Day 1 in Rome: time and time again

Friday, June 26 - Rome

Before I got to Rome, I had this naïve idea that I would find historical treasures on every street corner — that I wouldn't be able to swing a cat without striking an ancient temple or the site of some early Christian miracle. I talked myself down — I would, of course, see plenty of old stuff, but it would be in museums, or walled off behind ticketed turnstiles. Rome is a modern city. You can't just leave things lying around, after all.

I should have listened to myself.

Every street in Rome is a museum. I guess I said that before, but it's true enough to say twice. During our first lunch, I could have leaned out and rested my elbow on a broken pillar from the Portico of Octavia (c. 27 B.C.). Our long muggy walk from the train station to our hotel took us past the Circus Maximus, now home to joggers. In the shadow of the Pantheon we found the church where Galileo recanted, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva; in front of it, an elephant designed by Bernini carried one of the obelisks Domitian Diocletian brought back from Egypt (obelisk erected c. 570 B.C., brought to Rome c. 300 A.D., elephanted c. 1667 A.D.). Historical eras are meshed like the teeth of combs — sometimes literally, like the pillars of a 2200-year-old temple used to support the wall of a 1000-year-old church (San Nicola in Carcere; see below the cut) — in borrowed stones and overlapping architectures. The city & the city & the city.

Above you can see artwork by street artist Enzo Condelli, stacked up on the façade of Santa Caterina dei Funari, which was built in the 1560s. On our first day, I was charmed by the bold splashes of new color against the aging white façade of the old church; on our last day, we bought one as a souvenir, and a second as a present for my mom. ( Click for more photos of the city as palimpsest. )

As usual, this complete set of photos is up on Flickr, and as I add new sets they will go into my Italy 2009 collection.