It's getting close to the end of the week, and I am finding myself with extra time!!! So, I figured I would blog about some of
the adventures from this week- nothing too exciting though. Mondays are pure lecture days, but after lecture Kim and I decided to hit up a fascinating crypt. I had actually learned about this crypt from one of my previous professors and was compelled to visit it. Called the Cappuccin Crypt, it holds the bones of about 4,000 monks who died between 1528 and 1870...the display of the bones is what is really cool. A combination of artsy and weird, the bones are arranged in patterns and chandeliers below the church of Santa Maria della Immacolata Concezione. Despite the signs prohibiting me from taking pictures, I couldn't resist. It's a bit blurry, but you get the idea. When you get to the end of the "display" there is a quote, "We were what you are... you will become what we are now". Ominous, but slightly amusing. After this we wandered around the Pantheon area and got gelatto from "the most famous"
gelatteria- so good. Tuesday was quite fun. We left the Centro at 8 on our bus and headed to Veii, an Etruscan town outside of Rome's walls. If you remember what I wrote about the Etruscans in previous blogs, you will know that they are the peoples who lived in Italy before the Romans. I had studied this site previously and was stoked that I would be able to see their temple finally- the Etruscans did some pretty neat things with their temples that the Greeks didn't. For example, they placed sculptures on top of their temples rather than in the pediments of their temples- interesting, I think. They also had an elaborate draining system and plumbing system visible in the temple. The ancient temple is now located in a park- very secluded, I should mention. The fresh air was so inviting- we really were in the country... I heard several donkeys hee-hawing and everything. After this site we got b
ack onto the bus and went to Sutri, a site not too far away from the first. I failed to mention that the point of this field trip was to acquaint us with cities that the Romans would eventually conquer on their rise to power. Before I go on, let me ellaborate on this point. Veii was the largest and most powerful/rich city of the Etruscans. After it was sacked by the Romans, it virtually became nothing. The Romans acknowledged the temple as sacred ground, but it no longer had any real function. The next site, Sutri was home to a Roman amphitheatre. The amphitheatre was huge and completely cut from living stone- so cool! Elements like the amphithe
atre are all over cities that were incorporated into the Roman "empire". Each city had a set group of buildings that in effect made it Roman- a forum, a main road running N/S and one running E/W. They had temples modeled after Roman temples. The reasoning for this was that a lot of the places that Rome conquered became cities for veterans- so these public spaces gave them a slice of home away from home. It would be comparable to finding an American store in a foreign country I suppose, without all of the implications of conquering to become an empire ;). So this amphitheatre was very impressive and in remarkable condition! Once again we piled back onto the bus and made
our way to Cosa- this trip made me feel rather sick. I'm sure you have heard about crazy Roman traffic and drivers- they all have the best of intentions, but intentions don't always get us very far. Our bus driver is quite competent but drives too fast for my liking. The road was hilly and winding... very winding. I was so ready to get off by the end of it. Once I got off, the real adventure began. It's kind of comical looking back on this but at the time it wasn't. Our professors had been to Cosa before but not in a bus so it was no problem for them to get into this tiny town. The bus, on the other hand, was not permitted to go into the city. We were all let off and walked along the road until the entrance into the city. We then navigated up this hill- intense hiking for about 20 minutes. Seriously by the end of it, we were all so sweaty. Definately worth it though! The deserted museum at the top of the hill held
wonderful remains from excavation of the ancient town's forum. We also got to walk through the actual forum- so cool! This place was particularly interesting because you really gained insight into how stratified the society was. The land, once it was conquered by the Romans, was divided basically into shares. But, some of these shares were actually double plots of land. We have evidence of people actually living on the forum- equivalent of today's prime real estate. The forum was a public place, for gathering, for speeches, for religious rites, for triumphs... things of that nature, but not for people to live in! The houses were huge too. From the forum we headed to the highest point of the hill- the citadel where temples were housed. The view from the top was amazing! We were surrounded by the Meditteranean and country- no wonder they settled here. The remains here were also very impressive, but I won't bore you with any more facts about the temples. It was nearly the end of our day, but for one last stop we went to
the beach. A lot of people had their bathing suits, but several, including myself didn't. We were there for only about a half an hour anyway. It was gorgeous though. The sand felt sooo good and I could actually see through the water. This was incomparable to Galveston- haha...It was a wonderful evening to a wonderful day! The pictures in order are: the Cappuccin Crypt, the foundations of the temple with a reconstruction, me standing in front of the amphitheatre, ancient pipes (meant to be right after the temple image, but it won't work right, but they are from Veii) the view from the citadel at Cosa, the beautiful Meditteranean, and Courtney, Kim, and I enjoying the beach. Ciao for now!-XOXO
the adventures from this week- nothing too exciting though. Mondays are pure lecture days, but after lecture Kim and I decided to hit up a fascinating crypt. I had actually learned about this crypt from one of my previous professors and was compelled to visit it. Called the Cappuccin Crypt, it holds the bones of about 4,000 monks who died between 1528 and 1870...the display of the bones is what is really cool. A combination of artsy and weird, the bones are arranged in patterns and chandeliers below the church of Santa Maria della Immacolata Concezione. Despite the signs prohibiting me from taking pictures, I couldn't resist. It's a bit blurry, but you get the idea. When you get to the end of the "display" there is a quote, "We were what you are... you will become what we are now". Ominous, but slightly amusing. After this we wandered around the Pantheon area and got gelatto from "the most famous"
gelatteria- so good. Tuesday was quite fun. We left the Centro at 8 on our bus and headed to Veii, an Etruscan town outside of Rome's walls. If you remember what I wrote about the Etruscans in previous blogs, you will know that they are the peoples who lived in Italy before the Romans. I had studied this site previously and was stoked that I would be able to see their temple finally- the Etruscans did some pretty neat things with their temples that the Greeks didn't. For example, they placed sculptures on top of their temples rather than in the pediments of their temples- interesting, I think. They also had an elaborate draining system and plumbing system visible in the temple. The ancient temple is now located in a park- very secluded, I should mention. The fresh air was so inviting- we really were in the country... I heard several donkeys hee-hawing and everything. After this site we got b
ack onto the bus and went to Sutri, a site not too far away from the first. I failed to mention that the point of this field trip was to acquaint us with cities that the Romans would eventually conquer on their rise to power. Before I go on, let me ellaborate on this point. Veii was the largest and most powerful/rich city of the Etruscans. After it was sacked by the Romans, it virtually became nothing. The Romans acknowledged the temple as sacred ground, but it no longer had any real function. The next site, Sutri was home to a Roman amphitheatre. The amphitheatre was huge and completely cut from living stone- so cool! Elements like the amphithe
atre are all over cities that were incorporated into the Roman "empire". Each city had a set group of buildings that in effect made it Roman- a forum, a main road running N/S and one running E/W. They had temples modeled after Roman temples. The reasoning for this was that a lot of the places that Rome conquered became cities for veterans- so these public spaces gave them a slice of home away from home. It would be comparable to finding an American store in a foreign country I suppose, without all of the implications of conquering to become an empire ;). So this amphitheatre was very impressive and in remarkable condition! Once again we piled back onto the bus and made
our way to Cosa- this trip made me feel rather sick. I'm sure you have heard about crazy Roman traffic and drivers- they all have the best of intentions, but intentions don't always get us very far. Our bus driver is quite competent but drives too fast for my liking. The road was hilly and winding... very winding. I was so ready to get off by the end of it. Once I got off, the real adventure began. It's kind of comical looking back on this but at the time it wasn't. Our professors had been to Cosa before but not in a bus so it was no problem for them to get into this tiny town. The bus, on the other hand, was not permitted to go into the city. We were all let off and walked along the road until the entrance into the city. We then navigated up this hill- intense hiking for about 20 minutes. Seriously by the end of it, we were all so sweaty. Definately worth it though! The deserted museum at the top of the hill held
wonderful remains from excavation of the ancient town's forum. We also got to walk through the actual forum- so cool! This place was particularly interesting because you really gained insight into how stratified the society was. The land, once it was conquered by the Romans, was divided basically into shares. But, some of these shares were actually double plots of land. We have evidence of people actually living on the forum- equivalent of today's prime real estate. The forum was a public place, for gathering, for speeches, for religious rites, for triumphs... things of that nature, but not for people to live in! The houses were huge too. From the forum we headed to the highest point of the hill- the citadel where temples were housed. The view from the top was amazing! We were surrounded by the Meditteranean and country- no wonder they settled here. The remains here were also very impressive, but I won't bore you with any more facts about the temples. It was nearly the end of our day, but for one last stop we went to
the beach. A lot of people had their bathing suits, but several, including myself didn't. We were there for only about a half an hour anyway. It was gorgeous though. The sand felt sooo good and I could actually see through the water. This was incomparable to Galveston- haha...It was a wonderful evening to a wonderful day! The pictures in order are: the Cappuccin Crypt, the foundations of the temple with a reconstruction, me standing in front of the amphitheatre, ancient pipes (meant to be right after the temple image, but it won't work right, but they are from Veii) the view from the citadel at Cosa, the beautiful Meditteranean, and Courtney, Kim, and I enjoying the beach. Ciao for now!-XOXO
Hey Jules! That Capputian (sp) Monk Crypt was also on Cities of the Underground...or was in in National Geo? Oh well.
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