Rome- It's Art, Design and Architecture

I have always wanted to see Rome.  Rome is so rich in history and famous for its art, sculpture and architecture.  This is the place where talented architects, engineers, sculptors, artists did their masterpieces.  

But before we go to historic places for art and architecture, we had to enjoy Italian food- pizza and found this place through the kindness of our host, Sister Pia, Assistant to the Mother General of the Dominican Order whose general house, where we were guests,  is based in Rome.  This Pizza place, where locals and tourists congregate, is a great place to sample the different types of pizza that are sold by the pound.  I wish our pizza restaurants/take out places here in the US offer the same way they do.  They had unusual items included in the pizza such as squash flowers and artichokes.  And you can have 8-10 varieties in one plate if you can handle them. I have never tasted pizza with these toppings and they were really good!

Little Place known for its best Pizza, Rome, Italy

Another area that I am amazed to see are the different fountains inside the Vatican City, Rome where tourists and locals can drink clean water that flows endlessly.  Aqueducts from mountains and lakes were built by ancient Romans to provide water and baths for Rome.  Rome has approximately 2,500 drinking fountains apart from those famous fountains like Fontana de Trevi, Fontana dell'Acqua Paola -Gianicolo (Via Garibaldi), Fontana delle Tartarughe and Fontana di Piazza San Pietro. I love fountains and love to incorporate them on my exterior and interior design. 

Clean, ever flowing delicious, cool drinking water, Rome, Italy

Fontana de Trevi (panoramio.com)

Fontana dell'Acqua Paola -Gianicolo (Via Garibaldi) -(aboutroma.com)

Fontana delle Tartarughe (aboutroma.com)

Fontana di Piazza San Pietro (aboutroma.com)

You need to stay more days in Rome to be able to enjoy St. Peters Basilica, the different museums and Sistine Chapel alone which we didn't have.  We combined touring St. Peters Basilica and the different museums and Sistine Chapel in a day and was really exhausted with art, architecture and sculpture information overload. I was so impressed by the famous colonnade of Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, an architect, a sculptor, a painter and even a poet. The colonnade proves the truth of his axiom "An architect proves his skill by turning the defects of a site into advantages". 

Very talented architects can do that like Frank Lloyd Wright with his "Fallingwater" home, a house build on rocks above a stream in Pennsylvania.

Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright, Pennyslvania, USA (wright-house.com)

The curving colonnade, which gives a nurturing feeling, is composed of 300 Doric columns, the oldest and simplest columns, and there are four rows on each side. Columns were made of travertine. Bernini used the concept of the "motherly arms of the church" for the colonnade which is so fitting for a place where the Pope bless and speak to all the faithful who traveled to see the Pope and St. Peters Basilica from far away lands. The Piazza of St. Peters was built from1656 to 1667 and the style is Baroque Neoclassical .  You can see the elliptical plan with the Eygptian obelisk in the center that served as a turning point in chariot races during the ancient Circus of Nero.

Aireal view of St. Peter's Square  with the curving colonnade and Egyptian obelisk in the center by Wikepedia

Close-up of the Doric Column by Bernini

Sister Pia, our jovial host, was kind enough to point to me the focal point wherein you only see one row of column instead of all the four rows of the colonnade. 

Centro del Colonnato (Center of the Colonnade)

Colonnade from the Centro Del Colonnato and you can only see one row- the front columns

Colonnade taken outside the Centro Del Colonnato and now you can see four rows of columns

Bernini's approach for the Piazza of St. Peter is to have a place for the biggest audience in order for the Pope to bless the faithful either in the Papal Canopy  or a balcony and big TV screens located in strategic places and a special section designated for visiting and local bishops and priests. 

Papal Canopy where Pope have an audience with the people

Balcony where the Pope Bless the People

Section where bishops and priests sit 

More to come and hope you enjoyed reading my blog!  Next Rome, Italy blog would be St. Peter's Basilica and the different Vatican museums including the Sistine Chapel.