rome, day 3: from obelisk to piazza to obelisk

I got off to an early start on Sunday, as is typically the case for me. My first stop was the Piazza del Popolo, which is probably the largest public square that I've seen in Rome. Not many people were out, which made it easy to walk around and see/photograph whatever I wanted.

The entrance to the piazza:


There are fountains at both ends of the piazza. Here's one of them:


Many piazzas have obelisks taken from Egypt in the center of them. I'm not sure why the Romans did this, but I assume it had to do more with Roman supremacy over an ancient, great culture than it did with their interest in hieroglyphics or phallic objects.





The end of the piazza opposite the entrance gate:


Yesterday was one of those days where there seemed to be something important or interesting to see down every street or alley. I found this church by accident as I walked down the street from the piazza:


I wish I'd written down the name. Oh well. It was nice inside, but a church that "small" in Rome is quickly going to be overshadowed by more impressive churches.

I walked by the Mausoleum of Augustus and had intended to go inside, but it's apparently not open to tourists anymore. Bummer. That meant that there wasn't anything to see on the outside (it's just a big, round structure), so I kept moving toward my next stop, the Piazza Navona. This is probably my favorite of the piazzas. It's small but has nice fountains, an obelisk, and shops and restaurants all around it.









If I lived in Rome, it's definitely a place I would want to hang out.

I came across yet another significant but small church on my way to my next destination. It's San Luigi dei Francesi. I couldn't go in, but it's probably nice inside.



My next stop was the Pantheon, which is one of the most impressive structures in Rome considering the condition it's in for its age (the current structure was built in the second century A.D.), as well as the overall size.





It was once a temple dedicated to all the Roman gods, and was later converted to a Catholic church. It's still used for the latter purpose, and mass was being celebrated when I got there (i.e., no tourists allowed), so I found a small cafe on the side and had a sandwich. It was good to wait, as the weather was pretty decent and since the time of day allowed me to get a great photo of the interior of the dome once I was allowed inside.



Other photos of the inside:










There were tons of people inside, but you can imagine how the crowds had been piling up, waiting for mass to end. And, as is the case with other churches in Rome, there was no admission fee. A nice change from the cathedrals in the UK, where one almost always gets violated on the way inside.

I passed by another significant church, Sant'Ignazio di Loyola, as I wandered around. It was during this portion of my day that I got a bit lost. The GPS on my phone wasn't too accurate in the small alleys around the Pantheon, and I ended up going in circles a bit. I did stumble across a couple interesting things, however, so I didn't mind in the end.



Another piazza I found, with yet another obelisk:


This is all that remains of the Temple of Hadrian (Roman emperor that was deified):


It's now used as a church, not surprisingly.

I eventually found my way to something on my itinerary for the day, the Area Sacra. This is a series of buildings that was dug up in the early 20th century. This area goes all the way back to pre-imperial Roman times. Pretty cool to see.





I next made my way to the Chiesa del Gesu, but was disappointed to find that I couldn't enter because I was wearing shorts. Bummer, but oh well.



My final stop of the afternoon was the Foro Traiano, or Trajan Forum. This was the last of the fora built by the emperors and is fairly beat up, but still cool to see if you use your imagination a bit.









The main thoroughfare was closed--perhaps a normal Sunday thing--so I was able to walk from the Foro Traiano right down the middle of the street toward the Colosseum. Which reminds me, it's amazing that we didn't see the Foro Traiano when we came to Rome before, but it's not a major attraction and we didn't have GPS, so maybe it's not that surprising. Still, since it's across the street from THE Forum, you'd think we'd have noticed. Nope. Anyway, I'll never get tired of seeing the Colosseum.



I had walked quite a bit by this point in time and was beat, so I decided to head back to the hotel for some rest. It had been a pretty good day.