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Album: By Country | By Date Italy | February 2001 < Prev: Pompeii Part 2 | Next: The Vatican (again) >
Travelogue: By Country | By Date Italy | February 2001  

February 2001 - Papal Blessing and More Walking Around

The Pope, Mouth of Truth, a pretty church, and the Tiber

Pilgrims get their religious items ready for blessing Crowd gathering for the Sunday blessing and sermon Pope in his window giving his talk. He's the white speck. Looking up at the Pope's window
Lunch at a nice restaurant that kept salad greens in a fountain. Walking in Trastevere, the area south of the Vatican Building in the square in front of Santa Maria in Trastevere Santa Maria in Trastevere
Walking in Trastevere Old looking buildings Isola Tiberina, an island in the Tiber. It has had a hospital on it since around 300 BC. Fountain in plaza in front of Temple of Hercules Victor. The Temple of Hercules is the oldest existing Roman temple in marble. Built at the end of the 2nd Century BC, when marble was not yet quarried in Italy, all the marble had to be imported from Greece. A rich oil merchant, Marcus Ocatvius Erennius, paid all the costs and dedicated the temple to Hercules Victor, protector of oil producers.
The Mouth of Truth (Bocca della Verita). It's under the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, across the street from the Temple of Huercules. It is believed that the huge face was a drain outlet for the Cloaca Maxima, the great sewer built by the Tarquin kinds to drain marshy areas of the city. It is called the "mouth of truth" because according to medieval legend, anyon putting their hand inside after telling a lie would get bitten. Monica is still recovering. No biting of Marilyn's hand. Grandma is immune. Floor in Santa Maria in Cosmedin
Lighting candles in Santa Maria in Cosmedin Another pattern in Santa Maria in Cosmedin Naked guys catching turtles Grandma leading the way past Vittorio Emmanuel
Duncan reading about the Huns