Another massive wonderful day in Rome - Elodie, Holly & Erin

27 June. Rome. Hot and sunny. We got up early and beat the queues to get into the colosseum. It was unbelievable inside.

We walked around two levels inside and looked at all the walls, stairs, statues, ruins, the maze of alleyways underground, and looked at the views outside (The Forums and Arch of Constantine). There were 4 levels to the colosseum.

We read that the Emperor and his gang used to use the lower level (podium) closest to the action, the knights and important people used the next level and the middle classes had the third level, and the lower classes used the top level.

When it was completed in 80 AD there was a 3 month festival and heaps of gladiators and about 5000 ferocious animals were killed in battles inside the colosseum for sport, watched by the 50,000 people who could fit into the 4 levels. These types of battles continued for almost 400 years. Wild animals were hunted down as entertainment. The animals and slaves and gladiators used to enter the arena from the bottom level or through trap doors in the middle.

We read that they also flooded the arena sometimes and held naval battles on the water, watched by all the spectators. The arena floor is about ¾ the size of a football field. We spent about 2 ½ hours inside. It was a great experience.

We then walked through the Imperial Forums, Roman Forum and around Palatine Hill. All with ruins of past civilisations. This is the heart of ancient Rome.

There are archaeological digs happening in some places. We read that new areas are being uncovered all the time. It was fascinating. A “forum” was an area (like a small suburb) of residences, parks, shops, political meeting places etc where communities developed and lived. Sometimes a forum would run down and they would build a new one in a different nearby area or sometimes they would expand into a new one.

The Palatine Hill area is the one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It is next to the Roman Forum and Circus Maximus is on the other side.

Mythology says that the Palatine Hill was the location of the cave where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf that kept them alive. When they were older, the boys both decided to build a new city of their own on the banks of the River Tiber. They had a violent argument with each other and Romulus killed his twin brother Remus. This is how "Rome" got its name - from Romulus.

Recent excavations show that people have lived there in the Palatine since approximately 1000 BC. That’s 3000 years ago! How old is white civilisation in Australia – 224 years. The original Romans lived on the Palatine.

The Roman Forum developed later. It developed over many centuries. Julius Caesar and Augustus helped develop this area. In time though it became over-developed and over-crowded. It also started to sink in swampy unstable ground. It eventually outgrew its day to day shopping and marketplace role. It was an important political place also.

The Imperial Forum was then developed. It was constructed over a period of one and half centuries, between 46 BC and 113 AD. The forums were then the centre of the Roman Republic and of the Roman Empire which ruled the Mediteranean region in this period.

The Imperial forum/s and the Roman Forum, are located close to each other. Julius Caesar was the first to build in the Imperial Forum area. These forums were then the centres of residence, politics, religion and economy in the ancient Roman Empire. The Imperial Forum/s include the Forum of Caesar, Forum of Augustus, Temple of Peace, Forum of Nerva and the Forum of Trajan.

After walking around for a couple of hours we went back to our apartment for a rest. We plan to go back to the Forums tomorrow again for a couple of hours.

After lunch we walked to Piazza Repubblica and caught the Metro to Ottaviano, and walked to the Vatican City.

Mum and dad had booked tickets for us to go inside the Vatican Museum. The Vatican City is within these really high walls in the centre of Rome. It is its own state, separate to Italy, and the smallest state in the world.

It is owned by the Catholic Church and is run by the Pope. It is the centre of the Catholic religion in the world. Only about 800 people live in the Vatican City including the pope, the head of the Catholic religion.

Inside the Vatican museum it was incredible. Paintings, frescos (paintings on the ceiling), tapestries, sculptures, statues all by famous artists. There were displays of sarcophaguses, old artifacts, pottery, coins, jewellery and other ancient stuff. Dad and mum said that all this was priceless meaning money couldn’t buy it.

The building was incredible too. It was crowded and we moved along slowly but that gave us a chance to look at things.

We went into the Raphael room which was beautiful. There were so many wonderful things, it was really hard deciding which photos to include.

We finally walked into the Sistine Chapel and that was awesome. Michelangelo paintings all over the ceiling and some of the walls, and the rest of the walls covered by paintings by Botticelli, Roselli and other famous painters. Michelangelo’s “Last Judgement” (painted 1535-1541) which covered one whole end wall was our favourite.

Erin’s favourite was Creation of Adam in the middle of the ceiling (painted 1508-1511). The Sistine Chapel is where Cardinals from around the world meet to elect a new Pope when the old one dies.

We left at closing time and got the Metro back and had dinner. We had a big day and we were starving. But what a day it had been. We were going to watch Gladiator on the iPad but watched Parent Trap instead.

Love from Elodie, Holly and Erin.

 

P.S. Sorry this post is so long, we hope you findit as interesting as we did, we had a huge day and still could have added so much more....