Another beautiful day in Rome. We headed out in the morning for our city exploration and started walking towards the Vatican, the smallest country in the world. I was surprised how close to the hotel it was. It took us about 20 minutes to get there walking slowly, appreciating the old streets and buildings.
I had the impression the Vatican would be removed from the city, accessible by big roads, with lots of empty parking lots. Silly me. The Vatican is right there and it shares narrow streets like any other central neighbourhood in Rome, an ancient city.
I expected a big crowd because it is the Vatican, after all, but what I didn’t know is that those people were excited to be there and receive the Pope’s blessings.
After going through security - a big line up with bag search and metal detectors - we entered the Vatican and found out that we were 20 minutes away from the Pope’s Sunday appearance, at noon. So, we decided to wait and see the catholic leader.
Pope Francis showed up in the “second top window on the right, ” as the guards had told us he would, exactly at noon and we felt the energy of the crowd when the Pope greeted everyone with a warm “boungiorno.” He continued to talk to the people in Italian for another 10 minutes. A big screen brought the pontiff closer to his followers.
Our kids didn’t even know who the Pope is until today, and I don’t think they understand what he represents to millions of people around the world, but I felt like it was a great opportunity for discussion about religion and world leaders.
It felt like every other person here was Brazilian. This is a very enthusiastic group of pilgrims from Aracaju, Sergipe State.
Vatican City is an independent city-state enclaved within Rome, Italy. Established with the Lateran Treaty (1929), it is distinct from yet under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See (Latin: Sancta Sedes). With an area of 44 hectares (110 acres), and a population of about 1,000, it is the smallest state in the world by both area and population.
The Vatican City is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state (a type of theocracy) ruled by the pope who is, religiously speaking, the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various national origins. Since the return of the popes from Avignon in 1377, they have generally resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere.
The Holy See dates back to early Christianity, and is the primate episcopal see of the Catholic Church, with 1.3 billion Catholics around the world distributed in the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. The independent Vatican City-state, on the other hand, came into existence in 11 February 1929 by the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy, which spoke of it as a new creation, not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756–1870), which had previously encompassed much of central Italy.
Within the Vatican City are religious and cultural sites such as St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. The unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by the sale of postage stamps and souvenirs, fees for admission to museums, and sales of publications.
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City)
After the encounter, we followed the crowd to move forward towards St. Peter’s Basilica. That’s where the white smoke comes out from its dome when a new Pope is chosen. As it was recommended to us, we paid 10 euros to have the “best view of Rome,’ from the top of the the Basilica’s Cupola.”
It was an adventure! First we got an elevator to the beginning of the dome. There we could walk around the dome and have a view of the church from inside. We were close to a breathtaking wall of mosaics, designed by Michelangelo, covering the whole dome, up to the very top! It’s just unimaginable having people working on these walls hundreds of years ago.
The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican is an Italian Renaissance church in Vatican City, the papal enclave within the city of Rome.
Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture[2] and the largest church in the world.[3] While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world" and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom".[2][5]
Catholic tradition holds that the Basilica is the burial site of Saint Peter, chief among Jesus's Apostles and also the first Bishop of Rome. Saint Peter's tomb is supposedly directly below the high altar of the Basilica. For this reason, many Popes have been interred at St. Peter's since the Early Christian period, and there has been a church on this site since the time of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Construction of the present basilica, which would replace Old St. Peter's Basilica from the 4th century AD, began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626.
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Basilica)
The dome of St. Peter's rises to a total height of 136.57 metres (448.1 ft) from the floor of the basilica to the top of the external cross. It is the tallest dome in the world. Its internal diameter is 41.47 metres (136.1 ft), slightly smaller than two of the three other huge domes that preceded it, those of the Pantheon of Ancient Rome, 43.3 metres (142 ft), and Florence Cathedral of the Early Renaissance, 44 metres (144 ft). It has a greater diameter by approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) than Constantinople's Hagia Sophia church, completed in 537. It was to the domes of the Pantheon and Florence duomo that the architects of St. Peter's looked for solutions as to how to go about building what was conceived, from the outset, as the greatest dome of Christendom.
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Basilica)
When we thought it was already super cool, it got better. We started climbing up the 551 steps to the very top of the cupola. Part of the narrow stairs was straight up, part in spirals, and this crazy part was completely tilted, making us all dizzy.
Finally we got to the top of the dome and it was all worth. it! What a view of Rome!
The tour ended right inside the Basilica. It’s incredibly huge and beautiful inside.
This is the tomb of the Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005.
I like how Rome seems to be environmentally friendly. There are good quality water fountains all over the centre area, so you can refill your water bottles and I haven’t seen any plastic bags. Al the shopping garbage bags are compostable.
Outside the Vatican is the this big fort, where the popes would hid in case of an attack.
The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo , is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum. The structure was once the tallest building in Rome.
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castel_Sant%27Angelo
A little break to ride the Carrousel.
Our lunch today was… pizza and pasta. Similar to yesterday: pasta and pizza!
This is a very touristic part of the city, the street Via dei Condotti, where all the big name designers are. It was packed!
Outside Dolce & Gabbana, a crowd waited for George Clooney, reportedly shopping inside. Sorry, Clooney, we missed you today. We had more interesting things to see in Rome.
Window shopping.
Via Condotti (officially Via dei Condotti) is a busy and fashionable street of Rome, Italy. In Roman times it was one of the streets that crossed the ancient Via Flaminia and enabled people who transversed the Tiber to reach the Pincio hill. It begins at the foot of the Spanish steps and is named after conduits or channels which carried water to the Baths of Agrippa. Today, it is the street which contains the greatest number of Rome-based Italian fashion retailers, equivalent to Milan's Via Montenapoleone, Paris' Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, Florence's Via de' Tornabuoni or London's Bond Street.
Caffé Greco (or Antico Caffé Greco), perhaps the most famous café in Rome was established at Via dei Condotti 86 in 1760, and attracted figures such as Stendhal, Goethe, Byron, Liszt and Keats to have coffee there. Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of radio, lived at Via dei Condotti 11, until his death in 1937.
Being near the Spanish steps, the street is visited by large numbers of tourists. In May 1986, fashion designer Valentino filed suit to close a McDonald's shortly after it opened near the Spanish steps, complaining of "noise and disgusting odours" below his six-story palazzo in the vicinity of Via Condotti. But to the dismay of some Romans, McDonald's overcame the obstacles and is successful.
Via Condotti is a center of fashion shopping in Rome. Dior, Gucci, Valentino, Hermès, Armani, Jimmy Choo, La Perla, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Furla, Burberry, Céline, Dolce & Gabbana, Max Mara, Alberta Ferretti, Trussardi, Buccellati, Bulgari, Damiani, Tod's, Zegna, Cartier, Bally, Montblanc, Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton have stores on Via Condotti. Others, such as Laura Biagiotti, have their offices there.
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Condotti)
This is the Spanish steps, where people - mainly tourists - hang out, people watching.
The Spanish Steps (Italian: Scalinata di 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 Trinità dei Monti church at the top.
The monumental stairway of 174 steps (the slightly elevated drainage system is often mistaken for the first step) was built with French diplomat Étienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds of 20,000 scudi, in 1723–1725, linking the Bourbon Spanish Embassy, and the Trinità dei Monti church that was under the patronage of the Bourbon kings of France, both located above — to the Holy See in Palazzo Monaldeschi located below. The stairway was designed by architects Francesco de Sanctis and Alessandro Specchi.
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Steps)
From there we headed to another area of Rome to have dinner with my parents. They had just arrived in Italy, earlier that day and were resting at their hotel. It was great to see Vovô and Vovó.
My day ended with a great concert, the Brazilian band the Tribalistas. Although I got ripped off with a terrible seat, bought on line from Canada, the show was great. By the last third of the concert I was up dancing like most of the people, anyway.
What a day, with people I don’t expect to see in my daily life: starting with the Pope, dinner with my parents who live in Brazil, and finishing with Arnaldo, Carlinhos e Zé.
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