What a time to be in Rome

On the Thursday before Easter,  I was in Rome. Our group was organized by the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin. Our group consisted of dairy farmer couples from the states of Colorado, Texas, Indiana, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

On Thursday we spent over two hours in the morning wandering through the Roman Colosseum ruins. The structure was built before Christ was born and was used for entertainment of the Roman politicians and emperors. The lowest level in the center in the colosseum housed various animals from giraffes to lions to dogs to elephants to horses. There also were prisoners housed in that area who became gladiators. There was even an elevator in the area to lift the animals up to the floor of the arena. Some animals were coerced to fight against each other, such as a lion against elephants. Gladiators fought to death against other gladiators.

The colosseum structure itself is a marvel. It stands over four stories tall — each story about 20 feet high — with seats on the lower area for the emperor and the politicians. The stalls in the lower level were covered with a wood floor. There were 76 arches for entrance into the colosseum with each having a number carved into the stones above it that are still visible today — Roman numerals of course. The best seats were close to the arena and reserved for the emperor and the politicians. The worst seats were for the poorest people — up very high with poor visibility. The structure held 60,000 to 80,000 people.

At one time all the stone surfaces were covered with marble, but during the medieval times that marble was stolen to build other projects. Water flowed into the structure up to the third story. The Romans had built an aqueduct system that brought water from the mountains of northern Italy to Rome. Part of the aqueduct system exists today.

About 15 members of our group left the Colosseum to tour Vatican City and Saint Peter’s Basilica. We were able to get some pizza and gelato at small shops on the way. Almost all major historical sites and churches in Italy require a ticket which must be purchased in advance if you want to see inside of a church or a tourist attraction. Ticket rates vary from $25-$800, so if you travel, be sure to check those tickets out in advance. We met our tour guide in an alley about four blocks from the Vatican. He led us past thousands of visitors who were in line waiting for tickets. Once inside we were given headsets so we could hear our guide describe our walk through the museums.

The Vatican is a city state within the city of Rome. It was formed in the late 1920s. Before that time, many city states were under control of the Vatican throughout Italy. Vatican City is the smallest country in the world consisting of approximately 121 acres yet it probably has the largest and most expensive collection of art statues and tapestries in the world. It is guarded by Swiss guards whose uniforms were designed by Michelangelo, an artist from the 1500s. An average of 4 million people visit the Vatican each year. Every 25 years the Vatican celebrates a Jubilee, which is happening this year. Many more visitors come in the Jubilee year.

Many of the statues in the museum were created in early Rome, well before the birth of Christ. I’m not very interested in statues, but the fact that an artist with a hammer and a chisel can create a symbol of a human is beyond my imagination. Some tapestries on the walls were about 20 feet high and 75 feet long and depicted historical scenes. Many were sewn by teenage children and took 7-9 years to complete. Who has that kind of patience today? Even the floors had mosaic artistry in them then.

Then there was the Sistine Chapel with paintings on all the walls and the ceiling. It took Michelangelo eight years to paint the ceiling; all the time laying on his back working 15 hours a day. There are many stories created in the paintings from the origin of man to judgement day. It’s amazing how brilliant the colors are still today, hundreds of years after the paintings were created. Photos are not permitted in the chapel because the flashes cause damage to the frescoes. The Sistine Chapel has positive air ventilation and the humidity is strictly controlled.

Saint Peter’s Basilica is one of the largest churches in the world. It was started in 1506 and has a capacity of 20,000 seated or 60,000 standing. The dome is 448 feet tall and is supported by four huge columns. It was designed by Michelangelo when he was in his seventies. Visitors are able to climb to the top of the dome and observe the entire city of Rome while standing on the very top of the dome.

Saint Peter’s Basilica is believed to house the tomb of Saint Peter under the main altar. He was martyred by the emperor Nero because a fire had destroyed a large part of Rome. Nero had started the fire, but blamed it on Christians and many were consequently martyred. Many of the scenes and paintings in the Basilica seem to have gold or bronze within them. There are stories belonging to each one. Many Popes lived during the construction of the Basilica; each one had ideas and often the engineers changed and then the designs changed with them.

As I finish this writing, Pope Francis died at 1:30 a.m. our time. It is iconic that we walked precisely under the balcony where he gave his Easter Blessing. We took pictures looking from the Basilica where 120,000 people attended the Easter Service. History has a way of making history.