The main reason we wanted to go to Rome was to attend the Rome Temple.
And by far it was the highlight of our visit to Rome!
And by far it was the highlight of our visit to Rome!
We did also enjoyed the city very much.
On August 11th we flew from Catania to Rome. We left and arrived much later than scheduled. Getting from the airport to the city is a breeze on the Leonardo Express train. (We got very
good at trains on this trip!) Since we were so late we quickly got something to eat at the
train station and checked into our hotel, Augusta Lucilla Palace. It was a nice place, tiny room, great breakfast (best scrambled eggs we had ever eaten) and close to Termini Station, the main bus and metro and train station in Rome.
We had tickets to the Borghese Gallery and Museum and so we found a bus to take us there.
The Borghese has lots of beautiful sculptures and paintings from artists like Raphael, Bernini, Titian.
It only allows a certain number of people at a time so it is enjoyable to be able to view the art without a hundred people standing in front of you.
Have I mentioned it is HOT in Rome in August. Well, if not, it is HOT in Rome in August.
We were not sure how we were going to get back to the hotel. We walked through the park next to the museum to what we thought would be a bus coming...we waited and waited, no bus.
So google maps said it wasn't too far to walk, by then it was evening and not as hot, so off we went.
We actually enjoyed the walk. We came across this beautiful fountain.
Piazza della Repubblica
On Monday, August 12 we had tickets for a tour of the Vatican Museums,
Sistine Chapel, and St Peter's Basilica.
Dome of St Peter's
St Peter's Square
Michelangelo's Pieta, The Pity (1498-1499) in St Peter's depicts the body of
Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion.
We were so excited to see Michelangelo's artwork. So, so beautiful.
Photos are not allowed (they don't do this room justice) so these pictures are from the internet.
This was Michelangelo's paintings in person...
we were looking at them with our own eyes! The chapel is much smaller than I imagined,
but the paintings are breathtaking. The ceiling and the walls.
The Creation of Adam in the center of the ceiling was smaller than we thought in person.
But I guess that is relative considering the size of the ceiling and height.
But so beautiful, amazing, you can't stop looking up. Our necks hurt from looking up at the ceiling.
It is full of people, but you are to be as quiet as possible.
After leaving the Vatican we walked from there to the Metro Station through the streets.
That is what is great about Rome, walking the streets, carefully though.
On Tuesday morning after another fabulous breakfast at the hotel, we headed out for a walk to
Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore.
This is the other side of the building and the entrance where we went in.
It was built in the 5th century and has many beautiful mosaics and a gilded ceiling.
We enjoyed it very much. After being in the Vatican the day before it was nice to walk in
free and only have a handful of people walking about.
It was another hot day, so we did this walk in the morning and then stayed inside
until we made our way to the Rome Temple. Good thing we left a few hours early
because it is an experience to get out to the temple. After a Metro ride out quite a
ways, we waited for the bus that would take us the rest of the way. But which bus stop...
there were many. And we were in the outskirts of Rome. Not really much around.
Luckily we had Brother Fitzner, from our mission, with us who served a mission in
Rome and could speak Italian. This helped us a little to find our way.
It was a great feeling to finally have the temple come into view.
We got there about 5:00 PM, so the sun was bright and hot.
This temple is beautiful! Everything thing about it, the grounds, the building,
the stained glass. Wow!
View of the Visitor's Center
The Fitzner's, Thompson's and Littlefield's London Temple Missionaries.
The Christus statue and the 12 Apostles in the Visitor's Center.
The original Christus and Apostles by Bertel Thorvaldsen are in the
Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, Denmark.
(any words in blue have a clickable link that has more information)
This stained glass "Come Unto Me" was created by Tom Holdman.
It is beautiful and as you study it you can see the symbolism of the life, ministry, and
teachings of Christ. Because we have met Tom it was especially meaningful to see this in
person. We loved the art glass he did in this and the Paris Temple. Also it was fun
for us to see because our stake president was the model for the apostle Peter.
When we came out of our session the sun had set and it made for beautiful
pictures of the Visitor's Center and the Temple.
It was such a beautiful evening. So happy to feel the spirit and
experience this beautiful place in person.
Another picture with the Christus statue.
Standing right where the Prophet and Apostles stood just a few months ago!
And if you stand right where we are in the previous picture and take a photo out the window of the temple you get a reflection of the Savior over the top of the image of the temple.
You can see the temple behind the Christus. Pretty cool.
Just can't stop taking photos!
Now, back to the hotel. This was the view of the moon from the bus stop in front
of the temple. And below is the view of the temple from the bus stop.
The ride back went better than the ride to the temple.
When we got back we all went to dinner and we had
delicious seafood fettuccine at a restaurant close to the hotel.
Rome cornerstone.
On Wednesday August 14 it was a little cooler. We had purchased a 24 hour pass for the Metro and bus the day before for the trip to the temple, so we had some time today to use that up.
We first rode out to the Colosseum. We had not booked any tours or anything.
There were so many people, we just walked around it a bit. Lots of construction going on so it's hard to get a good view without all the scaffolding.
It is very impressive in person.
This is the Arch of Constantine. It was built in 315 AD to commemorate
Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milivian Bridge in 312.
We took the Metro back to Termni to take the A line, the A line was shut down, so...
back on the bus...
Rome had walls built around the city anciently. This gate is call Porta San Giovanni.
We walked through it from the bus to
This is the Archbasilica di San Giovanni in Laterano,
The Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist
and the Evangelist in the Lateran.
We loved visiting this beautiful church. It was our favorite in all of Rome.
Peter holding keys and Paul.
Matt with the statue of the apostle Matthew.
It has statues of apostles lining the walls on both sides.
Our pictures of it are not very good. But it was gorgeous.
Also, surprisingly this Basilica is the oldest and highest ranking above all other churches in the Roman Catholic Church, even above St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It is the oldest public church in the city of Rome, and the oldest basilica of the Western world. It is cathedral church of Rome and the official seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope.
It contains the papal throne (above), although he rarely visits here and of course,
lives over at the Vatican. It was built in the 4th century.
Then it was back on the bus, thanks for the A/C!!
We rode past the Colesseum again and by more ruins and hopped off the bus as we passed
Vittorio Emanuele II Monument, Altare della Patria The Alter of the Fatherland.
See...we were there! It was built as a monument in honor of
Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy. Built between 1885 and 1911
(pretty new for Rome standards) it is today regarded as a national symbol of Italy
and every year hosts important national celebrations.
It also has a tomb of an unknown soldier from WWI
Then is was a walk to Trevi Fountain. It seems everyone in Rome has to get to Trevi Fountain.
It is beautiful.
We enjoyed the walk down the street to the fountain and enjoyed a gelato on the way back out.
Our walk took us next to the Pantheon. It is a fun walk from the fountain.
The square in front is call Piazza della Rotonda.
The Pantheon is a former Roman temple, but since then a church. Built between 113-125 AD.
The Renaissance painter, Raphael, is buried inside.
The dome is the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. And it has a hole in the top, no windows just the hole in the ceiling for light. It does get rain inside, but has an effective drainage system.
Amazingly it has been continually used since the 7th century.
Well, it was back on the bus before our 24 hours was up and back to the hotel.
That evening we heard the cities church bells ringing, not sure what for, but
it sounded really cool. Our last night in Rome called for pizza for dinner.
We've got a plane to catch in the morning...a little hint to the next stop!
That is what is great about Rome, walking the streets, carefully though.
On Tuesday morning after another fabulous breakfast at the hotel, we headed out for a walk to
Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore.
We enjoyed it very much. After being in the Vatican the day before it was nice to walk in
free and only have a handful of people walking about.
until we made our way to the Rome Temple. Good thing we left a few hours early
because it is an experience to get out to the temple. After a Metro ride out quite a
ways, we waited for the bus that would take us the rest of the way. But which bus stop...
there were many. And we were in the outskirts of Rome. Not really much around.
Luckily we had Brother Fitzner, from our mission, with us who served a mission in
Rome and could speak Italian. This helped us a little to find our way.
It was a great feeling to finally have the temple come into view.
This temple is beautiful! Everything thing about it, the grounds, the building,
the stained glass. Wow!
The original Christus and Apostles by Bertel Thorvaldsen are in the
Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, Denmark.
(any words in blue have a clickable link that has more information)
It is beautiful and as you study it you can see the symbolism of the life, ministry, and
teachings of Christ. Because we have met Tom it was especially meaningful to see this in
person. We loved the art glass he did in this and the Paris Temple. Also it was fun
for us to see because our stake president was the model for the apostle Peter.
When we came out of our session the sun had set and it made for beautiful
pictures of the Visitor's Center and the Temple.
It was such a beautiful evening. So happy to feel the spirit and
experience this beautiful place in person.
You can see the temple behind the Christus. Pretty cool.
of the temple. And below is the view of the temple from the bus stop.
When we got back we all went to dinner and we had
delicious seafood fettuccine at a restaurant close to the hotel.
On Wednesday August 14 it was a little cooler. We had purchased a 24 hour pass for the Metro and bus the day before for the trip to the temple, so we had some time today to use that up.
There were so many people, we just walked around it a bit. Lots of construction going on so it's hard to get a good view without all the scaffolding.
Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milivian Bridge in 312.
We took the Metro back to Termni to take the A line, the A line was shut down, so...
back on the bus...
Rome had walls built around the city anciently. This gate is call Porta San Giovanni.
We walked through it from the bus to
The Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist
and the Evangelist in the Lateran.
We loved visiting this beautiful church. It was our favorite in all of Rome.
Peter holding keys and Paul.
Matt with the statue of the apostle Matthew.
It has statues of apostles lining the walls on both sides.
Also, surprisingly this Basilica is the oldest and highest ranking above all other churches in the Roman Catholic Church, even above St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It is the oldest public church in the city of Rome, and the oldest basilica of the Western world. It is cathedral church of Rome and the official seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope.
lives over at the Vatican. It was built in the 4th century.
We rode past the Colesseum again and by more ruins and hopped off the bus as we passed
Vittorio Emanuele II Monument, Altare della Patria The Alter of the Fatherland.
Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy. Built between 1885 and 1911
(pretty new for Rome standards) it is today regarded as a national symbol of Italy
and every year hosts important national celebrations.
It also has a tomb of an unknown soldier from WWI
Then is was a walk to Trevi Fountain. It seems everyone in Rome has to get to Trevi Fountain.
It is beautiful.
Our walk took us next to the Pantheon. It is a fun walk from the fountain.
The square in front is call Piazza della Rotonda.
The Renaissance painter, Raphael, is buried inside.
The dome is the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. And it has a hole in the top, no windows just the hole in the ceiling for light. It does get rain inside, but has an effective drainage system.
Amazingly it has been continually used since the 7th century.
Well, it was back on the bus before our 24 hours was up and back to the hotel.
That evening we heard the cities church bells ringing, not sure what for, but
it sounded really cool. Our last night in Rome called for pizza for dinner.
We've got a plane to catch in the morning...a little hint to the next stop!
