The Forums and Much More

We have been so busy and I am so behind in sharing our adventures! I have not even shared the last few things that we so wonderful and amazing about Rome. I will do so now, without all of the embellishments that I longed to write. But alas, time is of the essence. So here goes a quick synopsis of our final days in Rome.

We went to St. Peters in Chains on Sunday morning. This is the church that houses the chains that Peter wore when he was in captivity. The sight of the chains sends shivers down your spine as you think of the amazing history and of all of the sacrifices of the first Christians. 

In the same church is Michelangelo’s Moses. This in an amazing marble sculpture that the pope petitioned the great artist to do.

We then hustled along to see the Pantheon, which is an amazing building. Once more, there were choirs singing while we were inside and the echoing off the walls was lovely. 

After seeing those sights we only had until noon to make it back to the Vatican City with the rest of the multitude. On Sundays at noon the pope comes out to greet the people; and Cory and I were there! It was a pretty neat experience, being part of the crowd as the pope spoke from his window. Now we can say that we saw the pope. 

Our next stop was an incredible one for the history of the early Christians. We went to the Catacombs. I only wish I could have taken pictures, but they weren’t allowed. I snuck a video to show when I get home. The Catacombs went down into the ground over 90 feet. We got to go down a mere 36 feet. Our tour guide told us the history behind the catacombs, and the persecution of the Christians, and various stories about Peter and Paul. This was an amazing experience for us as Christians, bringing the history so close to us as we stood where so many martyrs were buried. The road that the catacombs was located on is the oldest main road into the city, and the one by which Paul would have traveled on. 

We completed our busy, busy Sunday by visiting the forums. Anybody who has not seen the forums may not understand the depth of beauty that can be found within the rubble. It is an amazing sight to behold. We wandered through the passageways, observed the pillars, read the history, and imaged the great empire that once collected there. It is incredible to see the modern world colliding with the ancient world in such a way.