Italia Sabato 29/3/25 (Pictures)
Today I visit the Pantheon. I was disappointed to learn that the Christians had desecrated this temple to the gods by basically turning it into a church, but that was found a lot in Rome. And it is said, that turning them into churches and such saved the buildings from demolition. Anyway, this was also the day I went to the Roman museum to see the artwork of Yoshitaka Amano. I seriously love that man’s art. As I type this, my keyboard is on a desk mat featuring his art.
This was on the walk to the Pantheon. GPT says it was the Temple of Hadrian, and dates back to 145 CE.
Another building from the walk. GPT tags it as the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. He was the founder of the Jesuit order.
Is that a Pantheon I spy? Yes indeed it is. This was a frustrating tour, because the meeting spot was used by multiple tour agencies, so I kept asking tour guides if I was with their group.
The front of the building, before all of the Christian iconography that fills the inside. GPT would like to say that this was built in 27 BCE by Marcus Agrippa, and was then rebuilt in 118-125 CE after the original burnt down. The inscription states that Marcus Agrippa built this when consul for the third time.
Look! Another Obelisk! And again, Christians defiled the ancient Egyptian monument.
Closer to the Pantheon. Nothing new to say here.
Still outside the Pantheon looking in. You can kinda see the massive doors on this building. They had to have weighed multiple tons.
Inside now, and you can see that all the statues of the various gods have been replaced. The building is beautiful, and I really wish I could have seen it how it was originally.
This is a little to the left of the previous picture. Just more interior shots.
This is the dome of the Pantheon. It is as wide as it is tall, and it is the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. With a giant hole that let rain in.
This is the front of the Pantheon, and you can see pretty clearly the touch of Christians in here.
I think I recall the guide saying this was Victor Emanuel II’s burial place. Let’s ask GPT! GPT agrees with me! Huzzah!
This one had a connection to pizza. I had to check with GPT to verify. This is where King Umberto was buried beside his wife Margherita. You might be familiar with Margherita pizza. Well that pizza was named after Queen Margherita. I’m not sure why this particular tomb has guards.
Look! It’s a Ninja Turtle! Well… at least the artist the turtle was named after, this is Raphael.
And this is where Raphael is buried. GPT says that the Latin says, “Here lies Raphael, by whom Nature feared to be outdone while he lived, and when he died, feared she too would die."
About to head to the exit. This was a really short tour. The building is kinda small.
Ever get the feeling that a building is about to drop on your head? The broken columns up above gave me that feeling.
More Latin! GPT do your thang!
"The Pantheon
the most celebrated building in the whole world,
built by Agrippa, the son-in-law of Augustus,
having been damaged by age,
was restored by Pope Gregory III,
and consecrated to the worship of the saints
by Pope Boniface IV.
Urban VIII, Supreme Pontiff,
adorned it with bronze campaniles (bell towers),
and strengthened it with a new roof structure,
in the year of the Lord 1625, the 9th year of his pontificate."
A church top that I found interesting. The top looks like it might be a spiral as opposed to layers.
Now we reach Amano! Here you can see artwork of Terra, a main character from Final Fantasy 6. The top image is roughly what my desk mat looks like. It is worth noting, that I love Amano’s work so much (as well as Final Fantasy 6 being one of my favorite games) that I named my dog after this character. This is Terra.
This is a cast picture of Final Fantasy 6. Pictured in this image is the namesake of two of the dogs I’ve owned, Shadow and Terra.
I honestly don’t know what the policy is on taking pictures in a museum… But I did it anyway for these three pictures. This last one is a celebration of Final Fantasy’s 35th anniversary. And if you look closely Terra is in this one, too.
Another obelisk stolen from Egypt! GPT says this is the Obelisk of Montecitorio. It was originally brought to Rome in 10 BCE. And was used as a shadow marker for a giant solar calendar. This thing is over 10 times as tall as I am, coming in at nearly 28 meters tall! The building behind it houses the lower house of the Italian Parliament.
More beer! I just want to say, Italians manage to get a nice head on their beers.
This was a pasta dish with bacon in it. I couldn’t remember the name, so GPT says this dish is Bucatini all’Amatriciana. Much like the carbonara before, I really wish I could have had more of this. It was really good.
Gelato, one of the three flavors I tried while in Italy. This one was a forest berry with some sort of add in that you can see. Also an interesting thing I noticed, none of the restaurants just offered water to everyone. You had to request (And pay) for it. And it always came in a bottle. I drank a lot of water while I was there
Next up is the Tuscany trip, one final lazy day, and then the trip back. If you’ve made it this far, you are almost done.
