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March 2004

Rome

David Aaronson
2005-10-01 17:13:39

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Our first full day in Rome was somehow much like our first full day in Paris, Venice, Athens, etc.. Despite our best intentions we ended up seeing everything (in passing at least) all at once. The problem is that so many things are packed into the center of Rome that you're always just a few blocks from something else of interest. We started at one of the four patriarchal basilicas of Rome. This is Santa Maria Maggiore, more impressive from the back (1).

Santa Maria Maggiore sits on the Esquiline hill (one of Rome's seven hills). Like just about every church in Rome it contains a fantastic wealth of art which we won't detail because we took the super rushed tour as mass was starting shortly after our arrival.

On the way from the Esquiline hill to the Palatine area we stopped for gelato (of course). Melanie had Cr�me Uovo (egg cream) and Stracciatelle (Chocolate Chip?) . David had pistachio and coconut both of which will be repeated.

The Colosseum is probably the best known landmark in Rome (2, 3). Despite its rather violent history it is very impressive architecturally. It was inaugurated in 80 AD. The line to get into the Colosseum was about 15 to 20 minutes long on our visit and was filled with official and unofficial tour guides offering quicker ways to get in. From complaints we overheard, quite a lot of these were scams.

The Colosseum was built with three tiers for seating along with extensive catacombs underneath and an elaborate awning system that was used to shade the spectators. The similarities between the Colosseum and modern stadiums is really quite striking, at least in terms of design.

The Colosseum lasted more or less intact into the middle ages when it became a fortress. Since then earthquakes and other building projects which have used it as a quarry have caused most of the destruction. There are relatively limited areas open ...