Rome, July 9, 2011: The Pantheon, Church of St. Ignatius, and the Caravaggios at the Chapel

My plan for the day was to go to the Pantheon, up Via Corso to the Cerasi Chapel of Santa Maria del Popolo to see the Caravaggios, then to the Catacombs of Priscilla. But things close down in the middle of the day, and the Catacombs closed at 5PM, so we missed going there. We’ll try tomorrow. The Pantheon was so awe-inspiring as well as the Caravaggios, it was okay to have missed the catacombs. Getting to the Pantheon was easy. By now we had purchased 3-day bus passes and felt somewhat confident getting on and off the buses. Sometimes we just asked the driver the final destination and sometimes they shake their heads yes and sometimes no. This time we just had to take the bus up via Corso (a main drag with TONS of shopping) and get off somewhere in the middle.

On the bus.

The Pantheon was in a square (piazza) that was so impressive, we didn’t want to go in right away. We just wanted to soak in the area, try to memorize the outside of the Pantheon with its massive Corinthian columns, round top, and beautiful portico with its decorative pediment.

On the way to the Pantheon.

Catalina outside the Pantheon.

Inside the floors were of different types and color of granites. The light streaming in from the top was magical. There was artwork all around the walls and sculptures and reliefs. I wondered how all this was protected despite the top opening. I read there were small holes in the ground so that the rain water doesn’t accumulate. 

Me inside the Pantheon.

The top of the dome that allows a lot of sunlight, rain and lets out smoke (back in the day).

Gaby sitting in a chapel, drawing.

We headed on out toward via Corso again, and wandered around looking for a restroom. Public restrooms are nearly impossible to find. We decided to go inside a building, which I thought was some sort of auditorium, but turned out to be a chapel called the Church of St. Ignatius. Again, amazing! So many beautiful paintings and so wonderfully decorated. No bathroom though. I burned a couple more candles…well, I flipped on some switches for electric candles.

The “mall” had some restrooms. It was not far away, so we were pretty happy about that. Then we headed to the Cerasi Chapel of Santa Maria del Popolo. This particular chapel houses some of the most impressive Caravaggios, including the The Conversion on the Road to Damacus - something I have wanted to see since the day I saw the slide in Art History class in college. On the other side of the small chapel was the Crucifixion of St. Peter. I couldn’t get enough of looking at the Caravaggios. The whole chapel was gorgeous, with many more famous works. We spent a good amount of time here.

The Crucifixion of St. Peter.

Internet image: The Conversion of on the Road to Damacus by Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio.

Bella Catalina.

Painting at Santa Maria del Popolo.

Skeleton image at Santa Maria del Popolo.

Street art.

As we headed home, we walked through Piazza del Popolo, where an Egyptian obelisk of Seti I. I was blown away to see a real Egyptian obelisk. The obelisk was brought to Rome in 10 BC. Across the piazza we got back onto the popular and very crowded via Corso. We tried to wait for a bus, but decided they were no longer running on this part of the street (we heard the buses re-routed without notice).

Street artist.

The Egyptian Obelisk.

Back on the bus toward the apartment. Note Colosseum in background.

By the time we got back to the apartment, we ate what we had leftover, then the girls headed out to meet some new friends. They hung out at the Colosseum. Gaby recounted a few choice phrases they said, “I listened about Windsor before,” and “my favorite line in English is ‘what’s up friend?’”

Tomorrow, the catacombs!