Aug 2010 Rome - day 4

 












Sun 08 Aug 2010
Our fourth and final day in Rome.

So we decided to get stuck in and "do" the Roman Forum, the ancient heart of Rome.

 Almost the first thing we come to is the Senate House, indeed, the very place where Julius Caesar was assassinated (pictured above right). The building is the large blocky one on the right in the photo above.

 The original floor, doorways and walls are still intact. The massive bronze doors here are replicas of the originals which were moved to a basilica elsewhere in Rome in the 17th century, bizarrely.

The walls inside used to be covered in slabs of marble (we saw remnants of this), and the circular stair/seats aren't in evidence. But the impressively large doorways at the tops of the stairs are still intact. Their columns are broken though as you can see....

And so, out into the sunlight and exploring this immense archaeological park.

Once more, Steve finds the ancient Roman sewerage system and here he is pointing to the plaque.

Above: This is only one third of the enormous Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine, still intact sine 303AD.

After a wander about, we headed up the other hill, the Palatine, and enjoyed splendid views across the Forum and the Colosseum.

Atop the Palatine Hill are several preserved Roman homes, with vividly painted walls. Here are a couple of the walls inside the rooms of Augustus' Domus. It seems trompe l'oeil has been around a very very long time!

In a tunnel, we saw this little gem of roman ceiling plaster.

 

Also on top of the Palatine is a nice little museum with some really great antiquities.

Below left: Aphrodite. Right: Roman woman's dress (statue carved marble).

Above: some really posh Roman flooring.

Also above: The hairstyle of a young Roman Princess (aged approx 10 from the look of her)

 

Above: Astonished to see some marble carvings which actually still have some paint on them, and so vivid, love it!
Below: The Stadium on the Palatine Hill (the low, long oval shape at right) and in the left of this photo, the Baths of Septimius Severus.

 

 The Park provided plenty of ancient marble seating for the tourists to rest their weary feet.

After all this, it was time to return back to our hotel, pick up the luggage and head off to the airport. THe only not perfect thing about our trip was taking 9 hours to get home from our hotel in Rome. Flying with Ryanair, need we say more?