Another full day

Today we spent walking around Rome. It was a beautiful day out, and not hot at all. Our first stop was the Piazza Barberini where there is a lovely fountain of four dolphins holding up a seashell which Triton is sitting in. However today, the fountain was drained, and the men were busy sweeping up the coins that people throw in.


We came upon the Oratory of the Blessed Sacrament church on our way to our next stop and stopped in. Here is a shot of the choir loft and organ. The ceiling was great!


And this is a really great fresco of David on the right hand side of the altar, done in 1854.


Then we stopped in a Sicilian pastry shop and everyone got cannoli. Here is mom with hers.


And here is Philomena in front of another fountain with hers.


Behind the fountain is Trajan's column. It's amazing, and probably my favorite column in Rome. I believe there's info on it in another entry, so do a search for it if you're interested!


Then we stopped for lunch. Here is a picture of everyone laughing because Alex accidentally squirted lemon in the eye of the guy at the next table over.


Next we went to the church of Sant' Ignazio. It is a beautiful Baroque church built in 1626. This is a shot of the main altar, and the frescoes behind it, by Pozzo.


This is a picture of a side altar. Note the twisting green marble columns, with the bronze accenting. Below the altar is the tomb of St. John Berchmans.


This is the ceiling of the church. All the frescoes were done by Pozzo. It's not a great shot, but if you look in the back, you can see what looks like a dome. However it is not a dome. It is merely a painting of a dome, with an illusionist perspective. It is believed that the creators of the church didn't have enough money to build a dome, so they had one painted on. The "dome" is black however, because it was painted on canvas which has blackened over time. Currently there is talk of restoring it. If you go here, to this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ignazio.jpg you can see a better picture of it and imagine it in full color. Amazing isn't it?


This is a closeup of the tomb. There is another one on the other side of the church with the body of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. The tombs are made out of Lapiz Lazuli, a precious stone mainly found in Afghanistan. (Do an Ebay search on it to find out how expensive it is.)