Eternal Rome 🇮🇹
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| A view of the Colosseum |
Rome, the city for all eternity where we've seen massive structures dating back to antiquity, was part of our itinerary. It's not the most beautiful city we've been to, but it nevertheless has its charm due to its sheer historical value. It is, after all, one of the oldest inhabited cities on earth and was the center of everything during the Ancient Times. As the cliche goes, all roads lead to Rome.
Arrival
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| Roma Termini Train Station |
After exploring cosmopolitan Florence, Rome was our next destination. Just like the other cities, train was our mode of transportation. Everybody knows that Rome is an ancient city that still stands today, but I didn't expect that pieces of evidence of its age are evident even on a train station. The photo above shows a mural that seems to date back to around 500 AD. I've tried to google about this mural but no success. It looks really old, ancient to me, so I was surprised that a train station, which is a creature of modern times, has a mural that looks very old.
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| First Glimpse of Rome |
During our taxi ride on our way to the hotel, it has dawned on me that every building has the same height - about four or five stories tall. At first, I was confused because I was expecting really huge buildings just like the ones in Manila. After all, Rome has so much more prominence than Manila. There must be height restrictions in this city, which explains why we didn't see skyscrapers at all.
Nevertheless, as will be shown in this article, Rome has grandeur that all other cities in the entire world doesn't have. Ancient structures that withstood the test of time in a city that not only survived but continues to thrive after the lapse of several millennia is a testament to Rome's economic power and influence all over the world.
The Enclave of Vatican 🇻🇦
In the middle of the huge metropolitan city of Rome can be found the smallest nation on earth: the Vatican. While already an independent state by itself, Vatican is entirely situated within the huge city of Rome. The Vatican is an enclave; it is a smaller territory completely encompassed by a larger nation.
While exploring the bigger city, we saw glimpses of Vatican City and St. Peter's Basilica. At that precise moment, I saw the most stunning sunset I have ever seen. The sky was devoid of clouds and the sun's tangerine hues slowly fade into the horizon, outlining the dramatic contours of the basilica.
Fontana di Trevi
Rome has many fountains splattered all over the city, but the one that fascinated us the most was Fontana di Trevi. Almost a tourist trap, Trevi Fountain was crowded by so many people that it was hard to capture good images of this beautiful structure.
Tourists and maybe passersby flip a coin or two on the fountain to have their wishes come true. The coins are then collected and donated to charities. Millions of euros are collected every year.
There are pickpockets at Trevi Fountain. The lock of my purse was completely intact upon arrival, but after leaving the area, we discovered that the lock was already broken. Somebody must have attempted to steal my valuables.
The Pantheon
The Pantheon is described as a temple built during the time of Augustus Cesar or around the birth of Christ. Despite the lapse of two millennia, it remains standing as one of the best-preserved structures of the Ancient Times, which was largely due to its continuous use despite changes in political power.
Although a mere "temple," the Pantheon is massive. By comparison, it is as tall as about seven to eight human beings. The image above shows its gigantic features. One would only imagine just how many earthquakes it survived. Its age and size are a wonder.
Colosseum
Another ancient megastructure in Rome is the famous Colosseum. It's known by everyone but it was our first time to see it in person. It is no longer completely intact and it's difficult not to compare it to the similar-looking Sorsogon Sports Complex, which makes my admiration of the Colosseum somewhat saturated.
Completed around 80 AD, the Colosseum is slightly younger than the Pantheon.
Sant'Agnese in Agone
Sant'Agnese in Agone reminds me so much of the Church of the Scalzi in Venice because we didn't expect just how spectacular its interiors are. We just went inside without expectations. Rome is Rome indeed. Just like any other city in Italy, Rome is filled with instagrammable sights at every turn. Amazing.
The Church was named after St. Agnes who was martyred on the very site where the church stands. Her martyrdom predates the construction of the church by almost a thousand five hundred years.
Piazza del Popolo
My sister wanted to see Piazza del Popolo so badly as it was featured on many action movies. This piazza was a bit far, and I was then already quite exhausted after all the walking. But since my sister wanted to see it badly, we still went there.
They're basically twin churches sandwiched between and among three roads - Via del Babuino, Via del Corso, and Via di Ripetta. Together, they are called the "Tridente." These three roads are likewise identical to one another.
Epilogue
Rome was one of the last cities we went to and it happens to be the biggest so when we visited this ancient city, we were already nearing exhaustion. Nevertheless, our exploration of Rome and its ancient sites were still worthwhile.
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