A fifth visit to the Eternal City.Â
I may be a bit obsessed with Rome. I’ve probably spent more than a month in the city over the years. I wasn’t planning on going to Rome in 2024, or Italy even. Portugal was the game plan. But, after moving to Georgia, I found some extra time off on my hands. Italy it was.
I flew into Rome in February 2024. I had eight days and saw a ridiculous amount of stuff. In order to avoid writing five more blog posts on Rome. I’m condensing it to the places I saw that I have not written on before. (I’ve already written eight posts on Rome alone.) Since I did something new every day in Rome, I have plenty to share.
First stop in Rome was the Ancient Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Although it was my fifth visit, I saw a couple of new things.
Jana Irving The so called House of Augustus. Part of a large villa attributed to the Emperor Augustus somehow survived later construction on the Palatine Hill overlooking the Roman Forum. Few frescoes from this era still survive in Rome. Some scholars are questioning if the villa was actually Augustus’ because it was too fancy. It is said that he didn’t live in a grand palace.
Jana Irving I also visited Santa Maria Antiqua for the first time. Constructed in the 5th century, it is the oldest church in the Forum. The frescoes are mainly from the 6th-8th century.
Jana Irving The church was buried in an earthquake in 847 century and not found again until a 1,000 years later. I’ve never seen it open before so this was a cool find.
Moving on to the second day.
Jana Irving Porta Pia was a grand gate in the old Aurelian Walls (3rd century) designed by Michelangelo.
Up to this visit, I had never been to the Borghese Gallery, an art gallery housed in a Borghese family villa. Perfect time to go.
Jana Irving This floor is super fancy.
Jana Irving The villa was constructed to basically house the art collection of Scipione Borghese, cardinal and nephew of Pope Paul V (he financed the completion of St. Peter’s Basilica). This family had money.
Jana Irving This villa looks like it was made to be a gallery.
Jana Irving Like seriously who has a house that looks like this?
Jana Irving The second floor wasn’t much simpler.
Jana Irving After the museum, I took a stroll through the grounds of the former villa. The entire former estate is simply known as Villa Borghese. Today the estate is a giant park just outside of the old city walls.
Jana Irving Tempio di Esculapio, an ancient style temple built in 1786.
Jana Irving On the opposite of the park from the gallery, there is a great view of the Piazza del Popolo.
Jana Irving The Ancient Egyptian Flaminio Obelisk in the center of the piazza was transported to Rome in 10 BCE and is one of thirteen obelisks in the city. In the background is the Porta del Popolo, a gate in the city walls from the 16th century.
After Piazza del Popolo, I visited the Castel Sant’Angelo, the Palazzo Barberini and some random churches. I covered them in previous posts, so moving on.
Jana Irving At the end of the day, I checked out some churches. None were new to me but I’ve never shared this one before. San Bernardo alle Terme was built around 1600 on the remains of a round tower that once was part of the ancient Baths of Diocletian.
Jana Irving It gives off Pantheon vibes.
Moving to day three. I woke up before dawn to get to St. Peter’s Basilica before it opened. Basically no line for security and I was through before the basilica officially opened. Highly recommend it.
Jana Irving St. Peter’s Square was also fairly empty.
Jana Irving Dawn from the steps of St. Peter’s.
I’ve written an entire post of the Vatican, so moving on to later in the day. I spent much of the morning and early afternoon in the Trastevere neighborhood.
Jana Irving It’s very quiet in the morning.
Jana Irving Santa Maria in Trastevere is one of the oldest churches in Rome, built in the 340s CE with later renovations. Much of today’s structure dates from the 12th century.
Jana Irving The church’s 22 columns were taken from the Baths of Caracalla.
Jana Irving The gorgeous mosaic in the apse of the church is from the 13th century.
Jana Irving Just simply a gorgeous church.
Jana Irving Similar to the last church is San Crisogono, also originally built in the 4th century. The current church is from the 12th century, with later renovations.
Jana Irving The layout of the two churches are about the same. The interior of this church was greatly changed in the 17th century.
Jana Irving A random tower, the misnamed Dante’s House and a Renaissance palace across the street from San Crisogono. Trastevere has quite a few towers remaining.
Jana Irving Skipping ahead again past Villa Farnesina, another place I’ve already written about, to something completely new to me, Palazzo Corsini. It is a small museum but shares the same ticket with the Palazzo Barberini.
Jana Irving It’s fairly small, but it is full of art. Even the doors are painted.
Jana Irving Much of the art found in the museum was donated by the Corsini family who used to own the palazzo.
Jana Irving I had to lay on the seating in the middle of the room to get this picture of the ceiling. My new camera doesn’t have a wide lens like my old one.
Jana Irving Giant tree in the middle of the road next to the museum.
Jana Irving The Trastevere feels a bit different than the rest of Rome.
Jana Irving Another ancient church, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. According to tradition, the church was originally built on the house of Saint Cecilia in the 5th century.
Jana Irving Reconstruction of the church happened in the 9th century with later 18th century additions. Those 18th century restorations are very evident.
Jana Irving The side aisles were all frescoed.
Jana Irving As were the chapels.
Jana Irving Look at that cute little arch.
Jana Irving In the middle of Rome’s Tiber River lies the Isola Tiberna, a small island. It’s home to a hospital and San Bartolomeo all’Isola.
Jana Irving It’s just as peachy as I remember. It has a similar layout to Santa Cecilia and Santa Maria in Trastevere.
Jana Irving Ponte Fabricio, the oldest bridge in Rome built in 62 BCE (with modern additions). It is one of two bridges going to the Isola Tiberna.
Jana Irving The other bridge is the Ponte Cestio, which has been rebuilt many times.
I finished the day at Trajan’s Market. The market (circa 100 CE) is a large complex located near the Ancient Roman Forum, and adjacent to the Forum of Trajan. The building contained administrative offices, shops and apartments. More levels were added during the Middle Ages, including a tower.
Jana Irving Trajan’s Market with its medieval tower and upper levels, and ancient lower levels.
Jana Irving One of the “streets” of the market from the modern city street.
Jana Irving The entrance to the museum leads into a large room with an arched ceiling.
Jana Irving Four levels of ancient building, topped by medieval.
Jana Irving The medieval Torre delle Milizie.
Jana Irving The ancient part looks a lot like this.
So ends my third day in Rome. Even more awaits in Part 2 where I will try to shove 4.25 days into one post instead of only 3.
Check out my next update where I explore even more of Rome!
or
Check out my other posts on Rome!
