We now had some free time in the afternoon of the fourth full day of our pilgrimage. What to do, what to do? What else…see more churches!
We set out to visit the Basilica dedicated to Francesca Romano (St. Frances of Rome) who is my wife’s confirmation saint. However, while all roads may lead to Rome, not all roads in Rome lead where you want to go…
So, Francesca’s church will wait until our next post and this week, we will look at the church we found in our seeking, along with some other bits from our trip thus far.
We had our Google map saved to my phone, which was mostly helpful, except it didn’t show the boundary of the area around the Coliseum blocked off as an admission-charging area. We thought we had found a way around, but instead we came to a dead end and found this church dedicated to St. Bonaventure.
St. Bonaventure was a Franciscan bishop, cardinal, and scholastic theologian, and he served as the Minister General of the Friars Minor. He lived from 1221-1274, making him a contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas. Like Aquinas, he is honored as a doctor of the church.
This church was constructed in 17th century, completed in 1689, and is used as a monastery church. The current facade and much of the surrounding structure date to the middle of the 19th century when restoration and new construction was done after archeological work in the area caused the removal of part of the existing convent.
If you look closely at the picture above, notice that the ceiling is merely painted to look like it has panels. (It’s easiest to tell on the left side, where the painted shadows fall the opposite direction of some natural shadows in the picture.)
This isn’t a church that is in very many guidebooks, so finding out much about it is a bit of a challenge. We didn’t stay long, because we were on a different mission.
The Palatine hill is one of the seven hills of Rome: Palatine, Aventine, Capitoline, Caelian, Esquiline, Viminal, and Quirinal. Vatican Hill is outside the ancient boundaries of Rome and so is not counted as one of the seven.1 I think we walked up and down most of them throughout our time in the Eternal City. Here are some highlights.
When walking around Rome, you can’t help but notice images of Mary along the streets (often at intersections), from paintings to statues, like the one pictured above. These are known as “Madonnelle” meaning “little Madonna.” You can read more about them here.
Another thing you see often are Egyptian obelisks, either by themselves or, as in the picture above, worked into a fountain. Carting these from Egypt to Rome seemed to be a popular pastime for certain Roman emperors.
Of course, there is the Flavian Amphitheater and its surrounding area that were the cause of our navigational challenges. In the picture above, you can see tourists in line for tickets. It is said to have been the largest ancient amphitheater ever built and to have held up to 80,000 spectators.
Nearby is the Arch of Constantine. It was built to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 AD. Dedicated in 315, it is the largest Roman triumphal arch, at 69 feet tall and 85 feet wide. (The Arch de Triomphe in Paris is 164 feet tall, in case you were wondering.)
And finally, lest you think everything in Rome is ancient, it appears that real people actually live and work in this city as well, as evidenced by this apartment building we walked past on one of our journeys.
Next week, we find Francesca’s church. Until then,
Grace & peace,
Chris
Much to the disappointment of Protestant conspiracy theorists who try to link the Vatican to unfavorable visions in John’s Revelation.