A Speedy Tour of Rome and a Breathltaking Tour of St. Peter's Basilica

Colosseum

We awaken to find our ship docked in the port of Civitavecchia, approximately 75 minutes from Italy’s capital, Rome. We are up and about and have an early breakfast, because we had elected an optional 10-hour tour of Rome and St. Peter’s Basilica and would be among the first passengers off the ship.

Circus Maximus, Palatine Hill (bkgrnd)

Boarding our bus for the ride to Rome, our guide tells us about the history of Civitavecchia and how this port city was heavily bombed during WWII and how Rome was spared because the Pope declared the basilicas and churches in that city off limits.

Arch of Constantine

We had a pleasant ride to Rome through a primarily rural, agricultural countryside.

St. Paul's Basilica

We had no sooner hit the city limits, still pretty much defined by the Aurelian Wall built to protect the city, when it became readily apparent that Rome was chock full of monuments, landmarks, and architectural treasures, and we were going to have a difficult time capturing everything we wanted as our bus skirted by them.

Greek Temple

There were not only ancient Roman monuments, but also Greek temples and monuments, Egyptian obelisks transported to Rome after Egypt was conquered by Octavian in 30 BC, and buildings designed in the unpopular architectural style introduced by Benito Mussolini during his reign.

Fontana delle Naidai

It was a tremendous amount to take in and this post does little justice to the treasures we viewed.

With 2.9 million residents Rome is the European Union’s fourth largest city. Vatican City is an independent country located within Rome’s city limits and the only example of a state within a state, and the history of this site spans 2500 years with much of its more recent history inextricably linked with the Vatican state.

Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II

As capital of the Roman Kingdom and Roman Empire, it is generally regarded as one of the birthplaces of Western civilization and a center for the Italian Renaissance.

Inside the walls of Rome, our tour took us first to the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine.

Castel; Sant'Angelo

We passed these features twice so we were able to get several photos during our short encounter. We passed by Palatine Hill, home to several temples and the palaces of several emperors, and right next to the Circus Maximus where Romans enjoyed their much beloved chariot races.

Bridge of Angels (background)

We looked, but saw no sign of Charlton Heston! Leaving the Circus Maximus, we passed by a couple of Greek temples and travelled on to St. Paul’s Basilica where we barely got any photos because of the numerous trees blocking our view.

Square and Obelisk from portico

We passed several other seemingly important monuments, of which we recall very little on our way to the Monument to Vitorio Emanuele II and the Trevi Fountain. We also passed by the building where Mussolini lived and viewed the balcony from which he gave 39 speeches to crowds in the piazza below.

Holy Door

This pretty much concluded our tour of the highlights of Rome. We were now headed for the religious sector for a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Our bus dropped us off near St. Peter’s Square and we followed our guide to our meeting place for the beginning and end of the tour.

Michelangelo's Pieta

We were then given about 90 minutes to have lunch or explore whatever we wanted. With plenty of time for lunch, we headed off to see nearby Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome’s only castle, and the beautiful adjoining Bridge of Angels.

Beautiful arches and columns

We were told that the middle of the bridge presented the best photo angles for St. Peter’s Basilica, but we had better shots before we got there. We didn’t have time to enter the castle, so we headed back and found a restaurant for some lunch.

Sanctuary

Bernini's baldacchino

We returned to St. Peter’s Square and took way too many pictures of this magnificent edifice, while fighting off and ignoring the barefooted beggars that were like mosquitoes on the Tickfaw: incessant. Our group reassembled and we got in line to enter the basilica. Security to get in was tight and we had to remove belts, jewelry, and other personal items. As usual, Capt. Larry’s knees set the detector off, but he was waved through after he explained the situation. Outside the church we viewed the Holy Door, a bronze door leading from the Narthex and only open during jubilees.

Cathedra Petri & Gloria

It was just recently sealed and our cruise mates, Pam and Dayne from Austin, TX, got to pass through this door when they passed through here in September.

We entered the church, the largest church in the world (730 x 500 ft.) and capable of holding 60,000 people, and were stunned by the presentation before us. One thing that intrigued Capt. Larry was a granite disc in the floor that previous emperors, including Charlemagne, stood on as they received their appointment to power by the pope (that’s how it was done back then). We viewed Michelangelo’s Pieta, the only sculpture that he signed and was amazed that this was done by a 23-year-old. We moved on and saw many tributes to various saints and order founders, and were blown away by the sculptures, but particularly the mosaics, that told their story. We moved on to the baldacchino (the largest piece of bronze in the world) and main alter, part of which is integrated into the architecture.

More arches & columns

The dimensions were almost unthinkable and the overly sumptuous artworks were beyond comprehension.

Tomb of Alexander VII

Michelangelo was commissioned to build the basilica and he lived to see about a third of it completed before he died.

Closeup of cupola

Granite disk where emperors stood

The final construction was under the guidance of Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Our guide began describing various features, but like the city tour, there was almost too much to take in.

City rooftop viewing with a friend

After we completed our tour of the basilica, our guide took us down to the grotto (sorry, no photos here) where the graves of 91 popes are entombed along with a few non-pope individuals.

One of the pope's urinals!

Apparently the popularity or contribution to the church of some popes resulted in a more lavish rendition than many of the others, as we view some pretty magnificent displays.

Jane's nativity scene (no baby yet!)

Of course, the basilica also houses the remains of St. Peter who met his martyrdom along with the apostle Paul on October 13, 64 AD. We left the grotto and took an elevator to the rooftop for a great view of the square and surrounding city. We had the option of going to the top of the dome (the tallest in the world) via a 200+ stair climb, but decided not to overdo it as we had already been continuously standing and walking for about 4 hours.

Basilica and square

Our guide pointed out many city landmarks visible from our vantage point. Descending from the rooftop, our tour concluded.

Closeup of the pope's church

We walked through the square and got a view of the pope’s nativity scene, something high on Jane’s list, and met with the rest of our group to return to our bus.

St. Peter's Basilica