History Lesson

       My computer is currently out of commission, so I am unable to upload the pictures that we have taken the past couple of days. I still have my iPad, but it does not have the USB port I need to upload pictures. I know I have trouble paying attention to blogs that do not have pictures, so bare with me.

        Both yesterday and today have been full of history. Yesterday morning, we took a walking tour of Rome. This tour included many sights which we had already seen, but we had not known the history behind all of the fantastic monuments, churches, and other buildings we had been seeing. Rome really is incredible. It has been built and re-built, layer after layer. Ancient Rome is about 8 meters below the ground of the modern city. Much of the ancient city has been excavated bit by bit. However, it must be filled back in before moving on to another section or the modern city would collapse. We have listened to hours and hours of facts, so I will spare you most of it and only share a couple of highlights.

The pantheon (about a two minute walk from where we are staying) used to be a pagan temple, but was converted to a Church under some Pope (I do not remember which one). The coolest part is this hole in its roof. The hole (intentionally built this way) is not covered with glass, but is open to the air outside. Naturally, you would think, "what happens when it rains?" Well, that is the cool part. The air pressure inside the structure presses against the rain drops coming in through the hole and turns to humidity before water is able to hit the ground. So after thousands of years of the Pantheon still being around, there is no sign of water damage under the hole in the roof.

Today we spent the whole day at the Vatican. I could write for hours about all of the complexities of the palace, the Sistene Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, and everything underneath. The most interesting part of the day was the Scavi tour. Dad booked these tickets months ago for us to be able to get in. They only allow 250 people in a day, so it fills up quickly. St. Peter's Basilica sits on top of the old Basilica built under Constantine in 4th c A.D. Under Constantine's Basilica is an ancient cemetery which holds the tomb of the apostle, Peter. A.k.a. the best friend of Jesus.