Since we have been to Rome before I was determined to make this visit new and different for us. One of our favorite things about Europe is the ornate cathedrals and today I planned on going to churches we had not seen on our last trip.
Our first stop was
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere.
Santa Cecilia was martyred sometime around 175-250 AD. This church was built over the ruins of her house. Her body was exhumed twice and both times was said to be incorrupt. The second exhumation in 1599 was carried out in front of several witnesses, one of which was a sculptor. He made this statue of her body as he saw it:
The church had one of the most beautiful crypt's I've ever seen
Our next stop was across the Tiber River at
San Nicola in Carcere. This church is unique because it contains 2nd century BC ruins inside the exposed walls
We walked up a really cool ancient street that ascends the Aventine Hill called
Clivo di Rocca Savella
The road led to the church of
Santa Sabina which I liked for the ceiling
Just down the street from Santa Sabina I had a tip to look through a keyhole in a big green door for a special surprise: a view of St. Peter's Basilica perfectly framed by this keyhole. It is magnificent. I could not get a good picture through the keyhole click
here to see the view for yourself!
Next we took a taxi across town to Piazza Barberini to see Bernini's Triton Fountain
Up the hill we came to the intersection of the Quattro Fontane (Four Fountains). Each of the four corners of the intersection contains a fountain installed between 1588-1593.
The church of
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, designed by Borromini in 1634, stands at the intersection as well
It was a very small church but the dome was really impressive
Just down the street is another small church, the Baroque church of
Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, designed by Bernini in the 17th century.
and the ornate cupola
We stopped to eat lunch at this great restaurant, Trattoria Valentino, although you'd never know the name from looking at the ancient sign outside
It seemed to be filled with locals, which is exactly what we wanted. This restaurant had very few items on the menu, but all were spectacular. They offered scamorza cheese about 15 different ways and we tried four of them. One of our favorites was scamorza with walnuts and apples.
After our lunch stop we walked to
Basilica di Santa Maria di Maggiore, the largest Roman Catholic Marian church in Rome (and one of the most famous churches in Rome)
I really loved this pink building behind the church
Just down the street from Santa Maria di Maggiore, I stumbled upon what is now my favorite church in Rome! It is overlooked by it's more famous neighbor, but more people need to see this church:
Santa Prassede (It was incredibly difficult to get good photos in this church because it was very dark, please click the link for better photos)
The most magnificent thing about this church are the mosaics, all from the 9th century!
Our next stop was the
Basilica di San Clemente. This church does not allow any photos inside so please click the link to see pictures. This church should be on your must visit list because it has some of the best preserved excavations that I've seen in Rome. The main basilica is 12th century, and for a fee you can go down to visit two layers of excavations: the middle layer is 4th century and the bottom layer is 1st and 3rd century! Truly a must see in Rome!
We made a quick stop in the
Monastero dei Santi Quattro Coronati where a vespers service was going on (no photos) and then walked to the Colosseum so we could get a night time picture (just like on our honeymoon!)
I like to go to the Colosseum at night because seeing it in lights is beautiful and you miss most of the tourists that are there during the day.
Finally, it was dinner time. We got an excellent recommendation from Marco, the owner of our B&B. He sent us to Pizzeria Ai Marmi (which translates to Marble Pizza, because all the tables are marble). It seemed to be more of a locals place in Trastevere and there was a bit of a wait, but it was worth it. Marco said he had been going here since he was a child! If you go, make sure you get the Zucchini blossoms and also the Carciofi alla Romana (fried artichoke).
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