Ahhh! Real Monstri!

I knew I’d be doing a lot of walking when I came to Rome but somehow I didn’t understand that a lot is A LOT, especially when you don’t look at maps enough (or at all).  Our weekend adventure this time was a daytrip to a 15^th century amusement garden, called Parco di Mostri or Sacro Bosco (sacred woods).  The garden is near a town called Attrigliano, near Vitrebo, just an hour train ride from Roma.  The gardens were owned by Duke Orsini and according to our map: “were for the entertainment of knighs and ladies”, (I’m sure they met knights). 

Since we wanted to get an early start, we planned on arriving in Attrigliano at 11:30, which we did.  However, we forgot to factor in the 7 kilometer hike up a mountain on a highway.  Once again, the locals laughed at us (this seems to be a recurring theme).  To be fair to us, we did know there was a bit of a walk, we just didn’t realize it would be a half-marathon round trip! 

The hike was definitely scenic though, and we walked by some vineyards and even picked a few grapes on the side of the road.  We also sang a lot.

When we got to Sacro Bosco, there was no question of whether we would enjoy ourselves—we had walked to far not too!  Sooo, enjoy the gallery of goofy pictures we had to take to make our journey worth it!  

Mamma Maria: Santa Maria in Trastevere and Santa Maria Aracoeli

This week, my Renaissance Rome and its Monuments class went to the church of Santa Maria Aracoeli on the Capitoline Hill.  It's a beautiful church that's been there since its foundation was laid in 574 AD.  There are so many different styles in the church it's hard to focus.  There are a ton of chandeliers and paintings, mosaics, side chapels, and recycled stone columns and flooring.  It's definitely impressive.  Legend has it that the senate wanted to declare Augustus a god but he was uncomfortable with the idea so he went to his imperial palace on the site of the church today to meditate.  With the help of the Tiburtine sybil, Augustus had a vision that a woman with a child said, "this child shall be greater than you".  This vision made him realize that he couldn't be a god and he dedicated the site of the church to "the lady in heaven" that he had seen in his vision, supposedly on December 25.  

Our teacher was really interested in the frescoes by Pinturecchio, one of the most sought-after 15th century painters.  The chapel with the frescoes depicts St. Benadino, a franciscan saint.  

Also important is the tomb of Bishop Crevalli, carved by Donatello in the 1430s. 

 

Santa Maria dates back to the 340s AD.  Behind the altar are mosaics by Pietro Cavallini.  It's a beautiful church and we enjoyed seeing it.  

Things That Are Ancient: Etruscan Art and Saint Peter's Bones

Today my on site class, Ancient Rome and its Monuments, met at the Piazza del Populo and then walked to the Villa Giulia, a museum of Etruscan art and artifacts.  The Villa is in a part of Rome known as Vigna Vecchia.  Pope Julius assigned artists like Michealangelo and Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola to decorate and design the Villa.  The famous renaissance artist biographer Giorgio Vasari supervised the construction.  It is a example of Mannerist architecture.

We saw the famous Sarcophagus of the Married couple and the Cista Ficoroni (an ancient cosmetic vessel).

My Mystics, Saints, and Sinners class went to the Vatican to see the Scavi tour, which tours underneath St. Peter's Basillica.  Before St. Peter's was built, there was a pagan cemetery which was later taken over by Christians.  Also underground is the Necropolis, or the site of St. Peter's bones.  The bones are inside the wall of this underground temple thing.  The wall in which the bones were buried had a lot of Christian graffitti on it so scientists could interpret the meaning of that space.  Two other sets of bones were discovered before St. Peter's but neither skeleton except his fit the description: 67, robust frame, and no feet (since he was crucified upside down, his feet were cut off).  

One bishop in charge of the excavation was concerned about respecting the burials of the bones so when bones were found he had them packed up so they could be buried in a consecrated space at another time.  He accidentally packed up the bones of St. Peter but fortunately they were found and now rest underneath St. Peter's.