The Pantheon and more

There are hundreds of beautiful buildings in Italy. Today, after a leisurely start, John, Kathy and I booked tickets to see the Pantheon and, on the way there and back, we meandered through the streets and through inviting open doors.

A little early for our time slot for the Pantheon, we paused for a coffee in a charming, old cafe with marble counters and amazing glass lights. We’ve discovered that coffee is really cheap when you stand at the bar, rather than sitting at a table.

We then had a look at the obelisk and fountain in the square, before passing between the huge granite columns of the Pantheon’s portico, showing our tickets to go inside.

The Pantheon was commissioned by the emperor Hadrian. It was originally a Roman temple before becoming a Catholic Church. It’s, a huge and rather imposing building.

The interior is stunning… round and decorated with marble, paintings and statues. The Pantheon’s dome is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. It has an opening (oculus) in the centre, through which the building is flooded with natural light.

Heading back towards the apartment, we discovered a church with a marvellous ceiling… the Church of Sant’Ignazio. The painting has a wonderful sense of perspective which makes it appear to be curved, and all the figures seem to be looking down on the people below.

The decoration of the chapels and tombs around the church was too ornate for my liking but I, along with the others marvelled over the craftmanship involved.

Next we wandered through the Galleria Sciarra, a covered pedestrian walkway, with wonderful frescos. It was being renovated lower down, but we were still able to see the paintings at the top, showing various scenes in terracotta colours.

By now we were hungry (and needed the loo!). We had lunch in a lively cafe… Italian meats and cheeses and delicious carpaccio, washed down with wine. By now we were seeing more Welsh visitors arriving for the rugby match tomorrow, and flags were appearing in the bars and cafes in the piazzas around the city.

Heather and Gavin had had a relaxed morning, exploring the streets around the apartment and the Spanish steps. In the evening we met up with some friends of Kathy’s from Anglesey who were also in the city for the rugby. Rather a lot of Aperol and beer was drunk before we had our evening meal. And we seem to have consumed a lot of free limoncello and crisps everywhere too!