Dear Stair Masters,
Back at the Big V to complete our tour of St Peter's Basilica and to climb the Dome due to the inconvenient scheduling of a Cardinal's Mass - like they don't go every day as it is anyway!!!!!
So we catch a lift which takes us to a third of the height of the church and the beginning of the Dome which is twice the height again. From here we have to come out of the lift to this outside area that has restrooms, a souvenier shop (natch) and a small cafe high high up on the flat roof of the Vatican surrounding the Dome. This area is now fenced quite highly as many people were committing suicide off the building which makes for a hazardous St Peter's Square down below!! Once here, we had to enter into the Dome structure itself and climb 320 steps. It was murder. The climb was steep and the passageway narrow but it was a once in a life time thing that we had to do. I can't tell you how grateful we were that we no longer smoked!! Once outside and on top of the Dome or Cuppola we could see forever albeit a tad obscured by the Roman Smog. Although only 3 million citizens, Rome, like Melbourne, has one of the largest urban sprawls. The Cuppola provided us with a very unique view of the Rome skyline.
The Church architect was Michaelangelo even though he was a sculptor and had never designed a building before - a man of many firsts! He died at 89 when the Dome was only just beginning to be built. The current design is not his original design, some Pope some hundred years later wanted the front end extended so it could be the biggest in the world and this is why you can't see the beautiful Dome as well as Michaelanglo intended.
The artwork in the church with the exception of MA's Pieter is copies of stuff onto hard plaster so it can be washed down regularly and that's why people are able to take photos here. The Pieter ( a beautiful statute of Mary and the dying Jesus) completed by MA when he was only 23 and unknown and finished it within a year, is now behind glass in the Basilica because some nutter in 1972 took to it with a hammer and lopped off J's hand and Mary's nose. Like the guy did with the David statue. Apparently they get a lot of that over here. The other day one bloke climbed the columns in St Peter's Square and burnt a bible while yelling at the crowds below. Never dull.
From here we walked a short distance to the Castello San D'angelo, so named because the Archeangel allegedly made an appearance here and ceased the plague in the 14th century that was wiping out the city's population. This fortified castle has a very high wall with a walkway that adjoins the castle to the Vatican and when some nasty Roman Emperor, Charles 1 invaded and overtook the capital in what is know as the Sack of Rome, the incumbent Pope Clement ( an indecisive and weak Pope who was in charge when Henry VIII was also trying to divorce his first wife, Katherine,) ran this wall and holed up in the Castle. Sounds good in theory but then Charles merely starved the old bloke out til he surrendered anyway. The wonderfully evil and corrupt Borgia Pope, Alessandro VI, had fortified this castle in his time a hundred years earlier, no doubt fully aware that with friends like he had, he didn't need to bother about his enemies. It is a fascinating place and was a great surprise to us.
After a Nonna nap we headed out for a terrific dinner at a place called Etabli - very North Fitzroyesque vibe with great food. Then to bed to rest weary legs.
Good cardiovascular health to you all
Kelly & Siobhan xxx
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