The last few days I did not get a lot of good shots. I spent the last weekend of the trip at a hotel in Rome to get a night of air-conditioning (temperatures for the six weeks I have been here have not been below 90 degrees F) and on the way home Sunday I was pickpocketed on the subway. The thief got my passport and credit cards (no cash though), but I had to scramble to get a new passport. That cut into sightseeing a little bit.
After a surprisingly pain-free visit to the US Embassy, I got a replacement passport with enough time to catch the group at Santa Maria Maggiore, the biggest of the churches dedicated to Mary in Rome. The church was built in the 400's AD and follows a classic basilica floor plan.
This column outside the church was taken from the Basilica of Maxentius in the Forum.
The interior of Santa Maria Maggiore.
Underneath the church are remnants of a Claudian-era home. Here is a piece of mosaic floor.
Wall fresco
Marble wainscoting.
More mosaic floor.
An enormous fresco that originally depicted the Roman calendar, with agricultural scenes that corresponded to what would take place in the countryside.
A wall fresco
Another decorative wall fresco
The private bath
Notice the under floor space. This was used to heat the room.
Santa Praesedde, another 400s era church
St. Stefano Rotundo, a church built in the 400s.
On our last day we traveled to St. Paul's. This too was built in the 400s. While this part is new, the church follows the original floor plan.
These are the original column capitals. They were taken from a building built during the Several dynasty (early 200s).
We then went to a museum and saw some incredible mosaics that were found in Ostia. The floor...
A wall...
An incredible marble mosaic, depicting lions pulling down prey. The veins in the marble pieces make the mosaic particularly eye catching.
That's it...A few more meetings and then I head for home. It's been an awesome experience. Thanks for reading along!
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