Rome, Italy – walk across Rome – Friday

The original plan was to visit the Cappuccin Crypt, then catch a taxi across town to the Vatican – where we were scheduled for a tour at 1p.

But, it turns out Rome is not *quite* as large as I thought, and we had enough time to just walk over. Which, as I mentioned, is a fantastic idea. (It still took us close to an hour or so, so don’t go thinking it’s a stroll)

We visited the Spanish Steps :

We came upon the top of the steps first (below image is looking down at the bottom of the steps).

From Wikipedia:

The Spanish Steps (Italian: Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti) are a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the church of Trinità dei Monti. The Scalinata is the longest and widest staircase in Europe.^[1]

The monumental stairway of 138 steps was built with French diplomat Étienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds of 20,000 scudi, in 1723–1725, linking the Bourbon Spanish Embassy to the Holy See, today still located in Palazzo Monaldeschi in the piazza below, with the Trinità dei Montim the church that was under the patronage of the Bourbon kings of France, above.

In the photo below : see that guy IN the fountain letting the water run over his hands? He DRANK from this fountain. He washed his hands, and then cupped his hands full of water and drank from it.

But, considering the fountains in Rome are all powered by the same aqueduct that powers the fountain we drank out of, it’s not really all *that* weird.

But still kind of weird …..

From Rick Steves:

The Piazza di Spagna, with the very popular Spanish Steps, is named for the Spanish Embassy to the Vatican, which has been here for 300 years. It’s been the hangout of many Romantics over the years (Keats, Wagner, Openshaw, Goethe, and others). In the 1700s, British aristocrats on the ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe came here to ponder Rome’s decay. The British poet John Keats pondered his mortality, then died in the pink building on the right side of the steps. Fellow Romantic Lord Byron lived across the square at #66.

The Sinking Boat Fountain at the foot of the steps, built by Bernini or his father, Pietro, is powered by an aqueduct. All of Rome’s fountains are aqueduct-powered; their spurts are determined by the water pressure provided by various aqueducts.

More of our walk …. window shopping by ALL of the big Italian designer stores. Seriously. All the big designers. …. Slightly intimidating.

Below : an example of one of the BIG tour groups I never want to be a part of. Where you all where purple scarves to indicate you’re together, and follow the guide with the matching purple flag.

No thank you.

Just before we reached the Vatican City and St. Peter’s Square, we passed Hadrian’s Tomb or Castel Sant’Angelo

I wish we had had time to visit.

Next time, I guess.

Bottom left of this image is the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica:

Saxophone player I listened to for a bit ….

From Rick Steves:

Built as a tomb for the emperor, used through the Middle Ages as a castle, prison and place of last refuge for popes under attach, and today a museum, this giant pile of ancient bricks is packed with history.

Ancient Rome allowed no tombs within its walls – not even the emperor’s. So Emperor Hadrian grabbed the most commanding position just outside the walls and across the river and built a towering tomb (~ AD 139) well within view of the city. His mausoleum was a huge cylinder (210 by 70 feet) topped by a cypress grove and crowned by a huge statue of Hadrian himself riding a chariot. For nearly a hundred years, Roman emperors (from Hadrian to Caracalla, in AD 217) were buried here.

The bridge pictured below is the Ponte Sant’Angelo.

From Rick Steves:

The bridge leading to Castel Sant’Angelo was built by Hadrian for quick and regal access from downtown to his tomb. The three middle arches are actually Roman originals, and a fine example of the empire’s engineering expertise. The statues of angels (each bearing a symbol of the passion of Christ – nail, sponge, shroud and so on) are Bernini-designed and textbook Baroque. In the Middle Ages, this was the only bridge in the area that connected St. Peter’s and the Vatican with downtown Rome. Nearly all pilgrims passed this bridge to and from the church.