Rome Revisited II

Well, I suppose the first order of business is to correct a misstatement in yesterday's post. I said that the Janiculum Hill was one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome - wrong! The Seven Hills of Rome are the Quirinal, the Viminal, the Capitoline, the Esquiline, the Palatine, the Caelian, and the Aventine. The Janiculum, on the west side of the Tiber, was outside the Servian Wall. It was incorporated into the city in ancient times, however, when the Aurelian Wall was extended to encompass the hill itself and its mills. It is the second highest hill in contemporary Rome and leaving it outside the city walls was a huge defensive oversight.

Harry was the perfect host for my first visit to Rome. He was familiar with the city, having been there in school for a couple of years. We made our rounds mostly on foot and occasionally on a bus. We basically spent a day wandering about the Vatican and a couple more enjoying Rome itself. The picture above is Michelangelo's dome of the Basilica of St. Peter, with one of the two fountains in Piazza San Pietro, designed by Bernini, in the foreground.

It was All Saints Day and the Piazza was full of people when Pope Paul VI came to his window and blessed the crowd. A water spout from the second Bernini fountain can be seen in the lower half of the picture to the left of the Pope.

I'm not sure who designed the façade St. Peter's, but I liked the clock. When I look at this I always think that if someone wanted a full-time job in Rome, he could keep busy indexing all the Papal coats-of-arms in the city. They're carved in stone, painted, embroidered on flags, and incorporated in mosaics.They're everywhere! They're everywhere!

Among the sights we saw ambling about the Vatican Gardens was this place, up on the hill. I remember Harry telling me it was the Medici Palace or the Villa Medici or something. I spent most of this morning trying to identify it, but finally had to give up. It doesn't appear to be the Villa Medici, which is across the river near Trinita Dei Monte, but I couldn't tie it to any of the Vatican buildings in Google Maps either. Ah, well. . .

We found this Swiss guard with his halberd in the Vatican museums. It's a shame I didn't bother to focus (or get a better angle on his weapon) before I took this picture.

Inside the Vatican Museum, I was taken with this solid gold statue of the Good Shepherd. The figure is about 10 inches tall and on a marble base, the whole thing enclosed in a glass case. Again, if only I had autofocus. . .

I really liked the sculpture all over the city but I especially liked this green marble lion in the Vatican Museum. The lighting's not anything to brag about, but the highlights give a pretty good indication of how detailed this lovely carving really is.