Vatican City

Vatican City is the smallest country in the world: it is 110 acres, and has a population of around 800 people. It was established in 1929 to resolve the conflict between the Vatican and the King of Italy, who conquered Rome during the War of Unification (1861), making the pope a (self-imposed) "Prisoner in the Vatican."

Sarah and I attended Pope Francis' inauguration, known as the Mass of Inauguration of the Bishop of Rome's Petrine Ministry, on March 19th.

The best picture of Pope Francis I could take. He drove around the crowd for a while in an open-top car.

The Cardinals

Pope Francis prepares Communion.

Priests ventured into the crowd so everyone could participate in Communion.

So many people, so many flags. It's estimated that there were over 200,000 people at the inaugural mass.

The papal seal coats the buildings of Rome and the Vatican. Usually they are made of plain marble, but this one in the Vatican Museum was painted.

The Vatican Museum houses the oldest known man-made tool. It is ~2 million years old.

When you have a giant hallway filled with marble Roman statues and busts, they kind of lose their luster.

Here's one of the Scipio caskets stolen from the tomb I visited on the Appian Way.

The museum had its fair share of looted Egyptian artifacts as well.

The most amazing thing about the museum wasn't the Sistine Chapel; it's the ceilings. This long hallway was covered with enormous tapestries and the ceiling was painted to look like etched marble.

This is the most amazing room in the museum. The walls of this very long hallway were covered with paintings of the provinces of Italy, and the roof was covered with glowing scenes of wealth and luxury. This is where your money used to go if you gave it to the Church...

The School of Athens by Raphael

Another ceiling

The infamous Borgia Pope's private apartment

The museum had a particularly odd modern art section leading to the Sistine Chapel (where you can't take pictures, but it would be impossible to capture Michelangelo's genius and Pope Julius II's great success with a camera anyway).

The Swiss Guard

St. Peter's Basilica is pretty amazing. It took 120 years to build (1506-1626), is one of the largest churches in the world, is filled with the works of great Renaissance artists, and many popes are buried under it.

Truth by Bernini

Baptismal Font

Appian Way

"The Appian Way is the queen of the long roads." One can still hike along Rome's oldest military road, first used in the Samnite Wars in 312 B.C. It is littered ancient Christian and Roman ruins, many still waiting to be unearthed.

Via Appia Antica is 11 miles long, and Sarah and I hiked the whole thing. We started at the Circo Massimo subway station, about a mile away from the "official" start of the road, so we could see some other ruins along the way.

The Baths of Caracalla were built in the 3rd century A.D. and were the second largest public baths in Rome (the Baths of Diocletian were the largest).

There are many churches that used to be Roman Temples. This church still has an inscription about Julius Caesar on it.

The Tomb of the Scipios is an early sight on the Appian Way. The Scipios were one of the most important families of the Republic, and it produced some of Rome's greatest generals, notably Scipio Africanus, who defeated Hannibal in the Punic Wars. To get in, you need to pay the entry fee at the Wall Museum next to the San Sebastian Gate, and a volunteer will let you in (there are too many historic ruins in Rome and too few people to look after them, so many sites, like this one, are normally closed).

The tomb was discovered in the 18th century, and was promptly looted by the pope; many of its artifacts now reside in the Vatican Museum. No one knew it was there since, in Roman times, the dead had to be buried outside the city walls, and the tomb was located within the Aurelian Walls. The tomb, however, was built beyond the Servian Wall before Rome expanded and the Aurelian Walls were built.  In back you can see the tomb of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, the general that defeated the Etruscans.

Old Latin writing looks a lot like my printed handwriting.

During Medieval times, a large calcinara, or marble kiln, was placed on top/in the tomb.

The tomb grounds also houses an ancient Roman columbarium, where cinerary urns were kept.

Next is the eponymous Arch of Drusus, which has nothing to do with Drusus, and is more likely the Arch of Trajan.

Behind the arch is the San Sebastian Gate, part of the Aurelian Walls built in the 3rd century A.D., and the "official" beginning of the Appian Way.

A giant statue of a child saint? In other religious news, the Church of Santa Maria in Palmis is another early sight. Supposedly the church is located on the spot where St. Peter, fleeing Rome to escape Emperor Nero's persecution, had a vision of Jesus, who persuaded Peter that he had to return to the city and accept his own martyrdom.

The Catacombs of St. Callixtus were the first Roman Christian catacombs. Nine of the first popes were buried here, along with some saints. The catacombs stretch on for 15 miles underground, and house over 500,000 graves.

The Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella, a rich noblewoman, is located a little over a third down the Appian Way. There are some nice restaurants located around this area, and it's your last chance to buy food for many miles.

In 71 B.C., as punishment for joining Spartacus' failed slave revolt, 6,000 slaves were crucified along the Appian Way.

This is a place where priests were buried.

Burial Mound

The last sight on the Appian Way.

The end. If you go down the main road to your left 50 meters, you can catch a bus to the Anagnina metro stop.

Rome

We escaped Azerbaijan and a hefty fine by flying to Rome! This is the Castel Sant'Angelo. Originally built as Emperor Hadrian's Mausoleum, the tomb was converted into a castle by the popes in the 14th century. It is called Castle of the Holy Angel because it is believed an angel appeared above the castle in the 6th century to stop the plague.

Emperor Hadrian ruled from 117-138 A.D.

Nuns were all over Rome for Pope Francis' first mass.

The popes built a bridge wall linking the castle to St. Peter's Basilica so they could quickly flee to the castle if Rome was invaded.

Skyline and the Tiber

Some interesting old arquebuses.

Augustus Caesar's Mausoleum

Piazza del Popolo, the location of the north gate of the Aurelian Walls of ancient Rome. Yes, there is a stolen Egyptian obelisk in the middle of the plaza.

Aurelian Walls

The Colosseum

It boggles the mind to think how they  were able to stage naval battles in this place.

The Arch of Constantine commemorates his victory over Maxentius (a rival to the throne) in 312 A.D. at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Before the battle began he painted a cross on his shield and became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity.

The Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum make up the most extensive set of ancient ruins in Rome.

The Arch of Titus commemorates Emperor Titus' many victories, notably the capture of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

The looting of the Second Temple is depicted on the inside of the arch.

The Basilica of Maxentius

The Roman Forum. In the back is the Arch of Septimius Severus, which commemorates his victories over the Parthians in the late 2nd century.

Many churches in this area are converted pagan temples.

The new is built using the old.

Every backstreet seems to have a historic temple or plaza filled with marble sculptures.

The Altar of the Fatherland towers over most other buildings in Rome. It is a museum and monument dedicated to Victor Emanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy.

The Capitoline Museums, designed by Michelangelo, are located next to the Altar of the Fatherland and the Roman Forum. They have some interesting pieces, but most of Rome's best artifacts and artworks were snapped up by the popes and placed in the Vatican Museums. That's Emperor Marcus Aurelius on his horse in the back.

The Giant Head of Constantine

A trip to Rome helps one understand why people thought many Medieval and Renaissance popes were hypocrites. Few things show humility and Christian virtue more than building giant statues of yourself.

The museums have a great view of the forum.

Rome is filled with copies of the Romulus, Remus, and she-wolf statue.

Trevi Fountain

The Spanish Steps

The Capuchin Crypt was the most disturbing thing I saw in Rome. It consists of a half dozen rooms artistically decorated with the remains of 4,000 of the Capuchin friars.

Not my picture, but you get the idea.

Let's end on a high note. The Pantheon, built by Augustus Caesar's great general, Marcus Agrippa, is awe inspiring.

The Pantheon was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in 126 A.D., and made a church in the 7th century.

The great Renaissance painter Raphael is buried here along with other famous Italians like Victor Emanuel II.

What a roof.