Il Giorno Italiano Sogna: Roma::Sunday

Roma:Sunday

Sunday morning we headed out with Oliver to the Aventine Hill, one of the 7 hills of Rome. At the top of the hill is the Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta and the Priorato dei Cavalieri di Malta. If you look through the keyhole in the door, there is a spectaculr view of the dome of St. Peters Basilica framed by trees (to read more, click here).

We dropped Mr. O back at the hotel and headed to the Colosseum where we took an audio tour. The Colosseum was once a massive amphitheater for fights held on holidays in Rome (at that time, more than half of the days in the year were holidays!). There were two different types of fights: those between gladiators and those involving exotic animals, including lions, panthers, and even hippos. During the reign of Trajan (98-117 AD), Trajan held a marathon 117 day killing spree involving 10,000 gladiators and 11,000 animals. I thought it was interesting that a gladiator usually only fought two times a year! At the time of the games, the arena was called the Flavian Amphitheater, and was only named the Colosseum during the Medieval Period in reference not to its colossal size, but rather to the giant statue – Colosso di Nero – which was nearby. After the 6th century, the Colosseum was abandoned and exotic plants, whose seeds were brought by the animals, grew within. The stone, marble, and other materials used to build the Colosseum were used to build other structures, including St. Peter’s Basilica.

We then headed off to the catacombs, some 300 km of tunnels used as burial grounds by the Christians. We went to San Callisto, the largest. The catacombs are located on Via Appia Antica, which once ran from Rome to Brindsi (a city in Puglia-the heel of Italy). No photos are allowed within the catacombs. To read more about the catacombs, click here)