Italy in November

St. Peter's Square

Day 1: I left early in the morning to met my mom and the rest of Father Danny’s group at our hotel, Cicerone, in Rome. They had arrived earlier that morning so stopped at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls Basilica before getting to the hotel. The whole group walked to St. Peter's Square with our guide, Ambra, and then broke off to spend the rest of the day on our own. We went with a group and walked up the street directly in front of the square towards Castle Saint Angelo (Castel Sant’ Angelo). This castle was designed by Emperor Hadrian for his tomb in 123-139 AD. It was also the papal castle for 1000 years. After walking around the castle just my mom, Sheryl, and I went across the river (Tiber). We walked up to Piazza del Popolo (The People's Square). In the center was an Obelisk, on one side was one of the old city gates and across from that were two twin churches, Santa Maria del Miracoli and St. Mary of Montesanto. They are a little bit different because the space for them to be built between the streets wasn’t equal. They were built to be decorative when coming into the gates. We then walked back to our hotel for our group dinner.

St. Peter's Square

Walking across the Tiber river

Day 2: We met early at 7:30 to walk to St. Peter’s Square. We got to the square early so we could get good seats for the Papal Audience. It stared at 10:30. Pope Benedict XVI arrived riding a white jeep with a rain cover. The seating is split into 4 sections that the car drives around before heading to the front. The whole time there were Swiss guards around. The Swiss Guard originated as all descendents from the same family in Switzerland. All the guards live in the Vatican, they must remain celibate while serving as guard and know several languages. After the Pope reaches the top there are readings done by representatives of each language (7 total: Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian? Or maybe Polish?). Then they start back at the top of the languages list and the representative priests read out all the groups visiting from the countries of that language. After each turn of saying who’s there the Pope then reads out a message in that language. After our lunch break we met up again to go to St. Peter in Chains church.

Waiting for the Pope to arrive

Swiss Guard

Here he is! In a Popemobile

Monument for King Victor Emanuel II.

He was the King that united Italy. This monument

is so large that the mustache on him in the

statue in the center is 5 feet wide!

Pope Julius II's Moses monument

St. Peter in Chains Church- This church is considered a Basilica because it contains a relic from a saint. Under the alter, in a glass case were the chains of St. Peter when he was held prisoner in Rome. To the right of the alter is sculptures including one of Moses. Michelangelo was hired by Pope Julius II to make a monument sculpture project. The original idea for the monument was going to be a huge tomb for Julius II to be placed in St. Peters Basilica with a Moses sculpture as the center piece with over 100 other sculptures. However, the tomb project was dropped by Julius II in order to have Michelangelo do(paint) the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo didn’t want to do the Sistine Chapel because he was a sculptor and didn’t like painting. Michelangelo only completed the Moses and part of the wives Lea and Rachel. When Michelangelo completed Moses he thought it looked so realistic that he ordered it to speak to him. When Moses didn’t reply Michelangelo got angry and hit the statues knee with a hammer. We had mass in St. Peter in Chains as well.

We then walked over to a terrace overlooking the Coliseum. Our guide, John, explained that in Ancient Roman times Rome got up to a population of 1.8 million but with plague, wars, disease, etc. during the decline of the Roman Empire the population decreased to only 15,000. When the population started to build back up they took materials (especially marble, many buildings that are now only brick or concrete used to be covered in marble) of the old abandoned buildings to build new ones. The Coliseum started being built in 74 AD and was completed in 82 AD. The purpose of the theater was for showing professional sports like gladiators fighting or men fighting animals. The first 100 days it was open was filled with games, it’s estimated about 1000 animals and 3000 people died in that time. The Coliseum was never used for the persecution and killing of Christians as many people believe including a Pope that saved the Coliseum from further damage by calling it a religious site. Before that this was another building that was having materials (stone and marble) taken for the use of other buildings including St. Peter’s Basilica façade. We then got back on the bus to go to the Trevi Fountain and walk to other sites.

Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain started being built in 1730 by Nicola Salvi who won a completion given by the Pope of the time. It wasn’t completed until 1762. Ancient Rome had a sewer/aqueduct system which was only powered by gravity so all pipes flowed down to the river. People would get water from the fountains in neighborhoods that were fed by the aqueducts. The Trevi Fountain is a big version of these neighborhood fountains. The tradition with the fountain used to be to drink some of the water for good health then drink to make it that you would return to Rome then changed to throw coin to return to Rome because water wasn’t as good anymore. You are supposed to throw 3 coins for 1) Return to Rome, 2) Good health, 3) Prosperity. They are to be thrown from your right hand over your left shoulder, one at a time. We then walked by the Spanish Steps which are only called that in the English language and on to Piazza del Popolo. We then went back to the hotel for a group dinner.

Throwing our coins-- Mom's made it back already maybe I will too

Day 3: We started early again at 7:30. We walked to St. Peter’s again to have mass. It was held at the alter over the tomb of Pope John XXIII who was responsible for the Vatican 3 in the early 1960’s which made big changes in the church including allowing mass to be in the local language. He was moved from his tomb underneath the Vatican when the process of canonization started in 2005. When his tomb was opened he was found to be mostly intact (called incorruptible, even though he had died in 1962). We then walked around to the Vatican Museum.

View of St. Peter's Square from the front door of St. Peter's

Michelangelo's Pieta

Tour guides Ambra and John with

their car antenna flags

Inside the Vatican Museum

The collection in the Vatican Museum was started as the private collection for the Popes, first created by Pope Julius II who brought his private collection to the Vatican when he became Pope about 500 years ago. The gardens make up 60% of the Vatican country. St. Peter’s dome was designed by Michelangelo when was in his 80’s. It is 450 feet tall. We walked through the museum ending at the Sistine Chapel.

The Sistine Chapel is painted from floor to ceiling. One side of the walls has murals depicting the life of Moses, the other the life of Jesus. Michelangelo was originally asked to do the edges of the wall and the triangle pieces above the windows but refused. He didn’t like painting and would only agree if he could do the whole ceiling. The ceiling is 13,000 square feet. The ceiling is flat so Michelangelo painted borders and gave the illusion that it was curved. When Michelangelo completed The Last Judgment many people didn’t like it because they didn’t understand it. It was viewed as being too modern at the time. It contradicted some things people were used to seeing in paintings for example there are angels but without wings. The people that are closest to Jesus are the apostles but Michelangelo did not give them halos. People also did not like how there was so much nudity. Michelangelo had only put clothing on Jesus and Mary, other artists later added the clothing to everyone else. There is also no purgatory depicted in Michelangelo’s painting. A Cardinal that was very critical of Michelangelo was put into the painting in Hell with a snake wrapping around his body. Michelangelo would never sign his artwork but would include a self portrait into his painting, in the Last Judgment he is the skin of Bartholomew.

After the museum we went back into St. Peter's Basilica. St. Peter’s Square is built on the location of the Vatican race track where Christians were persecuted. St. Peter was killed there by being crucified upside down because he had said he wasn’t worthy of dying the same way as Jesus. Inside the Basilica, the main alter is located on top of where St. Peter is buried. It was designed by Bernini and only the Pope is allowed to use the alter. St. Peter was buried in a necropolis that was located next to the race track. The reason his location is known today is a secret shrine was placed over his tomb. Of the 265 Popes, 140 are buried underneath St. Peter’s Basilica. Once inside we saw Michelangelo’s Pieta statue to the right. He was only 24 years old when he completed the statue in 1499. It became an instant attraction and he would come to see the people admiring it where he heard people saying that someone else had done the statue. He came back at night later and added his name on. It is the only piece of work that he has ever signed. After the Basilica we then drove out to the Catacombs de San Callisto. We were taken on our tour through the catacombs by an Australian monk. The catacombs were in 4 levels, the fourth being 30 meters below ground. There were individual (sort of looked like shelves, rectangles called locally) and family (rooms with multiple shelves) tombs. The person being buried would be wrapped in a cloth and covered in lime. The tombs would then be covered with brick and terracotta sometimes having their name on it or maybe with symbols like an anchor or a fish. The oldest tombs are closest to the ceiling because when they needed more room they would dig deeper to add another row of tombs. We saw a couple shafts for taking dirt up from digging these tunnels. There are around 500,000 tombs including the family tombs in these catacombs. We ended our tour in a church. The tomb of Pope Sixtus II who was killed for his Christian faith was changed into a small church.

Some of the tomb covers from the catacombs

St. John Lateran

After the catacombs we went back into Rome to visit a couple more churches. We first stopped at St. John Lateran and it has never been rebuilt and was the first location for the Pope’s home. The main colonnade had 2 pillars joined together and the statues of the apostles added in the 1600’s. Above the main alter are statues of St. Peter and St. Paul with the relics of their heads. Behind the alter is a chair that is only used by the Pope.

The alter for only the Pope in St. John Laterans

St. Mary Major

We then headed to St. Mary Major which is located straight down the road behind St. John Lateran. When we entered the church there was a service ending that had many Bishops there. The weekend we were all going to be in Assisi and Orvieto there was going to be a ceremony announcing new Cardinals. In 352 AD on August 5th was the Miracle of the Snow. A man had prayed to Mary to help his wife conceive, Mary then appeared to him in a dream saying if the next day he were to go where he finds snow and built a church in her honor than she would help his wife. He then decided to go to the Pope to tell him about the dream. The Pope said that he had a similar dream with Mary and the next day they found snow on the location of where the church now is located. The church was built in 432 AD. The ceiling was wood plated with gold completed in 1493. The gold used was the first gold brought back from New World (Peru). Columbus was an Italian but worked for Spain and the King of Spain gave the gold to the Spanish Pope of the time. The relic under the alter was part of the manger that held Jesus. It was moved here from Jerusalem when Muslims started to take over the Holy Land. When facing the alter to the left is a chapel for the Borghese family (Pope Paul V a member) and every August 5th they have a service held in there and will have nets holding white flower pedals released. After St. Mary Major we returned to the hotel for dinner together again.

Day 4: My mom, Sheryl McMillan, Beth Thorson, and I all went to the Coliseum on Friday morning. We got there about 8:30 am and got audio guides that we were allowed to have for 2 hours. We started on the second (?) level of the arena. We could see down to the arena floor where the gladiators, animals, and equipment (weapons/cages) were held. It used to be covered in wood flooring with trap doors to allow things to be lifted to the arena floor. The central hallway of the underground area went the entire length and led out to the gladiator training area. The East and West entrances were for the gladiators and before the games they would come in from the West. In the stadium there were five sections for the audience. The further away the lower the class. Gladiators could be slaves or free men. They were recruited at 17 years old and had an average life span of 30 years. Gladiators would usually fight to the death but the losing one could ask the Editor or Emperor for mercy which would be granted if they thought the gladiator fought well. To check if a gladiator had died he would be poked with a hot iron. The Coliseum is 150ft tall, 550ft long, and 480ft wide while St. Peter’s Basilica is 460ft tall, 700ft long, and 450 ft wide. It was hard to imagine St. Peter’s to be so much bigger than the Coliseum. After exiting we then walked over to the Roman Forum area. We didn’t get a chance to see very much because it started to rain heavily.

Arch of Constantine

Castel Sant Angelo

We then all headed over to Castel Sant Angelo. By the time we reached the castle it had already stopped raining and the sun had come out. We were dropped off in front of the bridge (Ponte Sant Angelo) that had many statues on it. We walked all the way up to the top of the castle. First going up a ramp inside where the walls were supposed to be 30 feet thick. The ramp is 125.5 meters long and rises gently 12 meters. Once through the tunnels we were then outside and headed for what used to be the living quarters and then onto the roof. From there we had great views of Rome and the Vatican. We were lucky that it was still mostly clear out to be able to see a lot of the city. We then went back down a level, still outside. On this level there was a café that we had lunch at. It was then back to the hotel to join the rest of the group for the afternoon.

View from the Castle down to the bridge we arrived on

Roof of Castel Sant Angelo

We headed off for the afternoon at about 3 pm to Gesu Church. This church is the headquarters for the Jesuit Church (Mother Church). We first had mass in a small chapel. Afterward we then went into the main church. When facing the alter to the right was a memorial for St. Francis Xavier who baptized about 300,000 people. The relic there was of his right arm. To the left of the alter was the memorial and tomb for St. Ignacus who was the founder of the Jesuits. There was a painting of him in this spot that acts as a curtain that will move to reveal a statue of him. We left this church and walked to the Pantheon

Pantheon

The original P. was smaller, made of wood and burnt down. In 118-125 AD a stone version was made. The columns in the front are made of one solid piece of granite. The Pantheon is dedicated to all of the Gods and the hole in the center of the ceiling is the connection to the Gods. The doors to the inside are so large it takes 3 men to move them. The marble on the inside is all original. The floor we walked on is the same that the Romans did. The dome is the largest masonry dome in the world. The distance from the center of the floor to the hole in the dome is the exact same distance as the widest point across from wall to wall before the curve of the dome. The hole in the roof is open and if it rains the water will come in and go out through drains in the floor. Part of the reason the Pantheon has stayed intact so well this long is because it wasn’t very old when a Pope (name?) made it a church so it was then protected. He then moved out the statues, moved them to the Vatican and replaced them with Christian statues. The Jupiter statue was replaced by an alter. The P. was one of the most crowded sites we had visited. We then walked on to St. Louis of the French which held 3 famous Carravaggio paintings. Last we walked on to Piazza Navona square. It's located on the site of an ancient race track and keeps the same shape as the track. This track was used for games, foot races, and other Olympic sports. The buildings now in the square cover the area that had the seating. The track is about 30 feet below ground. There are three fountains in the square. The center fountain is the “Four Rivers” by Bernini. Above his sculpture is a granite Obelisk. The fountain has four corners that represent for continents and their rivers with a man and other symbols. Africa with the Nile River, Asia with the Ganges, Europe with the Danube, and America with Rio De La Plata. When the tour ended John recommended a place to try a famous chocolate gelato dessert. My mom and I walked around the Piazza looking at the fountains and street vender artists. Afterward we met up with Sheryl and tried the chocolate gelato dessert. One to share was enough for the three of us. We looked around in some shops before meeting up with David and Karen Ochoa to walk back to the square with the Pantheon for dinner in a nice restaurant.

inside the Pantheon

At the Abbey of the Three Fountains... the path to St. Paul's chapel

Day 5: We woke up early again to meet for the bus at 7:30 to head to Assisi. We headed outside the city walls and first stopped at a monastery to see the Tre Fontane (Three Fountains). There are three churches inside the monastery. The big one we first saw when walking in is called Michenso, the second on the small hill was Santa Maria, and the third down the long pathway was St. Paul. This church is built on the site of St. Paul’s execution. St. Paul was decapitated instead of crucified since he was a Roman. When his head was decapitated it bounced three times and in each spot that his head bounced a spring formed. The St. Paul Chapel was built on this spot and over each spring is an alter. We then got back on the bus for Assisi.

Sheryl and Mom outside St. Paul's chapel

Assisi

While back on the bus Ambra explained that there are 21 Regions in Italy, 2 of which are Independent from Italy, The Vatican and the Republic of San Marino. We primarily drove through the region called Umbria. The country side was filled with olive trees and some grape vines. There were a lot of small villages. Clay pottery is commonly made in these towns with each family/person having their own style and patterns. Assisi is set on the top of a hill. The original village was located in the valley. In Italy it was common to have villages built on hills so they were better able to protect themselves. Assisi did have a city wall. We were dropped off outside one of the gates and just on the other side was our hotel, San Pietro Hotel.
Mass was held in a small church near the hotel called Church of St. Peter in Assisi. We were able to walk around before heading on to St. Francis of Assisi Basilica. St. Francis was the one who came up with recreating the nativity scene for Christmas so many churches in this area have permanent nativity scenes including St. Peters. St. Francis had started recreating the nativity scene to show people Jesus was also a human baby. We then walked up a hill to the Basilica. It is at one end of the town on the edge of the hill.

St. Francis of Assisi Basilica

inside St. Francis bottom level church

Our guide for Assisi, Giuseppe, met us at the Basilica. The Basilica was built two years after the death of St. Francis over top his tomb. He died in 1226 of TB and bone cancer. St. Francis had asked his friends to be buried outside of his town and they had picked this hill because people had been executed here. It was called the “Hill of Hell.” This church was the first in Italy to be built in the gothic style which at the time was usually only a French style. St. Francis’ real name was Giovanni (Italian name) but was given the nickname Francis because his mother was French. He was originally from a very wealthy family but had given up everything and worked for the poor. This church has two levels. We entered on the bottom level. All of the walls were very colorfully frescoed. The stain glass windows are the oldest in Italy so are very thick making it darker inside the church. There weren’t very many windows because the government used to use the number of doors and windows to determine how much to tax. We took a few minutes to go underneath the lower church into St. Francis’s tomb. It was a very simple tomb in the center of a chapel. Next we went to the upper church which is covered in mural (paint on plaster) which comes off easier than frescos (paint absorbed). Behind the alter is a chair that is only for the Pope. The murals along the walls in the Nave are the story of St. Francis’s life on one side and after death on the other side. You can tell this because the after death side St. Francis is depicted with wings or flies.

View from Assisi near St. Clare's Basilica

We then walked most of the distance of the town to the Basilica of St. Clare (in Italian Chiara). This church was built in 1257. St. Clare was born in 1193 and died in 1253 from TB. She was born, lived, and died in Assisi. She was a nun and had visions, I believe of things/events happening in other places. She is now the patron saint of television. Her tomb is buried under the Basilica. 600 years after she was buried her tomb was opened and found she had not decomposed. She was then stretched out because she was buried in a fetal position and put in the crypt with a death mask. Also in the crypt are relics (cloths) of St. Francis and Clare. Pope Gregory IX canonized both Clare and Francis. There were no frescos in the basilica because the church had become a hospital for a short time. After visiting the church we had a couple hours to shop before dinner. We picked up some great little pastries and cookies.

Santa Maria de Los Angles

Day 6: We had another early morning to head back to Rome. We first stopped in the town Santa Maria de Los Angles that is in the valley next to Assisi. The USA Los Angeles is named after this town. We visited the church of the same name as the town which means Mary of the Angel. This church is a basilica built around a small chapel named Small Portion in Italian. It is the chapel where St. Francis prayed and started the Franciscan monks. A convent is attached to this church. We went inside the church for a moment to look around. There was mass taking place so we couldn’t go far. I noticed there were many confessionals. Afterward we headed into the convent area next door. We walked down a hallway that had a statue of St. Francis. In the hallway lived 2 doves. I can’t remember the reason for the doves, it may have something to do with St. Francis’s connection with nature. Windows looked out into a rose garden. This is where St. Francis received the stigmata and wherever the blood dripped a rose bush without thorns grew. We had our last group mass in a chapel in the convent. By the time we left it had really started to rain hard.

Last group mass

Orvieto Cathedral

We arrived in Orvieto a couple ours later.
This town is also on the top of a hill. The easiest way to get there is by the incline lift. We all left the bus at the bottom and rode the steep incline. At the top a new bus was there to take us to the Cathedral. We went inside and had to wait before being able to look around while mass was finishing. It was interesting to hear mass in Italian and still be able to follow the parts that you can recognize. We then went into the Chapel of the Corporal which was on the left side of the alter. The corporal is the piece of fabric used to clean the cup and bowl host. There was some story about a priest who questioned the belief that the host becomes the body and blood of Christ. He then began to clean the cup and bowl with the corporal and saw blood on it. This is the corporal held in the chapel. After leaving the church we had a little while to spend exploring and shopping in Orvieto. The entire time we were in Orvieto it was raining pretty hard. This area is known for their ceramics so many of the shops were filled with these. We then all went to a restaurant to have a traditional lunch. First course was bruschetta with really great extra virgin olive oil that had apparently just been made recently. I could have eaten a meal of that. Next we had risotto with bacon in it. It tasted a lot like carbonara pasta. Then we had pasta that had black truffle in them. Truffles are a very rare and expensive fungus. It was also very good. Last was a sort of beef stew with spinach and cornmeal (I think). The rest of the food was definitely better. With dinner we got to have really good white wine also made in the area. For dessert we had some kind of biscuits and dessert wine that was very strong. I didn’t really like the dessert wine. We then had to get back on the bus to go back to Rome and our hotel Cicerone again.

Inside Orvieto Cathedral

tasty Orvieto wine

Day 7: My mom and I woke up early to meet Sheryl for breakfast and all walk to St. Peters. Sheryl went inside St. Peters and climbed the dome while mom and I went on the Scavi tour. The tour started on the ground floor in some rooms that held what looked like old marble tombs. There was also a wooden model of the first St. Peter’s Basilica. The altar was built directly above St. Peter’s tomb. Excavations under St. Peter’s took place between 1940 and 1950. The Vatican originally was only a district of Rome and the location of a circus (race track/arena). In 64 AD there was a massive fire in Rome, 10 out of the 14 districts were destroyed. Emperor Nero was blamed for the fire but he then blamed Christians so began persecutions against them, killing Peter as well. On the hill next to the circus was a Necropolis (means “City of the Dead”). Peter was secretly buried in this Necropolis. A monument was built overtop his tomb against a red wall. We also saw a model of what this monument once looked like, it was a copy of a pagan monument since Christianity was illegal at the time (150-160). In 312 Constantine believes in Christianity after a dream and in 320 built the first Basilica of St. Peter. He wanted to build overtop of St. Peter’s tomb but the Necropolis was in the way. Since he was emperor he could change the law and used the mausoleums of the Necropolis as the foundations filling the spaces with rubble. Excavations have found towers and walls used to even out the hill on top of the necropolis. We then headed down into the excavated area.

hallway in the Necropolis

We entered a hallway with the original brickwork of Roman mausoleums on the left and right. There wouldn’t have been a ceiling over the hallway. People would walk down the hallways to bury a coffin or cremated body (in scenery urns) to the tombs or would bring items to have festivals for the dead. The Necropolis under St. Peter’s was discovered by accident in 1940. In 1505 Pope Julius added foundation above the original to create a space for the tombs of Popes. In 1939 Pope Pious XI died and was buried in the Grotto where most Popes are buried. The next Pope (Pious XII) was praying at Pious XI’s tomb and thought more space was needed in his tomb. They could go further up so decided to lower the floor. When they started the broke through and found the top of a mausoleum. The top was lit up to show where they broke through. We got closer to the spot of St. Peter’s tomb. The guide explained that when excavating they found the foundations of (the arch thing/alter made by Bernini) and behind that was the grave of St. Peter. They found evidence of remains of the red wall running north to south. Also found was lots of coins in the cavity of the monument around the tomb. These were left by pilgrims coming to visit St. Peter. The cavity was lined in marble. Above the cavity of the tomb was the structure Constantine had build of box made of marble with one side/front open. Numerous alters have been built one on top of another all above St. Peter’s tomb. I think Pope Gregory XIII added the alter that was at the exit of the tour that appeared to be alongside of tomb. Next in 1595 Pope Clement VIII put an alter over the monuments (I think this is the one in the Grotto). Then over top of that is the Bernini alter structure. Then directly above is also the dome created by Michelangelo.
Behind a wall bones were found but didn’t match what people thought of Peter’s build. This first wall however was over the red wall and had graffiti prayers on it. And behind the red wall more bones were found in a purple cloth. These bones after being analyzed and restructured did match the idea of Peter, between 60 and 70 years old and active/robust. On the red wall in Greek letters is either the saying “Peter is here” or “Peter rest in peace.”

looking through to St. Peter's tomb

last visit to St. Peter's

At the end of the tour, I walked around one last time in St. Peter’s before we all met and walked back to the hotel. We then packed and headed for the train station to see if we could change our Tuesday morning tickets to leave Monday instead. We were able to and didn’t have long to wait before setting off to Florence. Our hotel, Grand Hotel Baglioni, was walking distance from the train station. Our hotel room was the best room I have ever been in. After dropping off our suitcases we went up to the top floor restaurant. From there it has a great view of the Duomo.

waiting for the train to Florence

first night in Florence

Day 8: After breakfast we all went over to the market that was nearby. Most huts and shops were selling leather goods. The people that work in them are pretty aggressive too. My mom was looking at some leather jackets and got sucked into listening to the shop guy who took us from the hut to the shop behind. He was really pushy and kept trying to lower the price and acted depressed when we decided not to get his coat. We then headed back to the hotel to meet our guide for the day (I think named Christina). She then walked us to the Uffizi Gallery.

market near our hotel

view of the Arno' River and Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi Gallery

The Uffizi gallery is next to the Piazza della Signora. It is 2 stories built in a “U” shape that goes in chronological order. The Medici family was merchants and then bankers. They had many busts when we first entered the gallery. Cozimo of the Medici’s ordered the building of the Uffizi which means “offices” palace and his family brought lots of art to the gallery. They were a powerful family, 2 women married French and became queens and a couple family members had become Pope. A famous member of the family was Lorenzo the Magnificent. 60% of Italian art is in Florence and the most important of it is in the Uffizi. We went pretty quickley through several rooms. We saw “The Birth of Venus” by Botacelli in 1460 and other Botacelli paintings and Leonardo da Vinci's “Annunciation” in 1495 completed when he was only 20 years old. The hallways were also painting in detail on the ceilings with sculptures. I noticed part of a she wolf sculpture. Christina didn’t know where the origin of that image for Rome came from. We stopped and looked out a window at Ponte Vecchio. It crosses over the Arno river and is the only original bridge left, the rest were bombed in WWII. It was built in 1345. On the bottom level are shops and above is the secret walkway from the Uffizi to the Pitti Palace.

We left the Uffizi to go to the Accademia. We passed through the Piazza della Signora which is the political heart of Florence. The building with the tower is the Senoria or town hall built in 1299. There were 2 statues in the front; one was a copy of the David and the other of Hercules (original). In the spot of the copy of David is where the original David was for I think a few hundred years.

We passed by the Duomo. It’s the 4th largest church in Italy. It was built between 1297 and 1890 in Gothic style. 3 different types of marble were used all from Italy. The dome was built between 1419-1436 and is the widest in Italy. The bell tower is 85 meters tall. The monument (baptistery) in front was built in 550 (?) over top another church.

The David

The Academy is where students would learn how to represent things. Sculptors would do plaster first than marble except for Michelangelo who would just sketch than sculpt marble. Michelangleo was born in 1475 near Florence and lived most of his life in Rome. He didn’t have any children. He died in 1564 and his body was stolen by his brother from the Pope to be brought to Florence to be buried. His masterpiece is considered the David. He has completed only 1 fresco and 1 painting and all other works were sculpture. He would knock on the marble to ask “are you there?” The room was filled with unfinished statues because he had been called by Pope Julius II to do a monument and then the Sistine Chapel. Four of these statues were going to be a part of the Julius II monument that he worked on in 1519 (called the Captives?). Another unfinished statue there was going to be of St. Matthew and was made with the David to be part of the Duomo (Latin Dormos Day meaning House of God) church in Florence. People believe Michelangelo may have been homosexual which would have been hard for him because he was also very religious and worked for Popes.

Michelangelo was only 26 years old when he worked on the David (24 years old when did Pieta in St. Peters). David spent 400 years outside; I think most of that in the Signora Square. The David was sculpted 1501-04. He is 13 feet tall without the base (17 feet with base) and weighs 5.5 tons. Michelangelo was asked to do the David because they wanted a statue of the first prophet in the Duomo. Michelangelo started work on the David after two other sculptors who quit because they thought the marble was too weak. When Michelangelo completed the David it was seen as being too sexy for a church. This was one of the best parts about the tour because the guide kept saying “he’s too sexy” and it was very funny in her Italian accent and the way she would move when saying it. The David was moved to the square instead and had gold belt added. The tree in the sculpture is to help support his weight because he had to be leaning to the right since the left side of the marble was weak. 2 of the toes have had to be replaced because they were hammered off by a crazy man. He is supposed to be the ideal man and Michelangelo used multiple images as inspiration. The right hand has visible veins to show the strength in his hand protecting the stone of victory. The left hand is holding the sling shot which attaches to the shoulder. Christina (?) says that the position of his right leg is what makes him sexy. From the back you can see the belt of the sling shot. His Adams apple is the only part still left shiny because when David was brought inside and cleaned 2 mm were removed and he lost his shine. This is supposed to be the moment before the fight with Goliath which you can see by the expression on his face and that he is still holding the stone of victory. David in the sculpture is left handed along with Michelangelo. Christina explained that Greek sculptures were naked and Roman was clothed. The Renaissance went back to naked and was a return to classical arts.

We then wondered back to the market and then to the hotel for dinner. We had traditional Florentine steak for dinner. It was pretty red but good.

Traditional Florentine steak... not as good as Texas steak :)

Stain Glass workshop

Day 9: We took a taxi to Massimo Mellini’s stain glass workshop. My mom had spoken with someone who works for him before leaving to Italy. They had called to say that he would be in Austin if she wanted to meet with him about anything for our new church. Mom said she wouldn’t be able to because we would be in Rome at the time and said we would then be going to Florence. The person said he would be back to Florence by then and it could be possible to have him show us his workshops. So here we were at his stain glass workshop. The business was started by his father after WWII. He explained the process of creating a stained glass. First they start with a sketch then an actual size drawing, traced shapes on thin paper, cut glass, sometimes then paint onto the glass to add dimension, add lead, and last a protective glass is put over the outside. He has about 20 people working there and at the mosaic workshop. They have about 800 different colors of glass they use. Currently they are working on windows for a new church in Italy and a restoration of a Sicilian church which had part of it collapse 5 or 6 years ago in an earthquake. There was a contest between artists for the work. The artist that won for the stain glass work created windows of the 7 sacraments and the large colorful window with the cross and shaking hands. We saw this stain glass as well as a couple others that men were working on. One guy was cutting glass and another was painting on the glass. Massimo then drove us to his mosaic workshop about 1.5 hours away.

Mom excited about being in the mosaic workshop

Massimo’s workshop is located in Peitrasanta. We entered into the shop to find a few men working. One was working on a Mary mosaic and had about 20 different boxes of skin tones he was using to create her skin. There are about 800 different shades of manmade glass they use plus will sometimes use marble pieces. The glass comes to them in sheets about one square foot to be cut into about 2 square cm and then from there it will be cut to fit what is needed. The process to make a mosaic also starts with a sketch, then glue the pieces of glass to the paper (what you see will actually be the back of the mosaic), then attach it to the wall with cement, remove the paper to have a smooth front, and last wash it off and the glue will dissolve. The workshop is working on a very large mosaic for a Cathedral in Nigeria that is about 1,000 square feet (8 m x 10m). It will cost €250,000. It so far has taken 3 months and 10 people have been working on it. Since it is so large it is being done in pieces and we got to watch them put it all together like a puzzle. What we saw put together was only about ¼ of the whole mosaic.

Only about 1/4 of a mosaic to complete

Massimo then drove us out to Carrara (original marble town on the coast) to Roberto’s marble workshop. The area we went to seemed to be filled with marble workshops. He showed us around to the pieces he is working on. We saw an alter made in Baldaccino marble which is commonly used in US alters. Roberto was obviously not a fan of it because it was too simple. They are also working on an archway for a family home in Paris, a baptismal font for Fort Worth (this had pieces being cut by someone while we were there), and a top to a large tomb for the LA Forest Lawn cemetery (famous people like Michael Jackson there). We then all drove up into the mountains. We stopped at a marble quarry (there are about 200 quarries in these local mountains) and saw the mountain that Michelangelo actually picked his marble from. We then drove further up into the mountains to a village called Colonata. It was a very cute old town. We walked the narrow alleys filled with cats. Then we ate at Osteria nella Pia. Roberto and Massimo pretty much ordered different things for us. We started with cheese and lardo (type of ham made locally). It was very tasty. We then had a couple different types of pasta. Massimo then drove us back to his stain glass shop and took a taxi back to the hotel. Since we had a late lunch we walked around and got some local pastries for dessert.

marble quarry

Lunch at Osteria nella Pia (Roberto, Massimo, Mom, Sheryl, and me)

View from Michelangelo plaza of Florence

Day 10: On our last day we had our tour with Andrea. He picked us up outside the hotel and took us to Piazza Michelangelo. Along the way he told us about Florence and pointed out some sights. There are 400,000 people living in Florence. The mosaic was invented in Florence. Galileo was born in Pisa but spent most of his life in Florence. We drove up Galileo Boulevard to Michelangelo Square. They were setting up the Florence Christmas tree in the square. There was also a copy of the David there. The region of Tuscany gets its main revenue from tourism and then agriculture (Chianti wine, symbol is a black rooster). From here we could see a great view of Florence. We saw the Santa Croce church which was built at the end of the 15th century and inside are the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Macavelli, and Dante (no body for). We could also see the National Library which has 4 million books including the first copy of Dante’s Comedy (1325), first portrait of Dante, and first copy of Pinocchio book written by Collade.

After the Michelangelo Square we drove back down Michelangelo Boulevard to visit Santa Croce. Out front is a monument to Dante who is considered the father of the Italian language. Mom, Sheryl, and I went inside the church for a few minutes while Andrea waited outside. The area around the alter had scaffolding. Along the floor of this church were many tombs and some had to be blocked off since the marble had become warn down in some areas. Michelangelo’s tomb was very colorful and included a bust of him and three women statues representing painting, sculpture and architecture. We then walked over to Ponte Vecchio. It was originally filled with butchers’ shops but now is almost completely gold shops. Cozimo I moved the butchers to allow the gold merchants in. In the center of the bridge was a bust of a man that is the founder of the gold school in Florence. Aroundthis were locks placed on the iron fencing. This is a tradition with couples and they’ll put their names on it. After crossing the bridge we walked over to a good spot to view Ponte Vecchio.

Andrea with us and Ponte Vecchio

On this side of the river is the Pitti Palace. The square in front of the palace is where a wine market and festival is held with free wine tasting in the spring. This palace is important because it was the last Medici house built in the 17th century. The lion is the second symbol of Florence because the Medici family liked the circus. Cozimo and Lorenzo also had a pet lion they would walk with. We quickly went through a bunch of other rooms filled with paintings. The seashell is the symbol of the Renaissance and we saw this on multiple things in the rooms. Behind the palace is the Bobali Garden which was copied by the Versailles garden in Paris. At the top of the hill was a villa for the Medici family. Cozimo started the building of the Pitti palace. We left the Pitti Palace and walked to the Duomo.

The Duomo church with the Baptistry in front

Andrea told us some things about the Duomo before we climbed the dome. The area between the Cathedral and Baptistery is called Paradise because of the Paradise doors on the Baptistery (gold doors). The inside of the Duomo is similar to Santa Croce. The dome has the largest fresco in the world of hell and paradise, the second largest is the Sistine Chapel. Pope Julius II was a member of the Medici family. Franciscus Talenti designed the bell tower but only completed the first level, it was started in 1334 and completed in 1337. The Cathedral started being built in 1296. The David by Michelangelo was finished in 1505 and there was a big discussion about where to put it. A council including Leonardo de Vinci met in the Cathedral to discuss. De Vinci thought it should be outside the Cathedral but no one else agreed so they decided to place in the Signore Square. In 1555 there was a Civil war in Florence and people were lighting the palace next to the David on fire and used him for something (?) so afterward it was moved to the Academy Garden. After Andrea left us, Sheryl and I climbed the dome while my mom went back into the church to take more pictures. I can’t remember how many stairs it was to the top but I think over 300. We walked through the dome at the lower level by the stain glass windows on the way up and then through the part by the fresco on the way down.

View from the top of the dome

We made it all 300something steps!

Afterwards we headed back to the hotel to get our cab to the airport. We flew into Gatwick Airport and took a cab to our hotel in the town nearby. It was very cold back in London. We had our Thanksgiving dinner in the pub attached to the hotel. Sheryl and Mom had to leave very early the next morning to get their flight back to Texas. I stayed at the hotel till check out time before taking trains home.