Tuscany Trip IV: Pienza

The little hilltop village of Pienza (pop. 2,300) was the birthplace of the great humanist scholar Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (1405-68), better known as Pope Pius II. When he became pope in 1458, he decided to rename his hometown after himself and totally rebuild it in the most current Renaissance style. His family palace, the church he built, and a palace owned by the Borgia family all surround the town square. His visionary urban planning was never completed, so the town retains much of its medieval charm. Pienza is also the home of delicious pecorino cheese made from ewe's milk. Yes, we bought some.

https://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/TuscanyTripPienza#

Tuscany Trip III: Castello del Trebbio

On Saturday evening, we drove to a castle in the hills outside of Florence. Castel del Trebbio was built by the Pazzi family in 1148 and later extended in the 14th and 15th centuries. It is situated on a beautiful hilltop. The castle is best known for the "Pazzi Conspiracy," a plot to kill the Medici brothers of Florence and take over their banking empire. The assasination attempt killed only one brother. The other took his revenge by massacring scores of Pazzi followers and seizing Castel del Trebbio. Today, the family that owns the castle and that resides in its 30+ unheated rooms runs a winery and olive press. We toured the castle, enjoyed a wine tasting, and had a delicious dinner.

https://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/TuscanyCastelloDelTrebbio#

Tuscany Trip II: Arezzo

Our home base for the trip was a very comfortable hotel in the city of Arezzo (pop. 92,000). Our walking tour of the city included visits to the Duomo (cathedral) and a smaller Romanesque parish church (Pieve di Santa Maria). Luckily for us, the Piazza Grande and all the side streets were crowded with vendors in town for a lively antiques fair that only takes place on the first weekend of each month. The church of San Francesco contains beautiful fifteenth-century frescoes by Piero della Framcesco that depict the "Legend of the True Cross," but no cameras were allowed.

https://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/TuscanyTripArezzo#

Tuscany Trip I: Siena

This past weekend, we took a three-day bus trip through Tuscany with the CUA Rome Program. The "grown-ups" (David Watson Vasquez, Aurora Santero, Susie and Steve) were outnumbered by our delightful young traveling companions, a group of 46 students from CUA and Loyola.

Our first stop was Siena, a city of 60,000 that rivaled Florence in wealth and grandeur during the 13th and 14th centuries. We toured the huge Dominican church, the Palazzo Pubblico (town hall), the great medieval cathedral, and the home of St Catherine of Siena. There was also plenty of time for a delicious lunch and street-by-street exploring before we returned to our hotel in Arezzo. Here are a few pictures:

https://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/TuscanyTripSiena#

Capitol

On Sunday, 30 January, we headed back to the city center to visit the Capitol, the hill above the Tiber that has been occupied since the Bronze Age and that formed the center of the ancient Roman world. The Temple of Jupiter (c. 509 BC) is now far beneath the Piazza del Campidoglio that was designed by Michelangelo in the 16th century, but some of its massive foundations can be seen inside the Capitoline Museums. These museums, established by Pope Sixtus IV in 1471, contain many of Rome's most famous works of art, especially bronze and marble sculptures. The buildings on the piazza also contain offices of the city government.
http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/Capitol#

Ara Pacis & Pantheon

On Saturday, 29 January, we went into the city center to do some more exploring. We started off at the Piazza Navona, a beautiful public square that stands upon what was once a stadium for athletic contests built by the Emperor Domitian (d. 96 AD). The grandstands, remains of which are still visible well below street level, could seat as many as 33,000 spectators. Today, the square is a lively place for buskers and artists. Its centerpiece is the "Fountain of the Four Rivers" designed by Bernini for Pope Innocent X in 1651.

A short walk took us to the new glass museum building that houses the Ara Pacis, an altar constructed by the Senate in 13 BC to commemorate the Pax Romana ushered in by the conquests of the Emperor Augustus. The external walls of the altar are decorated with beautiful marble friezes depicting the emperor, his family members, and his officials in a lifelike procession. The museum was also hosting a special exhibition of 138 works by Marc Chagall.

We finished the afternoon at another magnificent site of ancient Rome, the Pantheon. This "Temple of All the Gods" is a huge rotunda 140 feet high. The dome sits on a stone cylinder and would form a perfect sphere if extended to the floor. Light enters through an "oculus" (eye) in the center of the dome. Originally built during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian (118-25 AD), it was consecrated as a Christian church in 609 AD. In addition to being a majestic piece of architecture and an incredible piece of engineering that inspired the US Capitol and the coffered ceilings of the DC Metro, the Pantheon also houses the tombs of the kings of modern Italy and the grave of Raphael.

Here are a few snapshots taken during our walk:
http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/AraPacis#

Santa Maria Maggiore

The link below will take you to a variety of pictures that we took over the past week and a half. One of the highlights was a bus trip across town to the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore on the Esquiline Hill. The triple nave dates from the fifth century, as do the incredible mosaics. The apse, which is also decorated with brilliant mosaics, dates from 1295. On the way to the church we walked though a neighborhood with Asian and African markets where Susie had gone before to buy spices. We ate at a Chinese place where we were the only Westerners and caught a glimpse of young dancers that brought back memories of our time in Dalian.
http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/SantaMariaMaggiore#