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San Clemente, upper church
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San Clemente, upper church detail
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San Clemente, middle church (photo from the web, no photos allowed here)
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San Clemente, lower level, mithraeum (photo from the web, no photos allowed here)
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The Lateran Basilica
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Lateran doors, ancient bronze
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Today, I went to San Clemente, which is located near the Colosseum. San Clemente is a famous church, because it has three levels of churches, the lowest is the oldest and is actually a temple to a cult outlawed in Rome. The top layer is 900 years old, and is a famous Christian church of St. Clement with beautiful renaissance frescoes. The middle layer is a partially excavated 1500 year old Christian church which was destroyed when Rome was sacked. The foundations of the top church are right in the middle layer. They just filled in the middle church when they built the top. Lastly, the bottom level, which is 2,000 years old, is a Mithraic temple, with a statue of Mithras sacrificing a bull. There is also an underwater spring down below, and you can stick your hand in a hole and feel the water rushing by. I also went to a church called San Giovani in Laterano, which is where the throne of the pope is. This church is the main church of Italy. St. Peter's church is in the Vatican State, not Italy.
In Rome there is this exclusive art gallery next to a zoo in a giant park. This art gallery is called the Villa Borghesi and you have to have an appointment to get in. There is a famous satue by Bernini of David about to shoot his sling shot, some famous paintings by Caravaggio, and a sculpture of a lady being chased by Apollo turning into a tree. The gallery was very cool to visit, and the sculptures are amazing. One very good sculpture was done by Bernini when he was 11. So far the Villa Borghesi is my favorite Italian art gallery.
Happy Thanksgiving! We had Thanksgiving banquet style. I dined in the conference room with students and had meat from two different turkeys, mashed potatoes and much more. Each student brought a different dish, and my dad made a turkey and pies. Thanksgiving in Italy is pretty much like Thanksgiving in the USA, except no Italians celebrate it.
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Baths of Caracalla, view toward the calidarium
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Baths of Caracalla
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Baths of Caracalla
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Baths of Caracalla, view of the frigidarium
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Baths of Caracalla, dressing room
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Baths of Caracalla, floor mosaic
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To the far right of the Roman Colosseum is a huge complex of giant brick ruins called the Baths of Caracalla. The Baths of Caracalla were the public baths for Roman citizens. In any Roman bath complex there would be three baths. A calidarium, a tepidarium, and a frigidarium. Over these 1,800 year-old baths were large, ornate domes. On the floor were huge elaborate mosaics. On the walls were statues (regretably the marble statues are all gone). The Typical routine for using the baths was to exercise, to use the hot calidarium, then the warm tepidarium and finally the cold frigidarium. All the baths were heated by underground plumbing, so the temperatures were accurate. After you had finished with this ancient daily routine, you could even get a sandwich or some food, because there were shops on the edges of the baths.