MAY 22, 2014 ,
Thursday:
St Peter’s Basilica, Piazza Navona churches
is the video covering Rome
day 3 a: St Peter’s
I've written a separate post for the 2nd part of the day covering the Navona churches and square.
I've written a separate post for the 2nd part of the day covering the Navona churches and square.
St Peter’s Basilica
We schedule our priorities for the initial part of our trip…
in Rome
So Peter’s would have been on for our first full day’s
morning on Wednesday but on Wednesdays there is papal audience in summer and
the basilica is open only later for visitors.
So we scheduled our visit for Thursday. We took bus 571 from
near our apt by 7.30 am and were
reading the bus stop signs as we neared our destination. We wanted to get down
at Cavalleggeri-San Pietro… a fellow passenger who was traveling with a little
boy and an infant daughter told us vaticano and signaled we should get down…
and we got down…(there were several such nice encounters with locals who
volunteered help and info enriching our visit ). Following signboards with
arrows, we arrived at the square…
The chairs for the previous day papal audience were still
there, some stacked up, the whole area roped off. Probably it stays like that
through the summer months and it was not like the pictures of a vast vacant
square I had seen.
Aside from that, the square looks awesome…we took pics of
the revered obelisk Witness which had as its name suggests witnessed the
crucification of the saint.
At 25.5 metres (84 ft) and a total height,
including base and the cross on top, of 40 metres (130 ft), is the second
largest standing obelisk, and the only one to remain standing since its removal
from Egypt and re-erection at the Circus of Nero in 37 AD, where
it is thought to have stood witness to the crucifixion of St Peter.
It was around 8 am, there already were quite a few people
around…we moved in to the basilica, walking through the massive collanades of
Bernini and the fountains designed by Maderno (Borromini’s uncle); passed
through security.
The interior is so huge and magnificent… some of the altars were roped off… like the one with Pieta. Rest was accessible. We walked close to the magnificent statues, admiring them and taking pics.
Asked a guard when they’ll take off the rope from the Pieta altar and he said when the morning mass is over… we took pics from behind the rope.
St Peter’s statue with its shiny feet due to the reverential rub it gets from devotees beckoned and we gladly went through the ritual, getting his blessings.
We admired Bernini’s baldachin, the Cathedra which is believed to be the chair used by St Peter himself,
St. Peter's Cathedra supported by four Doctors of the Church
Cathedra Petri or "throne of St. Peter" a chair claimed to have been used by the apostle, but appears to date from the 12th century. As the chair itself was fast deteriorating and was no longer serviceable, Pope Alexander VII determined to enshrine it in suitable splendor as the object upon which the line of successors to Peter was based. Bernini created a large bronze throne in which it was housed, raised high on four looping supports held effortlessly by massive bronze statues of four Doctors of the Church, Saints Ambrose and Augustine representing the Latin Church and Athanasius and John Chrysostom, the Greek Church. The four figures are dynamic with sweeping robes and expressions of adoration and ecstasy
The 4 statues of the saints in the niches around the baldachin are truly great and deserve being so well known…
There was a mass going on at one of the altars…
All the other altars have wonderful embellishments too.
List of Popes--from St Peter to John Paul II-- is in this altar
List of Popes--from St Peter to John Paul II:
These are the huge bronze Basilica doors... great etchings
Followed signs and bought the tickets… went up the elevator and got into the gallery inside the dome.
We could look down and see the chapels where we had been … nice bird’s eye view…
there are high net grills all around…may be they could have been done away with…we don’t remember such grills at St Paul’s in London. The look up the dome is great --Michelangelo had designed this dome, which measures 135m (450 ft.) above the ground at its top and stretches 42m (139 ft.) in diameter. In deference to the Pantheon, Michelangelo made his dome 1.5m (5 ft.) shorter across!
Then of course, we climbed the stairs—narrow and sloping but quite manageable. There are slits in between from where we could peep out… there were steady gusts of fresh air.
Just a few people climbing with us
The climb was rewarded by the lovely view of the square as we reached the top… the city stretched out in front of the famed square and in the morning sun, everything looked so pure and majestic.
We admired Bernini’s design skills… taking an awkwardly shaped building, he had made the lines go slanting and then wing into circles before going forward… creating such harmony and symmetry…truly an awesome piazza!
To the left as we moved on the terrace, we could see the
We had a close look at the huge statues on the terrace we
had gaped at from below… Jesus, with 11 apostles (excepting St Peter) and St
John the Baptist.
The terrace is awesome too!
The terrace is awesome too!
There was a nice gift shop and we bought a souvenir… later we found the same one for lesser price but that does not matter… no pics were allowed in the souvenir shop. It was now almost 10 and we again assembled for the elevator and came down
There was a huge crowd in the basilica by now… we were thankful
we had had our quiet moments earlier… there was a queue to touch St Peter’s
feet… the ropes were still not off at the Pieta altar. We looked around once
more at the several altars and beat a retreat.
Had more pics in the square right under Peter holding his key and scroll …
Had more pics in the square right under Peter holding his key and scroll …
Most people combine Peter’s basilica with their Vatican
visit. We had booked the 7pm slot on Friday evening for Vatican but wanted to
visit and climb Peter’s in the morning… do not regret our decision one bit
…
Regarding dress code, we saw several with shorts
above knees, both men and women… saw a guard stopping a lady with a tanktop and
she was wrapping a scarf round her shoulders…
We were not able to retrace our way back to the bus stop we
had disembarked but managed to reach a stop where 571 stopped—main road with
traffic speeding on both sides.
covers our Rome Trip Report Day 3b: Piazza Navona, Chiesa
nuova, Agnes in Agone, Palazzo Altemps, Basilica di Sant Agostino
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