My wife and I recently returned from our third visit to Rome (April 2023); we must have thrown a coin in the Trevi Fountain on our first visit. On previous trips we had visited three of the four major basilicas: St Peter's, St John Lateran and St Mary Major, and some of the popular historic sites, including the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, the Vatican Museum and the Pantheon. The major basilicas are spectacular in scale and decoration. The interiors contain mosaics, frescos, paintings, sculptures, icons and relics as well as highly decorated ceilings in bright colours and gold leaf. On this visit, we managed to visit the fourth major basilica, St Paul's Outside the Walls.
The Pantheon
The Colosseum
The Trevi Fountain
Interior of St John Lateran
Interior of St Peter’s
St Mary Major
Interior of St Mary Major
The major basilica that we hadn’t previously visited because it was not on the tourist bus route was St Paul’s Outside the Walls. Taking a short walk form our hotel to the Termini metro station, then travelling six stops, took us to the basilica.
Interior of St Paul’s Outside the Walls
Tomb of St Paul
Even the most externally unassuming churches in Rome can contain some surprises inside. As we walked from our hotel to St John Lateran, we passed an ordinary but modern church of St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori. The church was, unusually for Rome, a Neo-Gothic design, by the Scottish architect George Wigley, completed in 1859, although more decorated inside than British churches of the same style. What made this church unusual was that it contained one of the most famous and reproduced icons in the world, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, created in Crete in the 15th century. We have a reproduction of this icon in our own parish church and a reproduction of the icon, made in Ukraine, in our home.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help - Icon
Crossing the Tiber from central Rome via the oldest bridge, Ponte Fabricio, and the Tiber Island took us to the bohemian area of Trastevere. Located here was one of the oldest churches in Rome, the Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere. Founded in around 220, the current building dates from 1140-43.
Ponte Fabricio and the Tiber Island
Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere
On the latest return, we wanted to visit two churches for the first time and to revisit another. One church that we hadn't visited before was Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins (Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini), the church of the Capuchin order. The Capuchin order is a branch of the Franciscans so named from the pointed hood of the friars' habits (the monkeys and the coffee came afterwards). From the church, you can access a museum of the order and then enter the crypt. The crypt has a series of arched chapels each containing a large number of bones, including skulls, arranged in patterns or stacks. When the friars arrived at the church in 1631, moving from their former monastery, they brought 300 cartloads of the skeletal remains of deceased friars. Friars were buried in soil brought from Jerusalem but because of the limited space, their bones were dug up after 30 years to make space for the next deceased monk. The crypt now contains the bones of 4,000 friars buried between 1500 and 1870. There are even some mummified friars wearing their Capuchin habits. Some may view the display as macabre but we saw it as a memento mori experience. A placard states:
"What you are now we used to be; what we are now you will be..."
Leaving the crypt, it feels quite surreal to enter a gift shop featuring many items with skulls.
Chapels of the Capuchin Crypt
Another church that we had wanted to visit was the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, located not far from St John Lateran. This church contains several relics from the true cross, including some of the wood of the Cross, a nail from the Cross, two thorns from the Crown of Thorns and the Titulus, the placard attached to the Cross. As with many relics, the authenticity is questionable. The engraving on the Titulus states “Jesus the Nazarene King of the Jews”, written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Strangely, the Greek and Latin are written in reverse, following the direction of the Hebrew script, with the characters reversed too. St Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, is alleged to have brought back the Titulus from the Holy Land along with many other relics.
Reliquary of Relics of the True Cross
Nail of the True Cross
Titulus of the True Cross
The church that we wanted to revisit was the Basilica of St Clement, dedicated to the fourth Pope. The current church was built in the early 12th century. It has a grand interior but the decoration of the apse is spectacular. What makes this church unusual is what lies beneath. Excavations beneath the current church uncovered a 4th century former basilica, also dedicated to St Clement. Many early and rare frescos were uncovered and have now been preserved for visitors to view. This basilica contains the tomb of St Cyril, the originator of the Cyrillic alphabet. Going down yet another level takes us back to the 1st century BC, where it is thought that the imperial mint was sited. There is also an apartment block and a temple dedicated to the pagan cult of Mithra. A small stream flows through the site at this level, which would have served as a fresh water supply.
Basilica of St Clement
Apse of St Clement Basilica
It is no wonder that Rome is known as the eternal city.
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