Emily and Christopher on Vacation!: The Communist Underground!

Actually, today was the communists AND underground. After writing our earlier blog, we set out to visit the Zoo, or Bioparco as it's called here. Visiting the zoo in every city we've vacationed in has become a little tradition for us. But upon stepping out of the hotel, we learned that the CGIL parade was over, and now thousands of red clothed Communisti were heading back home across the city. They choked up the entrance to the Metro and clogged every sidewalk. And more disturbingly, they all emanated a sort of anti-American attitude towards us. We were careful not to get surrounded by too many of them at once. Not that we had much reason to worry, but with G20 going on, several groups of drunk teenagers moshing, and a group of Spaniards nearby that were harassing random passersby, we were on guard. The only thing anyone said to us was "Mr. Obama! Where's Obama?" We weren't quite sure how to react to that, so we just kept moving.

Ultimately the masses of people had pushed us so off course that we no longer stood a chance of getting anywhere by foot or public transportation. Also time was becoming a factor, as the sites we wanted to see were all due to close at 6:00 pm. So we got in a cab and prioritized: the bone crypt at Santa Maria della Concezione was #1 on our list. The taxi dropped us off down the street and overcharged us, probably by about 5-10 Euros. But our resolve was weak, so we just paid and hurried away, glad to finally be in a quiet and clean part of town.

Now, for the Underground.

First of all let's backtrack a little and tell you about a site that the four of us visited after the Forum. Although it was free and in plain view of the masses of tourists, the Mamertine prison was nearly empty when we visited. It's the site where St. Peter was incarcerated until his execution. It's said that a well sprung up at the foot of the column he was chained to, so that he might baptize the other prisoners. Now there is a marble altar on the site with an upside down cross on it to signify how Peter met his death. It was subterranean, and had a cold, eerie feel to its darkness. It definitely looked very much the part of a holy site.

Now, the bone crypt doesn't allow photography, not that it stopped many tourists, but it did stop us. It is far more strange and morbid than we can properly put into words, so I'll post a picture of theirs:

Anyways, what we saw here was the bones of roughly 4000 deceased monks from the Santa Maria della Concezione monastery arranged to create macabre chapels in the crypt under their church. Some of the walls had hundreds of femurs stacked on top of each other, chandeliers were made of finger bones, pelvises were placed behind skulls to created winged angels, rib bones provided a canopy under which mummified bodies of monks still in their robes stood, heads bowed. And on the floor, mounds of soil imported from Jerusalem covered even more corpses. Out of all the church basements adorned in bones, this was probably the best we've ever seen!

By now Bioparco was out of the question. It was getting cold and rainy and our feet were killing us. Back to the hotel for dinner and packing suitcases. There was one other site I chose to see but Emily remained behind to rest.

When I was young, I remember our priest telling us of a church on top of a church on top of a church. I've always wondered about it, and today I finally got to see it. The Basilica San Clemente itself was built roughly 1000 years ago, then updated with beautiful mosaics, renaissance portraits, and now modern fixtures. But in the 1860s, an excavation into the foundation revealed that the church was actually built on top of the original church dedicated to Pope Saint Clement, dating from about the year 400. As I walked down the staircase under the church, I had my own breath-taking moment. There it was, an ancient church with frescoes telling of the miracles of Saint Clement and his followers. I was face to face with some of the oldest Christian art on the planet. And the site was preserved and restored so tastefully, everyone couldn't help but speak in hushed, reverent voices as they wandered around in the low light. In the left nave there was an alter to St. Cyril, whose bones were discovered during the excavation and moved to a chapel in the Basilica above. Then, just beyond that, a narrow staircase led down.

Under the church were two ancient Roman buildings, probably dating from the first century A.D. Right about the time the Emperors took over and the Colosseum was built. The first building was the home of consul Titus Flavius Clemens - likely the same person as Pope St. Clement. After his execution, the home was turned into a place of worship of the Pagan god Mithras, and that is how it was upon discovery. There was a Roman triclinium or formal dining room that was fitted with an altar and a statue of Mithras. There were some interesting square columns with Corinthian capitals. The vaulted ceiling showed the faintest memory of the decoration once etched into them. And there was even the preserved alleyway between this building and the next. The next building is thought to have possibly been the Roman mint, or perhaps just housing apartments. In one room there was a natural spring, with cold water gushing out into a modern canal. I ran my hands along the diagonally-arranged brick walls that have stood for 2000 years and tried to commit it all to memory since here also, no photos allowed.

It was hard to say goodbye to the place, and Emily and I may even return together tomorrow after Palm Sunday mass (which we'll be attending at the Basilica). But we'll see. Our time in Rome is just about done, and while it has been wonderful, it's had some downsides as well. Our hotel's restaurant fits all those criteria we listed yesterday for a "Tourist Trap." The food and service are surprisingly poor. Tonight we ate there again simply because we were too worn out to venture out, but as we dined, a young man began playing guitar by our table and singing in Italian. Awkward. When he finished, we said "bravo" and simply tried to ignore him as we resumed our conversation. As we were waiting for our check, the place seemed to empty out, so the young man returned to our table and asked us for a request. After some hassling on his part, he finally got us to say ok to some Beatles. But he left for a moment to talk with the servers, so we dropped two Euros on his CDs and ran out the back door to go buy some pistacchio gelato.

Now we're packing up and heading to bed. Before we go, here are those pictures of the Forum we promised!

Emily in front of some the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum: