With Rome being the capital city of Italy and home to close to 3 million residents, it’s important to “locate yourself” before venturing out. Actually, this is probably a great metaphor for life, you will never get where you want to go, if you don’t know where you are and where you’ve been. If you don’t locate yourself, you risk getting stuck in a familiar loop, seeing the same things over and over again, and missing special sights and opportunities.
So, I spent many a morning in Rome, sitting at my home base of Piazza Navona sipping cappuccino with a map spread out in front of me marking my course. Once it was marked, I took off. But when I took off, I didn’t keep my eyes glued the map, I kept them lifted so I could see the “hidden gems” along the way. My first day delivered such a gem.
I had charted my course to go to the Pantheon and in route, stumbled into what seemed to be a tiny Piazza, and I noticed a sign that caught my attention. The Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. What? This is a government agency? An agency responsible for antiquities, ancient locations, art, dance, music, theater, cinematography, libraries and cultural heritage, just to name few areas. It’s effectively an agency who’s job it is to promote and protect beauty in all it’s forms. Does my homeland have such an agency? I’m sure we do in some form, and I certainly don’t want to spark a debate on it’s value, but what this said to me in the moment was just how important it is to Italians…and you can see it and feel it around every corner!
As I contemplated this I turned around as saw a church. “Hmmm, this one isn’t on my list but let’s check it out.” I walked into Sant’Ignazio Church not expecting much and almost fell over when I looked up and saw the frescoes by Jesuit, Andrea Pozzo. This church would turn out to be my favorite church to visit in the city. It’s an absolutely magnificent working church!
Just a few blocks from Sant’Ignazio is my destination for the day, the Pantheon. The Pantheon was build by Marcus Agrippa in 29bc on his private property as part of a complex that included baths and a basilica for Neptune. And while the name “Pantheon” means “temple of every god” and the fact that imagery within the Pantheon supports the definition of the name, it’s debated whether it’s real intent was a communal place of worship. Maybe because it’s been rebuilt once, like most structures here. Today, it hosts Catholic Mass on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings…and people of all nations and faiths every other time of the week!
It needs to be noted, the Pantheon is managed by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. As are many of the sites I’ll share with you in future posts. Next up: Fontana de Trevi