Roma, Part 3 (Borghese, Bernini, Bones, and Bikes)

We spent our last day in Rome doing "random things" as mentioned in this blog's title.

We first visited the Galleria Borghese, a pretty exclusive gallery in the Villa Borghese Park, the former estate of the Borghese family, who commissioned the art found within. The gallery, which allows visitors to enter only in a two-hour time block, requires advance reservations; however, we used our Roma passes for free entry, and it was well worth the visit!



The gallery features many sculptures by Bernini (who, we found out, was also child prodigy, a painter, architect, and engineer!), other sculptures of marble of every shade of the rainbow, a recumbent hermaphrodite, as well as paintings by Caravaggio and many other pictures.

Our favorite items included two sculptures by Bernini: David which, in contrast to Michelangelo's David, bears a very serious, realistic pose (representing a movement away from the "pretty boy" look of the Renaissance period), and 2) Apollo and Daphne, which depicts Daphne's transformation into a tree as Apollo chases her.

Bernini's 'David'


Apollo and Daphne


After the gallery, we headed down Via Veneto to Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, which houses a very bizarre, macabre but artistic collection in the "Capuchin Crypt." The crypt includes the bones of 4000 monks who died in the 16-19th centuries, artistically arranged in various combinations. We walked through whispering things like, "Whoa! There's a scapula," or "Geez! Look at all those pelves!" It was one of the most bizarre (and horrifying) things I have ever seen, but certainly interesting and worth our visit. As we were not allowed to take photos inside, here are a couple of internet photos displaying the morbid "art."




We were still able to stomach lunch after the strange bony display; here is some more lunchtime evidence of "wine with every meal."


In the afternoon, we headed to Via Appia Antica (Ancient Appian Way), which was, in Roman times, the "Queen of Roads" and located just south of the current city center. As we enjoy taking bike rides in different countries (we've also biked in Malaysia and around Angkor Wat in Cambodia), we rented two and biked along the old stretch of road, passing funerary monuments, pretty green pastures, and Roman Walls.









Along the way, we stopped to visit the Catacombs of San Sebastian, which were Christian burial grounds for common people, as well as martyrs like St. Sebastian, a Christian who lived at the end of the third century (before Christianity was "legalized" by Emperor Constantine) and who was persecuted. He initially was tied to a tree, shot with arrows, and left for dead; however, he somehow survived, was nursed back to health, and continued preaching the gospel. He met his death while being clubbed to death a second time under Diocletian's orders, but is now revered as a patron saint of athletes and of healing.

Tomb of St. Sebastian




We preferred riding on the new, paved stretches to the old, bumpy cobblestone (ouch!), but had fun soaking in the history nonetheless. We had a quiet, comfortable end to our Rome visit, and were blessed with a trip with perfect weather, no major mishaps, no travelers' diarrhea (although only I braved the water!), and many fun sights and times. Can't wait for our next major vacation!