Rome.....(Day 2, part 2)

After we finished at the Vatican we took the subway to a church we had heard about that has an interesting crypt. It is called the Crypt of the Capuchins and is um..."decorated" with the bones of thousands of friars who died between 1528 and 1870. Apparently the monks left their former friary and disinterred the remains from the old cemetery and moved them as well. No one is sure who was the actual "artist" here, or what moved him to create this. One story is that it is the work of 3 French friars (no....not those kind of french fries!) who were taking refuge in Rome from the Reign of Terror in their home country. Others have to do with single criminals or persons hidden in the crypt. It is said that the monks would gather in the crypt at the end of each day and pray and reflect before going to bed. The bones are arranged into chandeliers, archways, a coat of arms (I couldn't resist!) and several scenes with hourglasses, flowers, clocks and in the last room a skeleton holding a scythe and scales. The pamphlet we got there says the message of all this is that "death closes the gates of time, and opens those of eternity". I don't know....it was definately interesting and rather spooky when it really sinks in that all those bones are REAL bones from REAL people!












Once we came out into the sunlight we set out on our search for another church. This one is called "San Pietro in Vincoli" or St. Peter in Chains. This church is said to contain the actual chains that held Peter when he was imprisoned. Another reason this church was on our list was because Michelangelo's Moses sculpture can be found here. The sculpture was to be a part of an elaborate tomb for Pope Julius II. Julius original design called for 40 different figures. When he passed away the next Pope became impatient for Michelangelo to finish work on this project as he wanted him to begin work on the Sistine Chapel. He went to watch him work and declared the unfinished tomb finished. What a thing....to see in person the great work of the Sistine Chapel in the morning, and this amazing sculpture by the same master artist in the afternoon!























We decided to finish our day at the Castel St. Angelo. This impressive building began as an immense mausoleum for Hadrian's ashes. It has also served as fortress, a castle, a residence for Popes, and even a prison! There is a legend that the archangel Michael appeared on the top of the mausoleum sheathing his sword to signify the end of the plague of 590 and this is how the castle got its name. The castle is located right on the Tiber river just a short walk from St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican. I remembered visiting there with Colin in the evening and taking in the amazing view of St. Peter's from the top and knew that we could not miss this sight. It was not yet dark when we got there, and the castle was closed for a few hours before opening for the evening (they had some kind of festival going on) so we wandered around taking pictures. There is no shortage of things to take photos of! I was taken with the bridge that approaches the castle...it has 10 angels on it which were sculpted by the artist Bernini and his pupils.










When it was late enough we went inside the castle and headed for the roof. We were not disappointed at all...the view is just amazing!!! We had some ice cream in a little cafe they had up in the castle and then headed back towards our B&B to find some dinner and to rest up for another busy day!