WHAT A ROMAN DAY! PART II / UPDATED

Tuesday, December 3, 2013 / on the Mediterranean Sea aboard Ruby Princess
Sunny, mid 60s / gentler seas and wind

Rome Continued: Driver Stefano told us that several basilicas in Rome are considered part of the Vatican, and our next stop was such a church, the Pope’s Cathedral / Arcibasilica San Giovanni in Laterano. From what I understood, there are four such Vatican churches (the earliest major early Christian churches in Rome and located in various areas). St. Peter’s is obviously one of the four.

San Giovanni (St. John’s) was so huge. A very poor analogy is that the apse is about the size of one and a half football fields, and so very gloriously high with marble columns reaching upwards of 40 feet or more. 

Stefano tried to explain a custom of the Holy Door. My understanding is that every 25 years the Pope visits this church and knocks on this Holy Door with a hammer. It is opened and he then knocks down a brick wall to enter the Basilica. We visited two churches with such doors and tradition, so I want to know more about that.
 

Aged, large hand carved wooden confessionals were available in different languages.

A museum shop was tended by Sisters, very short in stature, but grand on gentility. I purchased some rosaries, a book All the Popes, From St. Peter to Francis, (266 Popes), and medals here.  

Stefano made a quick stop at Chiesa San Stefano Rotonde, which was closed on Monday. I will have to do some research to know more about it, but it was very very old.

A note here: I realize not everyone is interested in so much detail, but I write this blog to remember and admittedly I am completely in awe of the art and architecture created in the adoration of God and the Savior by people a thousand years ago and past the Middle Ages into the Renaissance without the benefit of today’s technology, only their faith in God.

Our next stop was the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. It is the most ancient and largest of the basilicas dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is also the best preserved of the city’s four major early Christian basilicas, built around 400 A.D. with additional chapels built in the 16^th and 17^th century. The campanile (dome) is the highest in the city.  There is a “Holy Door” here, too. Relics of the Crib are kept near the high altar, five pieces of the manger which held the infant Jesus.  Two popes are buried in this church. Each pope’s image (all 266) are depicted in medallion shapes high along the ceiling. Francesco said there was room for 5 more centuries of popes!

We had a guide, Francesco, to see the archeological research under this church, open only by special arrangement. After passing through a museum with papal vestments, gold chalices, and 5 ft. tall candle holders (certainly not the right name), we descended underground to a former Roman palace only recently discovered.  Stone walls of a courtyard were uncovered, as well as the longest calendar fresco ever seen (basically a wall covering from the 1^st century or earlier painted in fresco, depicting images portraying the months of the year. January to June on one side, July to December on the other. September was depicted as a month of harvest. I told Tim that this would be the closest he would ever be to an unprotected 1^st century fresco. 

By this time it was nighttime in Rome so we saw the city’s colorful Christmas lights, the Coliseum, and the Forum brightly lit.

It was time for a gelato stop so Stefano took us to “one of the best” but I did not catch the name, near a park.  Creamy strawberry and pistachio scoops for me, dark chocolate and nut for TK. Stefano said to look for Gelaterias where they make the gelato on site.

Stefano told us that an English cemetery was nearby where British soldiers killed in World War II are buried. There is another cemetery where 9000 Americans killed in WW II are buried.

St. Paul’s Our final stop was St. Paul’s, another outlying Vatican church. Masses were held and rosaries were being said at every church we visited. The chants added to the spiritual atmosphere everywhere we went. St. Paul is always depicted with a sword, as he was a Roman soldier before he became a follower of Jesus Christ. This was another huge basilica, with many chapels and marble statues three times life size.

Gold, Bronze, Brass, Marble Of All Colors, Huge Fluted Columns, Carved Wooden Doors 15 Feet High, Domes, Tiber River, Bridges, Cobbled Narrow Streets, Roman Ruins, Bustling Traffic, Fountains, all speak Roman to me!!

Our return ride to Ruby Princess was just as rapid. By then it was cold again and we said “Ciao” to Stefano and walked to the ship!