“Rome was not built in a day” goes the saying – and today we discovered what it really means.
We headed first to the famous Vatican City, home to the St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. It happened to be the last Sunday of the month, so the entry was free (saved 12 Euros per person) but that also meant there was a kilometer long line of tourists waiting to get in (seriously, not kidding).
Tragedy struck however, as soon as we crossed the long line and got into the museum and were about to get into the first hallway inside. Our camera - beloved, expensive, just-bought-before-the-trip camera – fell and the viewfinder display went blank. It was like heartbreak and whatever we did, it didn’t come on.
Resigned to our fate, we almost walked through the many winded hallways of the Vatican Museum being able to hardly appreciate the priceless and exquisite artifacts from across the world. That was till we entered the Sistine Chapel.
The moment you step foot into the Sistine Chapel and look up at the ceiling, you cannot suppress a “Wow!” The entire ceiling of the chapel, 12000 square feet of it, is covered with Michelangelo’s masterpiece. The famous “Creation of Man” is in the centre of the chapel ceiling.
Apparently Michelangelo spent four years painting the chapel ceiling and finally even refused his commission! (Talk about somebody’s priorities in life.)
Anyway, the Sistine Chapel is also the seat of the Vatican cardinals’ conclave for the election of the Pope. On the occasion of a conclave, a chimney is installed in the roof of the chapel, from which smoke arises as a signal. If white smoke appears, created by burning the ballots of the election and some chemical additives, a new Pope has been elected. If a candidate receives less than a two-thirds majority, the cardinals send up black smoke—created by burning the ballots along with wet straw or chemical additives—it means that no successful election has yet occurred. You might have seen this in the recent movie “Angels & Demons”.
Past the Sistine Chapel, we walked through some more hallways, and finally came out in front of the St. Peter’s Basilica where you can see the whole wide expanse of the Piazza St Pietro (St. Peter’s Square). I felt humbled, standing as I was, in the heart of the largest religion in the world. And how many people around the world would love to be here once in their lifetimes. Felt lucky.
We walked out of the Piazza, had a pasta lunch (what else!) at a roadside café and then bought a new camera. Ready to start clicking again!
The great thing about Rome is all you need to explore it is a map. All tourists carry one and all cafes or hotels will freely give you one. It looks like the one below. Quite detailed and simple to follow.
Anyway, we then walked towards the Castel Sant’ Angelo. It looked like just another building in picturesque Rome, so we didn’t explore it thoroughly. (I didn’t realize until later back in India and after I saw “Angels and Demons”, that this building houses the supposed Illuminate lair and is where the ‘Preferiti’ are imprisoned in the book and the movie.)
We then made our way to the famous Piazza Navona where I discovered another example of how Romans keep their city beautiful. Just before the Piazza, there was a building under restoration. In order to maintain the artistic beauty of the neighbourhood, a huge painting (of the building exterior) covered the entire 50 odd feet of the building’s length. In fact, you could almost walk down the street not realizing there is a building under restoration. Artistic beauty truly preserved.
The Pantheon, the oldest monument in Rome, was our next stop (we are still walking by the way). This monument was built way back in 27 BC - that makes it over 2000 years old!
Step inside and you see the perfectly rounded interior – the height to the oculus at the top and the diameter of the inner circle is exactly the same (about 142 feet), meaning a huge sphere of that diameter can fit perfectly inside the Pantheon. Amazing!
This was a long day. We also visited the Spanish Steps (a popular tourist destination) and the Piazzo Venezia (a beautiful building) and picked up some souvenirs from a local market, all the while admiring how the whole city seemed to have only cobbled streets. We reached our hotel finally, dead tired from all the walking but thrilled nonetheless to be here.
We headed first to the famous Vatican City, home to the St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. It happened to be the last Sunday of the month, so the entry was free (saved 12 Euros per person) but that also meant there was a kilometer long line of tourists waiting to get in (seriously, not kidding).
Tragedy struck however, as soon as we crossed the long line and got into the museum and were about to get into the first hallway inside. Our camera - beloved, expensive, just-bought-before-the-trip camera – fell and the viewfinder display went blank. It was like heartbreak and whatever we did, it didn’t come on.
Resigned to our fate, we almost walked through the many winded hallways of the Vatican Museum being able to hardly appreciate the priceless and exquisite artifacts from across the world. That was till we entered the Sistine Chapel.
The moment you step foot into the Sistine Chapel and look up at the ceiling, you cannot suppress a “Wow!” The entire ceiling of the chapel, 12000 square feet of it, is covered with Michelangelo’s masterpiece. The famous “Creation of Man” is in the centre of the chapel ceiling.
Apparently Michelangelo spent four years painting the chapel ceiling and finally even refused his commission! (Talk about somebody’s priorities in life.)
Anyway, the Sistine Chapel is also the seat of the Vatican cardinals’ conclave for the election of the Pope. On the occasion of a conclave, a chimney is installed in the roof of the chapel, from which smoke arises as a signal. If white smoke appears, created by burning the ballots of the election and some chemical additives, a new Pope has been elected. If a candidate receives less than a two-thirds majority, the cardinals send up black smoke—created by burning the ballots along with wet straw or chemical additives—it means that no successful election has yet occurred. You might have seen this in the recent movie “Angels & Demons”.
Past the Sistine Chapel, we walked through some more hallways, and finally came out in front of the St. Peter’s Basilica where you can see the whole wide expanse of the Piazza St Pietro (St. Peter’s Square). I felt humbled, standing as I was, in the heart of the largest religion in the world. And how many people around the world would love to be here once in their lifetimes. Felt lucky.
We walked out of the Piazza, had a pasta lunch (what else!) at a roadside café and then bought a new camera. Ready to start clicking again!
The great thing about Rome is all you need to explore it is a map. All tourists carry one and all cafes or hotels will freely give you one. It looks like the one below. Quite detailed and simple to follow.
Anyway, we then walked towards the Castel Sant’ Angelo. It looked like just another building in picturesque Rome, so we didn’t explore it thoroughly. (I didn’t realize until later back in India and after I saw “Angels and Demons”, that this building houses the supposed Illuminate lair and is where the ‘Preferiti’ are imprisoned in the book and the movie.)
We then made our way to the famous Piazza Navona where I discovered another example of how Romans keep their city beautiful. Just before the Piazza, there was a building under restoration. In order to maintain the artistic beauty of the neighbourhood, a huge painting (of the building exterior) covered the entire 50 odd feet of the building’s length. In fact, you could almost walk down the street not realizing there is a building under restoration. Artistic beauty truly preserved.
The Pantheon, the oldest monument in Rome, was our next stop (we are still walking by the way). This monument was built way back in 27 BC - that makes it over 2000 years old!
Step inside and you see the perfectly rounded interior – the height to the oculus at the top and the diameter of the inner circle is exactly the same (about 142 feet), meaning a huge sphere of that diameter can fit perfectly inside the Pantheon. Amazing!
This was a long day. We also visited the Spanish Steps (a popular tourist destination) and the Piazzo Venezia (a beautiful building) and picked up some souvenirs from a local market, all the while admiring how the whole city seemed to have only cobbled streets. We reached our hotel finally, dead tired from all the walking but thrilled nonetheless to be here.
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