Santa Pudenziana

Today we went to the church of Santa Pudenziana in Rome. It is the oldest church in Rome and was built over the house of a senator named Prudens who St. Peter used to stay with during his travels to Rome. St. Peter baptized Prudens and his family which included his daughters Praxedes and Pudenziana, and sons Timothy and Novatus. This is the facade of the church which has been renovated.


And here is the interior of the church.


A detail of the mosaic in the apse. It is the earliest mosaic of Christ and dates to the 4th century.


A closer picture of the mosaic.


This is the ancient floor of the original basilica.


This is the top, or mensa of an altar that St. Peter celebrated Mass on.


There is a group of students that does tours in Rome for free of various churches. Only certain churches have them, and the church of Santa Pudenziana was one of the lucky ones. Here is a picture of our tour guide Alessia explaining something.


After our visit to the church we went out to a nice little restaurant nearby for a quick dinner. Mom looks pretty amused at the size of her salad.


Mom and dad having a "moment" near the Colosseum. :)