I started my walk from the Piazza Navona, heading towards the Tiber Island, the only island in the river that cuts through Rome. On the way I passed through the Jewish Ghetto, where Jews historically lived in Rome by law, were subject to a curfew, and required to return at night. The "ghetto" part was destroyed after the reunification of Italy (19th century) but the area still seems to have a highly concentrated Jewish population, as well as the only synagogue in Rome.
Next, I continued my walk south by walking over the Aventine Hill. I particularly like the Aventine Hill- it is the home of many embassies, including the US Embassy, and is composed of 19th century gated villas with grassy public squares thrown in every once in a while. Its openness and low density are miles away from the jammed chaos of the old city. On the top of the Aventine Hill there is a lovely Orange Park with terrific views of the city (photo). Next to this garden is a keyhole known as the Aventine keyhole- if you peek through the keyhole, you get a perfectly framed view of St. Peter's Basilica. I tried to take a picture through the keyhole but was ultimately unsuccessful- the link above, however, gives a spectacularly captured version of what you see.I continued to walk south until I reached the southern city wall and the neighborhood known as the Testaccio neighborhood. The Testaccio neighborhood is characterized by the gigantic pyramid stuck into the wall; the pyramid was built as a tomb for a nobleman in ancient Rome when Rome, having recently conquered Egypt, was in the middle of a fad for all things Egyptian.
In front of the pyramid (inside the walls) is the entrance to the Protestant Cemetery (photo below). This cemetery has been the resting place of non-Catholic foreigners in Rome for the last 250 years until today. Many famous writers and artists are buried here, including the poet John Keats, writer Percy Shelley, writer and humanist Johann Goethe, and engineer and architect William Rutherford Mead. For a complete list of notable burials, click here. The cemetery also contains a "cat sanctuary" which abuts the pyramid and can be overlooked from inside the cemetery (photo).I was surprised by the simplicity of Keat's grave stone. The stone doesn't even mention Keat's name, it merely claims to be the grave of a "young English poet.... whose name was writ in water." Keat's friend, the painter Joesph Severn, has an ironically overstated epitaph. Severn's tombstone is adjacent to Keat's and clearly states Severn's close relationship with Keats, placing the word "John Keats" in large letters. I found the juxtaposition to be quite intriguing. The cemetery was very sunny and peaceful, and I enjoyed spending some time wandering between the tombstones, stopping every once in a while to read the epitaphs and wonder about the lives behind them. I particularly enjoyed this tombstone, which was made by a grieving sculptor for his wife's tomb, because I thought that my sister would also enjoy it.
After the Protestant graveyard, I continued to walk south, outside the city walls, to the Montemartini Museum. The Montemartini Museum is considered a branch of one of the Capitoline Museums, which is essentially the national museum of Rome. I particularly enjoyed this museum because of its location inside an old power plant. The collections of the museum consist of many beautiful examples of ancient Roman sculpture and mosaics. Most of the sculptures seem to have been discovered around the city either when construction was taking place or the city was trying to excavate for the subway. The juxtaposition of the ancient Roman statuary with the turbines and mechanical equipment of the power plant was a wonderful combination. In some ways it reminded me of another great museum that combines industrial architecture with art- the Tate Modern in London, England.
My final stop on my Saturday walk was the Basilica of St. Paul's outside the Walls. St. Paul's is considered one of the "big four" basilicas that pilgrims come to see when they visit Rome (The other three are St. Peter's, Santa Maria Maggiore, and St. John Lateran). St. Paul's was a gorgeous huge Basilica and a good example of early Christian architecture, fused with the 18th century architecture from the later renovation of the Basilica. The Basilica is attached to a beautiful Benedictine cloister which is still active today. It is known as St. Paul's because it is actually built over the tomb of St. Paul. It is also technically part of the Vatican, and all thus all letters that are mailed from the Basilica must be sent using Vatican, and not Italian, stamps.
It was particularly exciting to visit St. Paul's because the Catholic Church has declared this year to the "Pauline Year" or the "year of Paul" (from June 29, 2008 to June 29, 2009- June 29 is the Feast day of St. Paul). For the "Pauline Year" there was a large holy door that depicted scenes from the life of Paul. The door is only open during the Pauline year for pilgrims to pass through- after that it will be sealed. The holy year is meant to celebrate the bimillenium of the birth of St. Paul. There was also an eternal flame burring in the front portico for the Pauline year meant to encourage Pilgrims to spread the "light of the world" (Jesus) to those who have not yet heard the good news in the gospel. As I was leaving the Basilica, I bought a postcard from a priest who was actually from Pittsburgh, PA!
This website gives a very good "virtual tour" of the basilica.
After touring St. Paul's, I caught the metro back to the Colosseum, where I was going to transfer to a bus back to the Piazza Navona, but the bus was not running due to a large protest occurring in the Piazza Venezia, so I simply walked back. That's Rome for you!
I hope that all of you had a St. Valentine's Day as nice as mine! I apologize for the lack of pictures in this post- unfortunately the battery of my camera died halfway through my trip!
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