'Plog': St Peter’s Basilica … Let’s Go Inside

Saturday, 5 September 2015 (Part II)
Trevi Comfortable Terrace Apartment — Rome, Italy

My previous post covered the first part of our afternoon at the Basilica Papale di San Pietro [Papal Basilica of St Peter]  — after we skipped the line to get inside.  The up close and personal look at the central dome, and the beautiful views of the cityscape from the lantern will remain a highlight of this trip to Rome.

By the time I took the elevator down from the terrace, I was ready to step inside the basilica, which has a special significance for Catholics everywhere around the world.

I’m not a necessarily religious person, but I have to admit that my first glimpse of the interior — looking across Maderno’s nave towards the Papal Altar and Bernini’s Baldacchino [above photo] — was quite impressive.  And more than a little mind-bogglingly overwhelming.  With my eyes roving from one spot to another, I took a surprisingly small number of photographs.

I could write reams and reams about St Peter’s I’m sure, but so many others have already done so … no sense in trying to recreate the wheel.  If you want to read about one of the most important churches of Christendom, start with the link in the first paragraph and then Google the internet for more.  As for me … I’m going to go straight to some of the photos I took.

Left: the center of the marble floor in the nave is blocked off to protect markings that depict the size of churches around the world.  No surprise that most are smaller than St Peter’s.

Right: a closer look at the Papal Altar and Bernini’s Baldacchino; the entrance to the
Confessio and St Peter’s ancient tomb is at its base.  Only the Pope celebrates mass at
this altar.  Behind the altar is the Tribune (or apse), which holds St Peter's throne (chair).

Left: St Peter’s Chair is a relic conserved in a bronze casing designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.  Inside is a wooden chair that is widely held as being the one used by Saint Peter, the first Pope.

Right: The bronze statue is an ancient one portraying St Peter giving a blessing as he preaches.
So many pilgrims have touched and kissed the foot of the statue that it is worn thin.

Crepuscular rays streaming down from the central dome.

The monument to Pope Innocent XI.  His statue is flanked by Faith and Fortitude.  The bas-relief
on the base the pope is sitting on shows the victory over the Ottomans in Vienna in 1683.

Left: monument to Pope Innocent VIII  — the only one that was transfered from the Old Basilica.
Right: One of the weeping angels from the Monument to the Royal Stuarts.

What I find most impressive about some of the statues — such as the ones of Pope Piu X (left)
and Pope Leo XII — is the delicate, lace-like carvings of the marble vestments.  Here’s …

… a closer look at the detail on the statue of Pope Piu X.

More detail of delicate marble carvings … these from the statue of St Vincent de Paul.

Painting and mosaic detail from the Altar of St Peter (aka Altar of the Lie).

Ceiling detail from one of the impossibly high domes.

Lest you think I missed the Pietà … rest assured that I didn’t.  The statue was almost hidden by people standing four-to-five deep in front of it, but I managed to find a decent spot from which to view it.

Michelangelo’s famed statue sits behind bulletproof glass ever since it was attacked by some crazed person in 1972.  The man — a Laszlo Toth — apparently leaped over the railing and struck 15 hammer blows at the statue of the Virgin, claiming he was Jesus Christ and that Mary looked nothing like his mother.  More than 50 shards of marble were recovered with feather dusters, and although a few which were picked up by witnesses were returned, her nose was never found.  The statue was restored after careful study of the 1934 copy, which is located in the Treasury Museum.

The photo doesn’t do justice to how realistic this carving of the Virgin holding Jesus after the crucifixion really is ... Christian symbol or not, it’s a work art that can be appreciated by all.

I read about St Peter’s when I was preparing for this trip to Rome.  But coming face to face with the reality of the papal basilica, my research fell short of being adequate.  I’m sure I missed details that would have added to my appreciation of what my eyes beheld.  To boot, parts of the basilica were cordoned off for mass, so we didn’t get to explore them.  Oh well … Mui says we will return to Rome someday and I can visit St Peter’s again then.  Do you think it would be any less overwhelming the second time around?  I doubt it!

Although Swiss Guards are now almost exclusively associated with the Holy See
at the Vatican, they have actually guarded foreign European courts since the
late 15th century.  Here they are in their Renaissance-inspired dress uniform.

It was nearing the 7:00p closing of the basilica to visitors when we stepped out into St Peter’s Square.  Hungry, we took the metro to Piazza di Spagna to dine at a restaurant Mui had pre-selected for us.  We arrived at Il Gabriello shortly after the establishment opened for dinner service.  Walking down steep, brick steps, we asked the hostess — who turned out to be the proprietor’s wife — if she could accommodate us without reservations.  She said, of course, but only if we promised to vacate the table by 9:00p as they were otherwise booked solid.  No problem — two hours would be more than plenty for us to satisfy our tummies.

Only one table was occupied when we were escorted to our table in the corner, but that didn’t last long.  Had we arrived 15 minutes later, we would have missed out on a great dining experience.

Il Gabriello is all but empty when we arrive, but that doesn’t last long.

The menu was laden with a variety of antipasti [appetizers] and primi and secondi piatti [first and second courses] — each sounding more delicious than the next.  We decided to order an appetizer each and split a pasta dish, which proved to be ample to sate our appetite … especially since we had room left to wrap up our meal with delicious profiteroles to share.

An excellent meal of Catalan style shrimp; octopus and potato salad; ricotta and spinach ravioli served with sage butter; and delicious profiteroles filled with chocolate and vanilla cream.

We so enjoyed our meal at Il Gabriello — and the hospitality of Claudio and his wife, and the wait staff — that we made reservations to bring the family here when they join us for our last week in Rome.  It will be the perfect place to celebrate Aylin and Murat’s anniversary.

The walk from the restaurant back to the apartment seemed longer than it really was — our feet were dragging for some reason.  Ahhh yes … all that walking and step-climbing we did today probably had something to with that ;-)

[More photos from our visit to the Vatican are in my online gallery.]

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