January 11, 2026

January 11, 2026

We woke to a bright sunny day in Rome. We began our walk towards the Coloseum. We made a quick stop in the nearby St Maria Maggiore basilica again to see the side chapels we missed because of the Epiphany holiday. There are several papal tombs besides Francis. Sixtus V is the one who completed St Peters, restored the aqueducts and transformed Rome from a medieval dump to the Baroque splendor it is today. The sculptor-architect Bernini is also entombed here.

We continued south taking a shortcut across the Oppian Hill Park. Aimee loves these Umbrella Pines that decorate and define Rome. We see some dilapidated ruins in the park. A storyboard tells us they were the Baths of Trajan. We learn later that has significance for our scheduled tour this morning.

We signed up for a 9:45 archeological tour. We are early so we check out the Ludus Magnus. I am disappointed to find it is behind construction walls and is not accessible nor easily visible. This was the Roman gladiator school and is connected by a tunnel to the Colosseum.

At 9:45 we enter the Domus Aurea (Golden House) complex built into the Oppian Hill we just crossed. After the devastating fire of 64 AD Nero confiscated all the land in this area to build the ultimate Emperors residence. Since Nero was despised most of this grand residence was destroyed after his death. The Colosseum was built on his artificial lake, and the Baths of Trajan were built atop the pavilion wing. Archeologists have worked to excavate the buried pavilion. It has recently opened on weekends when the archeologists are off.

We first watch a movie explaining the story and then get a guided tour. In the Renaissance people digging holes in the Oppian Hill accidentally discovered parts of the Domus Aurea. Famously artists like Michelangelo and Raphael would climb down these holes and see Roman art in the 'grottoes' by candlelight. They were inspired by what they saw and copied it. This new Renaissance style was called Grotesque. Later the term would get a new definition because of the mythical monsters in the decoration.

Recent excavations removing the dirt infill have revealed very tall arched hallways. Much of the artwork has been damaged by the holes dug and by the infiltration of water from the Oppian Hill park above. We were given Virtual Reality headsets that did a great job illustrating how these arched halls used to be an open pavilion overlooking the Forum below.

The deeper we go under the hill above, the better the frescoes become. We even find one room that still has a mosaic tile floor. While the decorations are not as extensive or the same condition as Pompeii, I think it is so very cool. Since we are doing this tour by flashlight, this is what the people who first discovered Pompeii must have felt.

The tour finished in the Octagonal Room. While almost no decoration remains, it represents a revolutionary architectural leap-forward. It is a concrete dome with an Oculus that was the inspiration for the much larger Pantheon built some fifty years later.

After the tour we walked to nearby San Clemente Basilica. Unfortunately Rome has late masses on Sunday. Below this medieval church is an underground history that is closed for construction. We will have to see it on our next Rome visit.

We continue up Mussolini’s grand Via de Foro. It is Sunday and it is pedestrian only today so we walk right up the center with the rest of Rome. It is easier to get photos now of the Emperor statues and the Mussolini maps that line both sides.

At the opposite end we visit Basilica Sant’Andrea della Valle. It has a lavish dome second in size only to St Peters.

We finish our walk at the huge Piazza Navona. This elongated public space has this shape because it used to be the racetrack of Domitian. It now has three fountains with a church on one side and lots of restaurants. It is filled with tourists.

Mass is going on in the Piazza church so we walk around the corner to the Church of St Louis of the French. It is richly decorated but I am most interested in one side chapel devoted to St Mark. It has Caravaggio’s Calling of St Mark on the left panel.

We need to use the facilities so we next visit the Palazzo Altemps National Museum. Since we are here we give it a quick walk-through. It seems to have all the sculpture that the main Massimo museum rejected. Most artifacts are missing a piece or in one case everything but the feet. One panel showing Roman gods reminds me that I just learned why the Greek god Zeus has the Roman name of Jupiter. The full name used to be Zeus Pater, (Father God) which if you say it quickly transforms into Jupiter.

It is time for our lunch so we find a nearby restaurant where we have a soup and Greek salad lunch. It is quite tasty.

We walk across the piazza to revisit Sant’Agnese in Agone. It is dedicated to St Agnes who was martyred in Domitian’s Stadium here. Like all Roman churches it is richly decorated. There seems to have been no lack of money to spend on churches in the city. It also has a minor Caravaggio in the entrance.

We spend the next hour moseying back across Rome towards our hotel. Off the broad Via Nationale I notice a plain church (San Vitale) off to the side down a steep stairs. It has to be old since it is at the street level from Roman times. Aimee groans when I make a quick trip to peek inside.

After a brief stop in the hotel room, we head over to the Baths of Diocletian again. Behind the church that was built into it is an archeological museum. I thought it was going to be a quick visit. It turned out to be a sprawling complex full of mostly mortuary relics. I am too spent to figure out why. I am guessing this largest of Roman baths must have been built atop a necropolis. Rome had no single religion but accumulated many from around the Mediterranean including Egypt and Palestine. One that caught our attention was the Cult of Mithras that arrived from Iran. It has this very weird standardized representation of a guy cutting the throat of a bull, with a dog licking the dripping blood while trying to avoid a snake and a scorpion chopping off the bull's balls.

We make one last stop on the other side of the Bath complex to visit Aula Ottogona set inside a domed part of the bath. Over the years it has had many uses including a Planetarium. Today it houses the Museum of Recovered Artifacts. Apparently the Italian Police are now combing Internet Auctions looking for looted artifacts. Since it would look bad if they just put them in a warehouse, they are being exhibited here. It is actually a small and varied eclectic collection.

Outside we see the swarms of starlings swirling in the sky again. It is very cool how they move like waves in the ocean.