Roma - the Eternal City

Day 4 (7 May 2025)

Today was Pantheon day. This is one of the oldest intact buildings in the world today, built in 27BC as a temple to pagan gods. It was converted into a Christian church in 609AD when Rome was converted to Christianity, and became a sought after burial ground. Famous artist Raphael was buried here.

 

No words can describe how freakin' amazing the Pantheon is. It's like someone just plonked this ancient building in the middle of a modern day city. I felt like I was in an ancient movie script, or transported back in time, touching those 2,000-year-old walls and pillars.

I managed to get a seat at the fountain in front of the Pantheon to do a quick sketch. 

Also drew some of the interiors but they didn't turn out so well so I'm not posting them. Son fell asleep while waiting for me 😆

But that's not all we did today. We also went to see the Sacred Area of Largo di Torre Argentina which is an ancient ruins site opened to the public only in 2023. It's where Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by members of the Senate who were afraid he was becoming too dangerously powerful. 

Truly, beneath Rome is a whole ancient city just waiting to be discovered!

On the way there, we happened to walk by the Museo del Corso and saw that they were holding a special Picasso exhibition!

I was so excited - I never got to see Picasso's works when I was in Spain in 2019 as that was before I discovered my passion in art. We happened to have time to spare this morning too, so it really felt like God just generously threw that in my path. 

 

The exhibition showed the progress of his works over the years and it was fascinating. Some of his early works, I never would have guessed they were his. He only came into his own later. 

 

 

There were also letters he wrote to his mother, and pencil sketches he did of room interiors. 

 

Son and I had fun trying to dicipher what some of the paintings were and the titles. One we guessed was an emperor of some sort, only to find out it was simply "Man in armchair". The more famous the artist, the less need for clever titles! 

 

 

 

Enjoyed the exhibition very much. Interestingly, a few steps down from the museum, we chanced upon the Church of San Marcello al Corso which was displaying two special artworks in celebration of Easter, organised for the Jubilee - The Disciples Peter and John Running Together to the Tomb of Christ on the Morning of the Resurrection by Eugène Burnand (1898) and The Supper at Emmaus by Rembrandt (1629).

 

I love how there's so much culture here waiting to be discovered, and that's why I love travelling free and easy - to be able to seize the moment.

 

Had a couple of wonderful meals today - a fancier lunch where we tried the specialty oxtail, and a simple dinner of pizza by the slice at the place we stumbled upon near our hotel, Spizzica. One of their flavours has even won an award. Son declared it the best pizza he's ever eaten.