearance of one.  This completely blew my students' minds.

Another optical illusion, or trompe l'oiel, on the ceiling -- the columns seem to rise into an open sky filled with saints and angels.

 

The oculus in the dome of the Pantheon.

The tomb of Vittorio Emmanuele II, the first king of a unified Italy.

 

The Trevi Fountain.  Absolute mayhem.  Won't be back.

And now, views from the roof of the Pontifical Gregorian University:

That's St. Peter's in the distance.  It looked much more impressive with the naked eye than this photo suggests.  Oh well.


That's it for now.  I'm off to Venice on Friday for a couple of days -- a mini-holiday.  More updates to follow!

Ciao a tutti!