Saint Peter's and School's Out!

Again I'm a bit behind but it's been pretty crazy these last few days in Roma, so thanks for bearing with me!

I'll begin with what we did Thursday....

Today we finally got to see the big Kahuna, the shining star of Rome, the burial site of the Apostle Peter, and  place where Constantine built his own Christian Church - Saint Peter's Basilica!!!!

We all met up early in the morning before the crowds and were thus able to really take our time with photos and just walking around the HUGE open piazza. We had discussed the architecture of this massive church in class the day before and in previous weeks, but seeing it all in person was such a different and amazing experience!

The church is also like a magnet for tons of famous artists. Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, and the architect Carlo Maderno all helped to design the layout and Bernini created many of the interior decorations and designed the huge colonnades (two columns deep) that seem to reach out around the courtyard to welcome travelers into the holy space. What is also cool about the columns is that if you stand in a particular spot, you can look at the colonnades and it looks like, even though there are two rows of columns, you only see one...perfect mathematical planning!

...see! Looks like just ONE row of columns!

...so cool!

But besides that, the Basilica itself is overwhelming and pretty much the most massive church we have been in thus far - in fact it's one of the biggest in the world! Unfortunately, my camera batteries all died before we got to fully explore the interior, so I'll have to wait to get more once Tibby arrives and I get to see it all over again! So here's just a few more I did get (basically outside) before my technology failed me - including some sneaky shots of the very dashing Swiss guards!

...they're so cute!!! I love them! And supposedly those outfits have been in place since the time of Michelangelo - Raphael supposedly designed them with the colors all signifying ruling families of the time period...

So, as for the inside, you'll just have to wait a few more weeks until I return with fully-charged batteries! But I did get to see Michelangelo's Pieta as well as sculptures by Bernini, mosaic altarpieces that replicated works by Raphael and others, tons of beautiful floor-work stone pieces, and much much more!

However, eventually we did have to leave and take a quick break for lunch before heading over to meet up at another piazza to go to the Palazzo Barberini. This spot was originally set up as a huge garden/vineyard of a prominent family (the Sforza's), but then was purchased by the Barberini family who turned the site into a massive palace for themselves. It now houses a really nice collection of artwork that we got to see! We were able to gaze upon more works by Caravaggio - Narcissus and Judith Beheading Holofernes - as well as more works by Bernini, Titian, Raphael (one of his lady-lover, a baker's daughter! So romantic!), and then my favorite of the exhibit, a portrait of King Henry VIII by Hans Holbein the Younger! Yet of course, no photos - so here's more Google images for you to imagine were my brillant shots!

Also while we were there, we got to go into a separate room and see a gorgeous Baroque ceiling fresco by Pietro da Cortona called the Allegory of Divine Providence...and it was certainly divine! But what made it even better was that in the room itself, a small string-orchestra group was practicing for an upcoming show later this week and the music they were playing did a very good job of transporting us all to another time...when people actually lived within these rooms and listened to music like that....

 

Alas, even that lovely interlude had to come to an end and our group headed out for our very last stop of the trip (so sad!) - San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane or Saint Charles at the Four Fountains. Still my camera wasn't working so I have no pics of my own of this one either...sorry! But it was a lovely little church, tucked into the corner of a street where the intersection really did have four fountains with stone water gods spewing water! The facade was also very beautiful and very unique - it was totally Baroque with an almost undulating curve to the structure that seemed to reach out to passers-by. 

Inside it was very small, but still maintained it's interesting, non-linear shape...felt a bit like you were inside an amoeba! Yet it somehow fit in three full-size altars and a little crypt underneath the church which outlined even more clearly how odd the shape of the church was....

Here's a blueprint:

...kind of like a funky cross...very neat.

But that was our official last excursion! We all kind of teared up a bit but we knew we'd all have one last hoorah tomorrow at our last group dinner, so we kept our chins up. And to make us feel even better, a handful of us went and got some delicious gelato! This time it didn't melt away in my hands either! Yay! haha!

...Ooohhhhh yyyeeeaaaahhh!!!

Afterwards, we pretty much just headed home to finish up the last of our leftovers as well as our papers. Then, when Sabrina and I were officially bored, we got in our pj's and watched part of the movie Luther - totally in keeping with our post-Reformation discussions! However, we soon were fading and basically decided to call it a night. 

It's so crazy how this was our real, official last day of study here in Roma! I'm gonna miss everyone and this experience so much! Luckily, I don't have to go home just yet....watch out Greece, one more day and I'm coming for ya!!