FIRST ITINERARY THE CAPITOLINE HILL, THE ROMAN FORUM, THE PALATINE HILL, THE COLOSSEUM AND THE BASILICA OF ST. JOHN IN LATERAN |
San Giovanni in Laterano |
Following the side of the Palazzo del Laterano, we arrive at the principal
entrance to the church. First, however, let us take a look at the beautiful
Baptistry, erected by Constantine most probably in an pond of the ancient
Palazzo dei Laterani, then rebuilt by Sixtus III and restored by Urban the VIII,
to be the prototype of baptistries to follow. Divided into two octagonal rings
of eight porphyry columns which support the main beams, on which another set of
eight smaller columns sit, its interior has a solemn pomp to it, but at the same
time is supremely elegant. In the middle an Egyptian green basalt urn and
circular basin are placed and here, on the night of Easter, the special
ceremonies are performed in the presence of the Pope and the people. Cola di
Rienzo also immersed himself in the basin before facing the public with the code
of arms of the knights, calling on the Pope and the principal electors of the
empire to appear before him. The pavement is composed of leftovers from the
domus of the Laterans. In one of the chapels full of mosaics, two bronze doors,
probably taken from the Baths of Caracalla, when turned slowly on their hinges
emit a sound similar to that of an organ. Now let's enter by the main door the
basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. But in order not to lose the marvellous
vision of Galilei's main facade let us first cross to the other side of the
piazza to the beautiful monument of St. Francis in the act of his chant of love
to the Creator. The facade rises grandiosely in the highest point of the vast
square, crowned by gigantic statues and adorned by green lawns which bring to
mind the fascinating Roman countryside. Above all in the morning hours, this
cathedral of Rome and the world is filled with blinding light and against a
cobalt blue sky appears to be surrounded with a glorious golden aura. We find
this same blinding light in the joyful atrium where a statue of Constantine
stands and where we see the bronze doors of the Roman Curia next to the stone
door with a frieze of the Cross, which is opened every 25 years in occasion of
jubilee years. The interior of the church is also filled with a light whiteness
which alternates with a warm golden light. It is dominated by Baroque elements
of a type which do not convey much solemnity to the temple, in particular in the
central nave which encourages the soul to exalt in joy rather than calmly pray.
More inspiring is the grandiose apse with its scintillating gold and coloured
marble similar to that of a Romanesque basilica. Different in style, the apse
was to be the primitive church and was frescoed by Giotto. Witness to the
principal moments of the Church's history, it was built on the ruins of the
sumptuous houses of the Laterans and glorified for its magnificence, but then
devastated by the Vandals, destroyed by fire and reconstructed many times.
Finally, Innocent X ordered its reconstruction by Francesco Borromini in the mid
1600s, and Leone XIII in 1885 had the old apse torn down and reconstructed,
recreating the ancient mosaics. In addition to the magnificent ceiling, rich
pavement and colossal statues of the apostles in the main nave, the present
church has superb elements, including the sepulchre of Clemente XIII, in a
colossal urn of porphyry. The most representative monument of the basilica is
the beautiful tabernacle from the 15th century above the papal altar, in which
according to legend contains the heads of the apostles of Peter and Paul in bags
of silver. The altar is said to hold the table on which St Peter held
ceremonies. In the confessional in front of the papal altar is a bronze
tombstone holding the remains of Martin V, who is honoured in posterity temporun
suorum felicitas for having ended the great schism from the West. In the chapel
of the Holy Sacrament on the left of the papal altar are four guilt bronze
columns which according to tradition were made with the rostras of Cleopatra's
ships and were offered to Augustus at the Temple of Jupiter, or according to
another version, were transported to Rome from Jerusalem after St Helen filled
them with earth from the Calvary. In the transept a series of beautiful frescoes
depict the episodes in the life of Constantine. Next to the church is an
admirable cloister from the 1200s, a splendid example of Roman Cosmatesque art
which enriched many basilicas and sanctuaries in Italy with its fascinating
multicoloured pavements and twisted colonnades inlayed with gold and enamel. The
current Palazzo del Laterano is where on 11 February 1929 the conciliation
between Italy and the Church took place. It was built by Sixtus V and
substituted the old Palazzo del Laterano, built on the location of the ancient
Patriarchio, residence of the Popes until the transfer of the Apostolic seat to
Avignon. It is the location of the Lateran Museums and includes the Museo
Profano, the Museo Cristiano and the Museo Missionario Etnografico. The Museo
Profano is also called the Museo Gregoriano Lateranense after its founder
Gregorio XVI, and is of great historical and artistic interest for it holds
material from the Vatican Museums and objects from excavations at Veio, Cere and
Ostia, as well as a collection of pagan epigraphs and a great piece of mosaic
pavement from the Baths of Caracalla with 26 busts of nude athletes and eight
dressed gymnasts. The Museo Cristiano has a collection of ancient Christian
sculptures and inscriptions that are unique in the world. The Museo Missionario
Etnografico was founded by Pius XI with the documents and relics exhibited in
Rome at the Missionary Exposition in 1925, and includes historical documents of
Missions and relics from the people where these missions took place. The visit
to these three museums takes at least half a day, and it is best to dedicate an
entire afternoon. Across from the Palazzo del Laterano, a small building holds
one of the most precious relics of Christianity: the stairway of the house of
Pilate, which Jesus climbed the day of the passion and which according to
tradition was transported to Rome by St. Helen. Above it, on the other side of a
grate is a small chapel which was the papal chapel of the ancient Patriarchio,
with the image of the Redeemer said to have been painted by the Angeles. This
image the popes carried solemnly in procession to ward off great calamity from
the human race. Next to the Scala Santa is a grandiose niche with a splendid
mosaic: it is the only remains from the Leonian Triclinium, the old dining room
of the Patriarchio. A little further attached to the ruins of the Neronian
Acqueduct is the Villa Wolkonsky, once the seat of the German Embassy where in a
melancholic avenue of memories Princess Zenaide Wolkonsky, romantic friend of
Alexander I of Russia gathered busts and memoirs of her dead friends and
acquaintances, from the Czar of the Russias to the housekeepers of her family.
The vast Piazzale of San Giovanni in Laterano ends with the Porta San Giovanni,
from which 9 streets radiate leading to nine very active areas and toward the
beautiful Colli Albani with the sublime ruins of Tuscolo, and the pensive
solitude of Grottaferrata towards the Airport, as well as to the modern studios
of Cinecittà and the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematrografia and to the
happy Capannelle racetrack. We will content ourselves in passing under the
Porta San Giovanni to appreciate the solemn spectacle of the Aurelian Walls
interrupted by the austere towers of the ancient Porta Asinaria and dominated by
the crown of statues atop San Giovanni in Laterano, between two curtains of
pines and century old flint stones. And if on a June evening after an excursion
to the Castelli Romani (worn from the war, but equally beautiful and seductive)
we return through the Porta San Giovanni, our mind still fogged by generous
Frascati wine, let us not fault the wine for what we may see on the immense
piazzale. It is only the night of San Giovanni, still called the night of the
witches: a pagan rite which brings Romans of every rank together in a great
feast of snails and Castelli wine. Let's join in on the festivities and live an
hour of gay thoughtlessness. Take a blow on one of the traditional trumpets
whose deafening sound is the soul of this popular Roman folk festival. And let
us not be scandalized if all goes on until dawn, when the city once again will
take up its regular life in the other quarters, and the sky above Rome will fill
with the most beautiful colours of aurora. |