Keeping busy!

Ciao!  I have lots to report from the last few days, and I have included lots of pictures, so I hope you enjoy!

On Tuesday, we went on our first group excursion.  We hoped on a metro and then a bus, finally meeting our professors on the Via Appia for our tours of the catacombs of San Callisto and San Sebastiano.  I wasn't too keen on heading underground to wander around a burial site, but at least all the human remains had been removed.  The catacombs were Christian burial sites, and the earliest were started in the second century.  Because Christians were persecuted by the Romans at this time, the catacombs allowed for the secret burial of the dead.  Some believe that the catacombs were used as hiding places during times of persecution, but even going on just two different tours, it was clear that there was disagreement on this point.  There were some beautifully painted frescoes in the catacombs and interesting stone carvings, etc.  In the San Sebastiano catacombs, our tour guide talked about how when the catacombs were first being used, many people were illiterate which means that they couldn't mark and find the individual burial sites using writing.  Therefore, they developed stamps to mark the graves.   The catacombs are many miles long and set up in several layers.  The San Callisto catacombs are 12 miles long, have four layers, and are more than 20 meters deep in some places.  Despite some interesting art, I did find the catacombs to be quite creepy.  I'm never too keen on cold, dark, enclosed, underground spaces, but the alcoves where bodies had been were really what did it.   Anyway, I did survive to tell the tale, but I was pretty relieved to be back above ground.  And the ground above the catacombs was quite beautiful.  Because the main attraction was below ground, the rest of the property was basically farmland, allowed to become grassy and filled with trees.  It was lovely to be outside the hustle and bustle of the city, even if just for a little while.  No photos were allowed underground in the catacombs, but I have posted a few pictures from above ground.

Above the catacombs of San Callisto

Above the catacombs of San Callisto

Above the catacombs of San Callisto

Above the catacombs of San Callisto

A shrine outside the catacombs

The basilica built above the catacombs of San Sebastiano

My first Bernini sighting!

After the catacombs, I hoped back on the bus, and headed to the Jewish ghetto with a couple of friends.   From the Metro, we walked along the Tiber River to reach our destination.  In the river, there is a small island.  I don't know what's on it now, but once upon a time, the island was avoided because of negative stories associated with it.  Only criminals and those with contagious illnesses were sent there.  Then, in the 3rd century, a temple was built on the island to the Greek god of medicine and healing, Aesculapius and the island eventually came to be associated with this temple.  The great synagogue of Rome was right across from the river, and was a beautiful building from the outside.  Then, we walked into the ghetto and wandered around.  We were struck by how small and condensed it all was, yet a number of kosher restaurants and Judaica shops remain.  We grabbed lunch at a small whole-in-the-wall restaurant recommended by Rick Steve called Sora Margherita.  They brought us a hand-written menu for that day only, and the restaurant was filled with locals. I had heard great things about the artichokes in the ghetto, so we ordered a couple for the table.  I also ordered fettuccine with pesto for my lunch.  I can honestly say that it was the best meal I've had so far in Rome.  And the artichoke was unusual and fabulous.  The came splayed out like a flower, and it had been fried in oil so that the leaves were the consistency of chips.  Wow!

Island in the Tiber (and the remains of an old bridge)

The synagogue

The synagogue

The synagogue from a different angle 

Artichoke!

Pasta

Sora Margherita 

The ghetto 

Yesterday, we went on a day trip to Subiaco, a town in the hills outside of Rome.  The town starts at the river and is built up the side of a hill, making it quite steep.  We started at the monastery of Saint Benedict, which is built around the cave where Benedict spent three years as a hermit during the early years of his religious life.  Benedict then went on to found 12 monasteries in Subiaco before moving to Southern Italy and founding his final monastery, Monte Cassino, where he spent the rest of his life.

Following our visit to Saint Benedict's monastery, we went to the monastery of Saint Scholastica.  Saint Benedict founded this monastery in honor of his sister Scholastica.  In addition to hearing about its founding, I was interested in the more modern history of the monastery.  During World War II, German troops hid out in St. Scholastica.  When allied troops could not get in, they bombed the monastery, which meant that much of it had to be rebuilt following the end of the war.  The monastery was gorgeous, with multiple courtyards and amazing corridors.   In addition, we got to go into one of the chapels at the monastery, which was all white.  I found this simple design to be beautiful and the chapel felt light and airy.  

Next, we stopped at the ruins of Nero's villa.  Today, the ruins are not much more than a stone outline in the ground, but it was neat to see the location and layout of the villa.  You could tell that it had once been a grand building in a wild place.  During several of our visits, our tour guides mentioned that marble had been taken from the villa and used in the construction of the more modern buildings.

We then grabbed a quick lunch in the town of Subiaco, and climbed up many flights of stairs through the neighborhoods of the steep town to reach the highest point in the town atop which sits the Rocca.  The streets in the town were amazingly steep and narrow, and many of the apartments appeared to be accessible only on foot.  We were joking that the mailman in Subiaco must be in really good shape!  Subiaco was the site of the first printing press in Italy, and we visited the small paper and printing museum at the top of Subiaco.  The Subiaco Press was established in 1464 by two German monks in the church of St. Scholastica.  It was interesting to see the paper-making and printing processes, and to understand the history of printing a little bit better.  Following our visit to the museum, we visited the Rocca Abbaziale, which is basically a medieval castle that served as the residence of the abbots of St. Scholastica.  The Rocca included living quarters and a small church.  In the 1400s, Pope Calisto III dismissed the abbot, and instead nominated a commander, a sort of feudal pope with temporary powers over the lands.   The most amazing part about the Rocca was its painted walls and ceilings.  Every room had very beautiful and well-preserved art.  In the upstairs living quarters the walls were painted with images of the towns over which the commander presided as a demonstration of his power.     

Following this visit, we hiked back down to the river to take a quick look at the medieval bridge in town, and to grab a few cookies from the local bakery.  Then we headed home after a long and satisfying day.

What really struck me about our trip to Subiaco, was how quickly we were truly out in the countryside.  Driving out of Rome, you could clearly see the transition from city to suburbs, and then suburbs to countryside.  The hills were truly wild and beautiful.  I understood why Benedict chose that area as the place for his early spiritual exploration.  Standing outside the Rocca, and looking out over the hills, I felt a freedom, an openness, a freshness, and a peacefulness that I hadn't felt since arriving in the Rome.  It felt like a separate world from the one I had left that morning.  It was amazing to think that just 45 minutes away lay one of the greatest cities in the world.

This outcrop is actually a town on a hill

A view of the hills

The courtyard at St. Benedict

Friends at the overlook

Looking down at St. Scholastica

A courtyard in St. Scholastica

St. Scholastica

Another courtyard in St. Scholastica

The light and geometry in St. Scholastica was amazing!

I had never seen a dove like this!

The all-white chapel in St. Scholastica--it was beautiful

The ruins of Nero's villa

The ruins of Nero's villa

A steep street in Subiaco

Subiaco

A neighborhood shrine in Subiaco

Subiaco

Playing with a model of the printing press

Looking out over the rooftops of Subiaco

That is St. Scholastica in the distance

It is hard to capture how beautiful this view was

Another beautiful view

One of the painted walls of the Rocca

Another painted wall

A door in Subiaco--I loved the colors

The medieval bridge

Cukis from the bakery

More cookies

Tomatoes from the market--I just added this for fun!

1.  http://www.catacombe.roma.it/en/catacombe.php 
2.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiber_Island 
3.  http://www.tibursuperbum.it/eng/escursioni/subiaco/RoccaAbbaziale.htm
4.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subiaco_Press