Daily Itineraries

On our first day in Rome, we arrive to Leonardo da Vinci airport (commonly called by the name "Fiumicino"), and make our way into the Centro Difussione Spiritualita in Trastevere, where we will spend the next few weeks. Hardly a moment after we have set down our bags, we troup up to the top of the Janiculum Hill, to see our first sights and for a beautiful overlook of the city at dusk. Returning home to our first Italian meal, we fall asleep exhausted from the long journey, brisk walk and good food.

On the second day, we visit the heart of ancient Rome. We see the Roman Forum (center of both the Republic and the Empire), the Coloseum, and the Palatine Hill. We usually pack a light lunch and eat in a sunny spot in the ruins of the palaces of the emporers of Rome.

On our third day, we walk down one of the most beautiful streets in the world, the Via Giulia. Named after Pope Julius II, this street of Renaissance Palaces along the Tiber was laid out by the architect Bramante as part of a new processional way from the Capitoline Hill to the Vatican, after the relocation of the Papacy from the Lateran Palace. At the Florentine Church of S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini (burial place of architects Borromini and his uncle Maderno) we turn up the Corso Vittorio Emmanuele, and through what was at one time a great man-made lake where Nero help feasts of unsurpassed decadence. In the drained valley of that one-time lake, we find S. Andrea della Vale and other exuberant churches of the Baroque period.

In the days of Romulus and Remus, the area between the Palatine Hill and the Tiber River was a marshy flatland, largely unihabitable. As Rome grew in power and splendor on the surounding hills, it built lavish pavilions and places of sport, known as such even in the 7th C BC. Later, Domitian built his Circus Agonalis as a stadium for games. Here, today's Piazza Navona stands, one of the world's great outdoor spaces , rich with history and beauty.

On this day, we walk past the Roman temples of "Fortuna Virilis" and Vesta, and through the ancient "cow market" (a place of prisons and riffraff as well as commerce) to see where the Byzantines from Greece (the Cosmati) established themselves, creating some of the most beautiful churches in Rome, such as S. Giorgio in Velabro and S. Maria in Cosmedin. After a look at the Arch of Janus, we walk up the Aventine Hill to see S. Sabina with it's 6th C. wooden doors and the first depiction of Mt. Calvary, and then S. Anselmo, and the famous keyhole in the Maltese garden door looking at the dome of St. Peter's.

Today we cover the Coelian hill, directly behind the Coloseum and extending parallel to the Palatine, after which we return to our home turf to explore the treasures of Trastevere. On the Coelian, we encounter history as vividly as anywhere in Rome, at S. Clemente with its many layers of history, SS. Quattro Coronati, and others, while in Trastevere, we find that our own neighborhood contains Bernini statues, cosmatesque floors, and ancient icons as beautiful as any in Rome.

We may begin this day, if it is Sunday, with a solemn and majestic Latin Mass at S. Maria Maggiore, one of the four Patriarchal Basilicas in Rome, and the only Roman basilica whose interior remains wholly as it was. After Mass we may view the 13th C mosaic by Torriti, representing the Virgin in heaven seated next to Christ. A short block away, S. Prassede is a virtual jewel box of mosaics worth a trip to Rome in its own right, while a few blocks down the hill S. Pudenziana shows one of the earliest apse mosaics in the city, in the Roman naturalistic style.

On this day, we rise early to get a good seat to see the Pope at his General Audience. Afterwards, grabbing a sandwich along the way, we take the train to Ostia Lido from Statione Ostiense, and spend the afternoon in a liesurly walk through the ruins of this 1st C. AD Roman port city. On the way back home for dinner at the Centro, we stop off to see S. Paolo f.l. Mura, the Patriarchal Basilica dedicated to St. Paul, and one of the original Constantinian basilicas.

Assisi, a perennial favorite among the students of the College, is sweet in its fog-shrouded mountain-top silence, a welcome respite after several days of the noise and fervor of Rome. The day includes S. Ruffino, with its Romanesque facade transitioning to early Gothic; S. Chiara, where the cross which spoke to S. Francis awaits you in a side chapel, and the large double church of S. Francis, with its Giotto frescos, built shortly after the saint's death. A short visit to the Portiuncola completes the day.

On this day, we begin near the Roma Termini train station, and walk a few steps to the church of S. Maria degli Angeli e Martyri, designed by Michelangelo to fit into the existing shell of the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian. From there we walk to S. Maria della Vittoria, to S. Carlino alle Quattro Fontane, and S. Andrea al Quirinale, enjoying a cup of coffee along the way and other sites.

The Via Appia Antica, completed in 312 BC by Appius Claudius the Censor, ran straight as an arrow to Brandisi in the heel of the "boot" of Italy. We can still see the ruts in the stones of ancient chariot wheels, as we walk among the ruins of the classical past. Before begninning this walk, we eat a splendid meal at the retaurant of Cecilia Metella, named after the massive, circular burial monument a few hundred yards down the road. And, returning from our post-prandial walk, we descend into the four layers and many miles of Christian burial in the Catacombs of St. Caliztus before heading home, weary but happy, to another warm meal at the Centro.

Our visit to St. John Lateran takes us again to one of the oldest churches of Rome, also on the earliest land given to Christians to use. Originally the site of the Lateran Palace, the Constantinian church was devestated by Vandals, ruined by earthquake, and burned down twice before Borromini began his 17th C renovation. We visit the Baptistery, with an apse depiction of the tree of life presaging that at S. Clemente; S. Croce with its relics of the True Cross, and S. Lorenzo, an ancient church with a deep sense of mystery in its co-joined double-nave.

We do our best to experience the overwhelming collection of the Vatican Museum today, and St. Peter's in all its glory. College favorites in the Museum include the Etruscan exhibit, the Hall of Maps, Raphael's School of Athens, and Michelangelo's frescos. St. Peter's is awesome and magnificent, as well as sacred as the Seat of Peter. Underneath the dome and the altar, perhaps fifty feet down, lies the spot where it is likely that St. Peter was cast and buried after his crucifiction upside-down.

The Villa Borghese is a vast park including a zoo, endless gardens, and a house made for entertaining. We visit this house for its many treasures (it is now the Museo Borghese), but especially to see the Bernini masterpieces: Apollo and Daphne, the Rape of Persepone, David, and many others. After this Renaissance feast, we will visit S. Maria del Popolo, a church full of surprises such as the great vault by Pinturicchio.

This is the last day! The discomforts and strangeness of the the first week in this crazy, fast-moving city have been replaced by a longing to stay. There is so much more to see, and so much more to do! But, classes begin on Monday, so, we make our way to the Trevi fountain, throw in our coins, make a wish to return some day, have a gelato, and prepare for the voyage back home.