Piazza Navona and the Pantheon

We made our way from the Tiber to the Piazza Navona walking down the streets of Rome. The weather was not the greatest, and as soon as we got to the Piazza Navona it started to pour, a little cloud burst, so we took refuge in a gelato shop. I can’t remember what kinds we got, but it was good. After a short while the rain let up a bit and ventured back out in the Piazza Navona.

Piazza Navona is a city square in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in first century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans came there to watch the agones ("games"), and hence it was known as 'Circus Agonalis' (competition arena). It is believed that over time the name changed to 'in agone' to 'navone' and eventually to 'navona'.

Defined as a public space in the last years of 15th century, when the city market was transferred to it from the Campidoglio, the Piazza Navona is a significant example of Baroque Roman architecture and art. It features sculptural and architectural creations: in the center stands the famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or Fountain of the Four Rivers (1651) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini; the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone by Francesco Borromini and Girolamo Rainaldi; and the Pamphilj palace also by Rainaldi and which features the gallery frescoed by Pietro da Cortona.

Here is a Piazza Navona sign

The Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) stands in the center of the Piazza. The four gods on the corners of the fountain represent the four major rivers of the world known at the time: the Nile, Danube, Ganges, and Plate. The design of each god figure has symbolic importance. It also has a large Egyptian inspired obelisk in the center.

Here is the fountain

A close up of one of the corners Here is the base of fountain
This is another fountain in the Piazza – Neptune’s fountain.This is the basilica of Sant’Agneses in Agone After looking around the Piazza Navona we left to take the short walk to the Piazza della Rotonda, where the Pantheon is located. On our walk we passed a drug store and I quick popped in. Even though I had intentionally left a ton of stuff in Venice to lighten my luggage weight, I had accidentally left my bath sponge hanging in the shower to dry out. I knew I would have a hard time getting through the next couple weeks with out one, so I wanted to pick one up in Rome. Unfortunately the drug store did not have bath accessories, so we continued on.

When we got to the Piazza della Rotonda it was raining quite hard again. This piazza is surrounded by restaurants and we could not find any place to take cover so we made a dash for it.

Here are some pictures of the Pantheon in the rain. As you see there are crowds of people taking cover under the portico. It was actually pretty crowded there and we had to work our way to the door.

Here is the door from the portico to the rotunda. Normally the first reaction of people to the Pantheon is how big it is, and how high and large the dome is, but my first impression was that it was raining inside. The oculus at the top of dome is uncovered and it was raining as hard in the building as it was out of it. You would think after all these years they would put glass there to protect the building from the elements, but I guess that is not a high priority. I took a video of rain falling.


They did rope off the marble floor where the rain fell. Once I got passed the fact that it was raining inside and worrying about the marble floor getting ruined by the rain, I was able to take in the history and magnificence of this place.

The Pantheon is a building in Rome, commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD. The building is circular with a portico of three ranks of huge granite Corinthian columns under a pediment opening into the rotunda, under a coffered, concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 metres (142 ft). A rectangular structure links the portico with the rotunda. It is one of the best preserved of all Roman buildings. It has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Roman Catholic church dedicated to "St. Mary and the Martyrs" but informally known as "Santa Maria Rotonda."

Here is the ceiling of the dome

Here is the marble floor
Here is a shot of the interior of the Pantheon Here is a painting in one of the niches A statue The tomb of King Victor Emmanuel II A crucifix The Pantheon is current a minor basilica and is used for many catholic events and holidays – here is the alter The tomb of Raphael The tomb of King Umberto I and his wife Margherita di Savoia A sign telling whose tomb it is There is a guest book at the Pantheon that you can sign. Here I am signing it, marking my name in history as a visitor By the time we left the rain had let up considerably and we took our pictures outside.
Here is Shan with the Pantheon.

This is me.

Next up was the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain….

Castel Sant’ Angelo

By the time we left St. Peter’s square we were hungry and in the need of some water. Near the entrance of the square there were several street vendors where you could buy food – they had been closed when we came in, which disappointed us since we had wanted to buy some water. Not knowing what regulations Italy has on its food vendors or how reputable they were, we decided against getting lunch there and went to a little café/store just outside St. Peter’s square. Again we just ordered from the counter to avoid the charge for sitting. We both got panini’s, I got a prosciutto and provolone one and it was really good. I also grabbed a bottle of water and Shannon picked up a t-shirt. From the café we headed over to the Castel Sant'Angelo.

The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Rome, initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family between 135 AD and 139 AD. The building was later used as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum.

Unfortunately the museum is closed on Monday’s so we were not able to go in. But we did walk around it a bit, and even took cover from a sudden rain shower.

Here we are approaching the Castel Sant’ Angelo A close up of the upper level The Castle is set on the banks of the Tiber River. Here is the walkway between the Tiber and the Castle. From the Castel Sant’ Angelo we headed to the Piazza Novano and the Pantheon. To get there we needed to cross the Tiber River. Here is the river.

As we crossed the river and walked on the path on it’s bank, I was struck by how small the river was. I remember learning about ancient Rome and all the Roman mythology that includes references to the river and I imagined it to be this massive river. It is not, in fact it is smaller than the Grand River in my home town. Again it was one of those cases where my perception of something did not match the reality.

From the river we made our way in the drizzle toward our next stop, the Pantheon.

St. Peter’s Basilica

While I might have been under whelmed when I entered into the Sistine Chapel, I was the complete opposite when I entered St. Peter’s, it was everything I had expected it to be and more. It was beautiful and amazing and holy. As we walked in the narthex, we tried to just take it all in.

The current building was commissioned in the middle of the 15th century, when the old basilica was falling into ruin and pope Nicolas V ordered the restoration and enlargement of the church after plans by Bernardo Rossellino. After Nicolas V died, works were halted. In 1506 pope Julius II laid the first stone of a new basilica which was to become the largest in the world. Julius II appointed Donato Bramante as the chief architect of the new Basilica. In 1547 Michelangelo succeeded Bramante. He designed the imposing dome and altered some of the original plans. Michelangelo died in 1624, two years before the St. Peter's basilica was dedicated by pope Urban VIII.

The Basilica of St. Peter is the most prominent building inside the Vatican City. Its dome is a dominant feature of the skyline of Rome. It covers an area of 2.3 hectares (5.7 acres) and has a capacity of over 60,000 people. The largest church in the world, it has a 218 meter long nave. The basilica's dome is the world's largest measuring 42m in diameter and reaching 138 meter high (more than 450ft). The interior, which includes 45 altars, is decorated by famous artists. Some of the most important works in the church are the Pietà by Michelangelo, the papal altar by Bernini, the Throne of St. Peter - also by Bernini - and the Monument to the Stuarts by Canova.

We stopped in the narthex to take some pictures of the nave. The picture does not begin to do it justice.

Me standing in the nave. Shannon in the nave – (the sweater is a long story) Here we are together. We started walking up towards the high alter and on the way we came across St. Joseph’s alter. This is where mass is held on a daily basis, which I had missed, and during non mass times it serves as a place to pray. Shannon knew I was disappointed about missing mass and asked if I wanted to spend some time in prayer and she would go look around. I was very appreciative that she did not mind and I went in and found a pew. I know it does not matter where you are when you petition God in prayer, but I find in places such as this it feels more special. I am not sure if it is just knowing that millions of people had been there before me, praying to the same God or Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (NIV) But I found it to be a moving experience. After some time I left St. Joseph’s alter and found Shannon.

This is inside of one of the peripheral domes.

The Basilica is centered around the Papal Altar where only the Pope celebrates Mass. It was consecrated by Clement VIII, June 5, 1594, on top of several other older altars. Rising above the altar is the baldacchino (95ft. canopy), Bernini's masterpiece and first work in St. Peter's. The ancient tomb of St. Peter lies directly below the altar.

This is the Papal Altar

This is an ancient bronze statue of St. Peter. Behind the statue is a mosaic that looks like a fine brocade draping. At the top of the mosaic is a portrait of Pope Pius IX. This is the interior of the main dome. This is the The Tribune - Altar of the Chair of St. Peter

This grandiose sculpture monument was created to enclose the wooden throne of St Peter. The four gigantic statues of Doctors of the Church are: St. Ambrose, St. Anthanasius (left); and St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine (right). The fine alabaster window shows the Holy Spirit as a dove.

Here is a statue of St. Francis of Paola. Here I am in front of the Papal Altar Here is Shannon The ceiling of the Nave. This is the monument to Pius VIII. The Pope is show kneeling, accompanied by a statue of Christ enthroned, with statues of Sts. Peter and Paul. The allegories are Prudence and Justice.
The top of the Papal Altar and part of the ceiling above it. This is one of the carvings in the base of the Papal Altar This is the Altar of the Scared Heart This is the Altar of St. Leo the Great After we spent time admiring the beautiful basilica we left St. Peter’s and Vatican City.

St. Peter’s Square

Saint Peter's Square is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave within Rome. The open space which lies before the basilica was redesigned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini from 1656 to 1667, under the direction of Pope Alexander VII, as an appropriate forecourt, designed "so that the greatest number of people could see the Pope give his blessing, either from the middle of the façade of the church or from a window in the Vatican Palace"

St. Peter’s square is actually an elliptical or circular space enclosed by large colonnades - a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature (superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns), often free-standing.

The colonnades in St. Peter’s consist of 284 Doric columns and 88 pilasters of travertine marble. These columns, 13m. tall, are arranged in four rows. With the trabeation surmounted by a balustrade, the overall height is 21m. Bernini built two straight covered wings (Charlemagne left, Constantine right) 120 m. long, to link with the basilica's façade.

On the colonnades there are 140 statues of saints. Here is a section of the colonnades. Here is another section.

At the center of the ellipse stands an Egyptian obelisk of red granite, 25.5 meters tall, supported on bronze lions and surmounted by the Chigi arms in bronze, in all 41 meters to the cross on its top. It was originally erected at Heliopolis by an unknown pharaoh of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt. The Emperor Augustus had it moved to the Julian Forum of Alexandria, where it stood until year 37 A.D., when Caligula ordered the forum demolished and the obelisk transferred to Rome. He placed it in the center of the Circus, where it would preside over Nero's countless brutal games and Christian executions. It was moved to its current site in 1586 by the engineer-architect Domenico Fontana under the direction of Pope Sixtus V; the engineering feat of re-erecting its vast weight was memorialized in a suite of engravings. The Vatican Obelisk is the only obelisk in Rome that has not toppled since ancient Roman times.

Here is the obelisk in the center of the square. There are also two fountains in the square. One was there when Bernini was commissioned to redesign the square, so he used that as part of the focal point of the square, but added a second matching one on the opposite side of the obelisk to add symmetry to the square.

This is one of the fountains. The façade of St. Peter’s Basilica makes up the front section of the square. Here is Shannon standing in front of where the colonnades met the façade. Just behind this section is where the doors to the Apostolic Palace. Here is the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica. This is a statue of St. Paul in front of the façade. The day before we were here the Pope had canonized five new saints and St. Peter’s Square had seating set up for those attending that ceremony. Those chairs and screens were still up in the plaza. Here are some shots of the plaza looking out from the basilica.
The Swiss Guard is the military force in charge of keeping the pope safe and the security of the Apostolic Palace, which makes them the de facto military of Vatican City. To be considered for the Swiss Guard recruits must be Catholic, single males with Swiss citizenship who have completed basic training with the Swiss military and can obtain certificates of good conduct. Recruits must have a professional degree or high school diploma and must be between 19 and 30 years of age and at least 174 cm (5.71 ft) tall.

The Swiss Guard is very recognizable by their extremely colorful uniforms. Here are some pictures of the Swiss Guard on duty in St. Peter’s Square.