La Roma Sacra
THE TOURIST BECOMES PILGRIM, VISITING THE SACRATED SITES OF VRISTIANITY AND THROUGH THE SACRATED DOOR BEGINS THE JUBILEUMS IN THE SACREDNESS OF SAINT PETERS
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La Roma Sacra |
ROMAINSIEME
- SACRED
ROME A3
THE TOURIST BECOMES PILGRIM, VISITING THE SACRATED SITES OF VRISTIANITY AND THROUGH THE SACRATED DOOR BEGINS THE JUBILEUMS IN THE SACREDNESS OF SAINT PETERS |
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15' |
The Tour begins at the Bridge of the Angel (Ponte dell’ Angelo), built in order to reach the Mausoleum of Adrian. Its 10 angels were the stations of an important via crucis of the city. Around 1500 a.C. it also became a site for death sentences through hanging. Crossing the 'Angel bridge' we reach the Mausoleum of Adrian, better known as Castel Sant’Angelo because of the statue of Archangel Michael who replaces his sword in its sheath after the plague of 590 a.C. |
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1h e 30' |
Castel Sant’Angelo, built by Adrian between 123 and 139 a.C., through the centuries became property of the Vatican. The clergy transformed it into a fortress, to protect the Popes in case of an attack, connecting it to the Vatican City with a long fortified corridor called the Passetto. It became residence of certain Popes during the periods of besiege of the city and during revolutionary movements, but also a prison and place of torture. We enter the fortress to admire its 58 rooms, that constitute an important Historical Museum of Arms, or the cells where prisoners were locked up, to finish the visit on the splendid terrace under the Statue of the Angel from which we can enjoy a wonderful view of the Tiber and the City. |
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PGoing along the wide Via della Conciliazione we slowly approach, as did many a pilgrim in the past centuries, St.Peter’s Square (large enough to contain the entire Colosseum). Along the way we make a short visit to the Church of Saint Mary in Trasportina, to whose columns Saints Peter and Paul were tied before their tragic martyrdom. |
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Entering the square we are received by the two open arms of the splendid Colonnade of Bernini that, with its 284 columns and 140 statues of Saints, encloses St.Peter’s Square meeting place of Catholics of all the world and extraordinary liturgy setting. In front of us the facade of the Basilica of Saint Peter, with the Holy Door opened only in occasion of the Jubileum. It’s here, beside the tomb of Saint Peter, that our Jubileum begins. |
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1h |
We enter the Basilica consecrated by Urbano VIII in 1626, to discover its immense artistic and religious treasures: the Pietà di Michelangelo, universal masterpiece of young Michelangelo; the Bronze Statue of Peter, whose right foot has been greatly worn by kisses of devout Christians; the canopy of the Main Altar, held up by the unique twisted columns over 20 meters high, whose apse shines in the golden light coming in through the Gloria of Bernini : a squadron of angels around a single white dove, symbol of the Holy Saint, mounted in splendid stained glass. |
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ROMAInsieme - Sacred Rome A Pilgrimage to the discovery of the Holy Sites of Christianity |
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