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TOTC - Roma (I)

All roads lead to Roma.


Santa Maria Maggiore
Originally uploaded by yisu9
My hostel, The Yellow, was a decent one. As one of the reviewers puts it: "This is your typical big hostel." Not my favorite type, but well organized and clean. Most importantly, it was conveniently located near the train station. I started my day walking towards downtown. The first major church on the way was the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.



Santa Maria Statue
Originally uploaded by yisu9
It was one of the papal churches, which means that it must be well maintained because the Pope is one of the richest guys in town.



Inside Santa Maria Maggiore
Originally uploaded by yisu9
I didn't spend too much time inside because I knew it was going to be a busy day.



Roma Street
Originally uploaded by yisu9
The streets of Roma had their unique charm: Cozy, sometimes chaotic.



Traffic Light
Originally uploaded by yisu9
Look at this traffic light, isn't it cute?



Inside San Pietro in Vincoli
Originally uploaded by yisu9
Walking further southwest, I arrived at the second church of the day, Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli. It was located in a small hill and with a modest entrance, it even took me for a while to find it.



Statues
Originally uploaded by yisu9
The church housed the chains that held St. Peter in prison. But the main attraction in this church was this set of statue.



Michelangelo: Moses 1
Originally uploaded by yisu9
Once again, it was the great Michelangelo who made this amazing sculpture of Moses.



Michelangelo: Moses 2
Originally uploaded by yisu9
Let's get a front view of it.


Getting out of the church, I was a little lost, until I located the grand Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II.



Monumento Nazionale in Sunset
Originally uploaded by yisu9
It was a huge, three-story building honoring the first king who united Italy.



Flags in Monumento Nazionale
Originally uploaded by yisu9
The center of it was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which explained the presence of flags, I think.



Italian National Flag
Originally uploaded by yisu9
A closer look at the Italian National Flag.



View from Monumento
Originally uploaded by yisu9
The monument provided a nice view over part of the city.



Corner of a Forum 1
Originally uploaded by yisu9
Then I walked southwest towards the Colosseo. Between them were a lot of remains of the ancient city of Roma.



Corner of a Forum 2
Originally uploaded by yisu9
They used to be a series of imperial forums at the center of the city.



An Imperial Forum
Originally uploaded by yisu9
I couldn't remember all of their names although there were simple descriptions on display, mostly in Italian.



Trajan's Forum
Originally uploaded by yisu9
Through the magic of Google, I was able to identify this one as the Trajan's Forum.



Temple of Mars Ultor
Originally uploaded by yisu9
And this one, Temple of Mars Ultor.



Forum of Augustus
Originally uploaded by yisu9
The Temple of Mars Ultor was part of the Forum of Augustus.



Trajan's Forum in Sunset
Originally uploaded by yisu9
In sunset, they looked amazing.



Augustus of Prima Porta
Originally uploaded by yisu9
There were two statues nearby: One for Julius Caesar and this one for Augustus, the first Roman Emperor.



Detail
Originally uploaded by yisu9
Some architectural details.



Expansion of Roman Empire
Originally uploaded by yisu9
I found this by accident. If you look closely, there were four maps of Europe on the wall. On each map, a white area indicated the growing territory of Roman Empire. I thought it was a great idea.



Pantheon
Originally uploaded by yisu9
I walked further into the center of the city and my first stop was the mighty Pantheon.



Pantheon with the Fountain
Originally uploaded by yisu9
I took some time to look at this ancient wonder from the outside.



Corinthian Order
Originally uploaded by yisu9
Walked further in, you could see the famous Corinthian order.



Detail
Originally uploaded by yisu9
You might have seen it in many places. But do you know that it was the Pantheon that provided the perfect model for later architects?



The Oculus
Originally uploaded by yisu9
The first thing you might notice on a sunny day inside the Pantheon was the bright light came down right through the oculus, the hole in the center of the dome.



Inside the Pantheon
Originally uploaded by yisu9
The Pantheon used to be a Roman church worshiping all Roman gods. Later, it was used as a Christian church. That was why it didn't have the usual design of a Christian church, whose plan would resemble the cross.



The Altar
Originally uploaded by yisu9
The main altar was richly decorated.



Columns
Originally uploaded by yisu9
Only the most important persons would have the honor of being buried here. Among them were King Victor Emmanuel II and Raphael.



Me at the Entrance of the Pantheon
Originally uploaded by yisu9
And I could not leave without my picture taken here.



Santa Maria in a Corner
Originally uploaded by yisu9
I wondered around and saw so many churches around that I could barely remember their names, even after googling around. I found this picture of Santa Maria on a corner of a building.



Coat of Arms of Pope Benedict XVI
Originally uploaded by yisu9
After the visit to Vatican City, I did remember the coat of arms of the current Pope. You would find it on papal churches.



Piazza Navona
Originally uploaded by yisu9
The Piazza Navona was just several blocks west of the Pantheon. Two fountains marked this oval-shaped piazza. The one on the near end was Fontana del Nettuno.



Palazzo Braschi
Originally uploaded by yisu79
On one side was the Palazzo Braschi.



Fontana del Nettuno
Originally uploaded by yisu79
The Fontana del Nettuno had very interesting sculptures.



Entrance of Colosseo
Originally uploaded by yisu79
I had lunch in the center of the city, where food was abundant. Then I walked back through Piazza Venezia to my next stop, the Colosseo.



Colosseum From Above
Originally uploaded by yisu79
The Colosseum was even bigger than I thought. It was a perfect stadium with easy access from all directions.



Inside Colosseum Panorama
Originally uploaded by yisu79
I took my time walking inside slowly, imagining the gladiators and beasts. Click here for a big version of this panorama.



Me in Colosseo
Originally uploaded by yisu79
I gladly had my picture taken, thanks to a kind fellow tourist.



Arco di Costantino
Originally uploaded by yisu79
The Arco di Costantino was just around the corner. You could see it even from inside the Colosseum.



Colosseo Outside
Originally uploaded by yisu79
After I exited the Colosseo, I walked around to see it from different angles. By the way, there was a pretty nice exhibition about the Greek god Eros, where the word "erotic" was derived. As I mentioned before, it was a nice scholarly discussion about human sexuality, featuring items from all over Italy.



Colosseo Facade
Originally uploaded by yisu79
A closer look at the facade.



Colosseo in Sunset
Originally uploaded by yisu79
Finally, my favorite picture of the Colosseum in sunset.



Fontana di Trevi
Originally uploaded by yisu79
After the Colosseo, I still have some time and energy to spare. So I walked all the way up again to the "most romantic" place in Roma, the Fontana di Trevi. It was PACKED. There were so many people hanging around, talking loudly and taking pictures. I could not relate it in any way to the word "romantic". So I quickly did the usual, tossing in a coin for good luck, and left.



An Old Dog
Originally uploaded by yisu79
Somewhere on my way, I saw this old dog resting at the door, motionless. He did not mind me taking a picture of him at all. It was a hot day.



Piazza Repubblica at Night
Originally uploaded by yisu79
By the time I walked back to my hostel, it was already dark. I couldn't believe how much I had walked in one day.

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