La Citta Eterna

There's something about standing in a city that's existed for over 2500 years.  You can't exactly put your finger on it, but it's hard not to be in a good mood (even in sweltering heat).  I've been to Rome before, just under 4 years ago when my parents came to visit me in Alba, but I won't be seeing much of any of the same sites.  They say that you can't see all of Rome in a lifetime, so why do the same things twice?  Conspicuously absent from the next four days will be the Coliseum, Vatican Museums, Capitoline Hill, etc.  If you're interested in those things, check out my Facebook page; I've got plenty of pictures from the last time I was here.

Instead, my focus is going to be on churches (surprise, surprise), preferably as old as possible.  I didn't get to Rome until 1 PM local time today, but I tried to hit the ground running since there's so much to do.  First up the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, atop the Esquiline Hill.

From the front...

...and the back.

The church was originally built in the 5th century, although obviously heavily modified over the years.  It's one of the four Papal Basilicas in Rome, meaning that it technically is owned by the Vatican rather than Italy (think like an embassy on foreign soil).  Being one of the most important churches in Rome, it was rather splendid inside:

Detail of the apse

Triumphal arch mosaics

These mosaics date from to the fifth century, making them older than just about everything I saw in Ravenna. I really wish I had a pair of binoculars with me; there are also mosaics lining the nave, but they were too high up to either get a decent picture of or even see well in person.  Quite the impressive church, all in all.

Next up was the Basilica di San Clemente.  While the church itself if quite beautiful...

These mosaics are significantly more recent, dating to the twelfth or thirteenth century.  If you compare them with some of the other shots I've taken, they do look quite a bit different.

 ..the real draw of this church is the fact that beneath it lies a 4th century Christian basilica, and beneath that is a 1st century AD Mithraeum (a temple to Mithras) and a Roman house, complete with running water (still functioning).  Unfortunately we weren't supposed to take pictures, but I managed to snap one before a mysterious voice told me to stop in 4 or 5 different languages:

The Mithraeum

Sorry for the quality, it was extremely dark down there.  Anyway, this church should be on any visitor to Rome's list.  It really gives you an impression of just how old the city is.

Not too far away from San Clemente is San Giovanni in Laterano, the official cathedral of Rome.  While the pope is usually associated with St. Peter's in the Vatican, his actual "home church" is San Giovanni.  Next  to the St. Peter's it is probably the most magnificent in Rome:

These massive statues line the nave

The bishop's throne or cathedra (hence the term cathedral)

There were some nice mosaics here as well, but once again they date from the 12th or 13th century.  In the interest of time I'm going to leave them out, but as I've mentioned before I'll be putting up a photobucket where you can see everything I saw (the internet in these hostels isn't the best; this might not happen until I get home, since we're talking about thousands of pictures).

I also saw the Scala Sancta, believed to be the steps from Pontius Pilate's palace in Jerusalem, which Jesus ascended before he was condemned to death.

You are only allowed to climb it on your knees, saying a prayer on each step (there are other staircases to the sides for those who don't want to do this), and as a result the penitent are granted a partial indulgence (or a plenary indulgence, if you climb on Good Friday).  I decided to go for it--though I still need to go to confession and attend mass some time in the next couple weeks for the indulgence to count--and it is definitely a grueling experience.  Quite moving, though; there were various people crying as they climbed, and it didn't seem to be because of the pain.  At the top is the Sancta Sanctorum, a chapel housing some extremely ancient relics.  Photos are forbidden, and you can't even go inside--you can only look from 3 grated windows.

Although completely exhausted after this experience, it was too early to call it a day, so I went to the Basilica dei Santi Quattro Coronati.  An ancient church (4th-5th century), it is now operated by the Little Sisters of the Lamb.

Very unassuming exterior.  You'd never find this place if you weren't looking for it.

Decoration in the apse is much more recent (I'm guessing 16th-17th century)

The cloisters

A chapel with some crumbling frescoes

Finally, I finished the day by going to Santo Stefano Rotondo, a round church fairly close to Quattro Coronati.  But, I happened to catch it on a day when there was a wedding going on.  The wedding itself was over, and I managed to get inside, but pretty quickly I was told I had to leave because they were closing for the day.  I'm going to try to go back, so I'm not going to include any information on that church now.

Tomorrow, I'm planning on doing the Appian Way and the early Christian catacombs, as well as some of the more out of the way sites (such as St. Paul's Outside the Walls).  As usual, leave me your questions and comments!