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Archive : Rome & Lazio

When in Rome, the saying goes, and for a few days in September 2008, I did. One of my good friends welcomed me for my second trip to the city, and my first experience of the surrounding towns in Lazio.

Rome
The Colosseum. The Colosseum. Romans.
The Arch Of Constantine. The Arch Of Constantine. The Arch Of Constantine.
The Vatican from the Palatine Hill. The Circus Maximus. The Palatine Stadium. Leonardo.
Via Sacra leading to the forum. The Arch Of Titus. The Arch Of Titus.
Il Vittoriano rises above the Forum. The Temple Of Vesta. The Temple Of Castor And Pollux. The Temple Of Antoninus And Faustina.
The Roman Forum
The forum we see today is only a suggestion of its former glory as the centre of the empire. For hundreds of years people removed the marble for other construction, notably the Vatican.
The Temple Of Saturn (SENATUS POPULUSQUE ROMANUS). The Basilica Of Maxentius. The Forum. The Arch Of Septimius Severus.
The Arch Of Septimius Severus. Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Sant'Agnese, on Piazza Navona.
Il Vittoriano. Trajan's Column.
The oculus of the Pantheon. The Pantheon. The Pantheon.
Hadrian rebuilt Agrippa's Pantheon after a fire. The dome forms a perfect sphere from the oculus to the floor.
The Pantheon. Vittorio Emanuele II. Castel Sant'Angelo (Hadrian's Mausoleum) from the Aelian Bridge. Trevi Fountain.
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
St. Peter's Basilica. St. Peter's Basilica.
The greatest church in Christendom, St. Peter's Basilica, is largely to the design of Michelangelo, and is built over the tomb of the first pope, St. Peter. The dome is the tallest in the world.
St. Peter's. Michelangelo's Pietà. The Throne Of St. Peter. Bernini's Colonnade.
Rome from the dome of St. Peter's. Heaven.
Looking out over Rome. 450 feet high. Smoke. Administration building.
St. Peter's Piazza

Poggio Bustone is a small mountain-side village near Rieti. The village has several monuments and stories relating to St. Francis of Assisi.

The Rieti Valley.
Sacro Speco. Poggio Bustone.
It is said that when St. Francis visited Poggio Bustone, he walked up the mountain to the cave now surrounded by the Sacro Speco, where he received absolution from Archangel Gabriel. Along the way are seven tiny chapels containing impressions of his knee, his hood, the Devil's finger, and so on.
The Franciscan monastery. Poggio Bustone.

Other towns I saw include Rieti, Palombara Sabina and (the waterfalls of) Marmore (actually in Umbria).

The waterfall at Marmore.
Marmore. Marmore.
The waterfall at Marmore was constructed by the ancient Romans to protect Rieti. It is the tallest man-made waterfall in the world.
Rieti cathedral. Palombara Sabina.
The cathedral of Rieti.Palombara Sabina.

Tivoli is the site of two distinguished villas. Villa D'Este is a renaissance villa chiefly notable for the hundreds of fountains in its gardens. Villa Adriana is the country retreat of Emperor Hadrian (he of the wall).

Tivoli.
Villa D'Este. The hydraulic organ at Villa D'Este.
One of the many fountains. The view.
Santa Maria Maggiore. Villa D'Este.
Tivoli, with the Temple Of Vesta on the right. The Arch Of The Madonna Di Quintiliolo.
Villa Adriana. The Canopus of Villa Adriana.
Hadrian's Villa is a huge complex comprising multiple baths, temples and libraries. Perhaps most enchanting are the Canopus and the private island in the 'Maritime Theatre', where one can imagine the good emperor escaping from the responsibilities of ruling everyone from Newcastle to Jerusalem.
The Canopus. Ares.
Villa Adriana. The Great Baths.
The 'Maritime Theatre', a private island for Hadrian alone. The aptly-named 'Hall With Doric Pillars', with Tivoli looming above it.