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| Picture by Kolohe |
The Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome, Italy, was built in 1123 and contains the famous Bocca della Verita (Mouth of Truth) sculpture.
There is no record of when the Bocca della Verita was made, what the sculpture was used for, or how it arrived at the Basilica sometime in the 13th century. Directly across the street are some temple ruins, so it may have been used for something in the temple. The sculpture is made of marble and weight about 1,300 kg (2,866 lbs).
It is believed that the sculpture depicts the face of the sea titan god Oceanus, who was a Titan son of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth) and the father of the river god Oceanids, as well as being the great river that encircled the entire world.
Legend has it that the hand will be bitten off of any liar who places their hand in its mouth; so no journey to Rome would be complete without visiting the Bocca della Verita to see if one's a liar. Fortunately, no one in our group lost a hand. In the 1953 movie Roman Holiday, staring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, Peck pretended to loose his hand when he placed it in the Bocca della Verita.
Before coming to Rome, we were familiar with the sculpture because there is a Bocca della Verita fortune teller machine located in the Musee Mecanique in San Francisco, California, which we have visited many times.
Décor in the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin is similar to other Basilicas that we visited while we were in Rome.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
In 1610, Pope Clement XI ordered construction of a monument in his own memory, so Fontana dei Tritoni (Fountain of the Tritons) was built in front of Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin. I don't fully understand the fountain's construction, but printed literature stated: "The whole travertine structure is placed on a circular step (delimited by 16 little columns joined by a grating), within which the design of the main basin represents an octagon with concave sides, or rather the eight-tips star that was the heraldic symbol of the family of the Pope, the Albanis. In the centre there is a group of rocks...with bushes on which two Tritons...kneel with entwined tails and raised arms, sustaining on their shoulders a big oyster shell serving as upper basin. Between the two Tritons there is the coat of arms of the pontiff."
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Foro Boario (Forum Boarium) was a cattle and meat market adjacent to the River Tiber directly across the street from the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin and is the original location of the docks of Rome. The Tempio di Ercole Vincitore (Temple of Hercules Victor) located in the Forum was built in 143 BC and is the earliest surviving mostly intact marble building in Rome, and the only surviving one made of Greek marble.
Tempio di Portuno (Temple of Portunus) is adjacent to the Temple of Hercules Victor in the Foro Boario; and was dedicated to Portunus, the god of keys, doors, and livestock. During the Medieval period, the temple was converted to a Christian church and dedicated to Santa Maria Egyziaca (St Mary of Egypt). It is now an archaeological monument.
This area of Rome contains numerous historic ruins, so we decided to walk up the hill to Piazza Venezia and take pictures along the way.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Area sacra di Sant'Omobono is just north of Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin and was not discovered until 1937 when the land was being cleared for a new building. The site contains important archeological information, including altars and the sites of the Temple of Fortuna, and the Temple of Mater Matuta.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Foro Olitorio (Forum Holitorium or Olitorium) ruins are located directly across the street to the north from Area sacra di Sant'Omobono and adjacent to the south side of the Casina building. Forum Olitorio was the "Market of the Vegetable Sellers."
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Teatro di Marcello (Theatre of Marcellus) was an open-air theatre just a short distance north of Foro Olitorio. Space for the theatre was cleared by Julius Caesar, but after Caesar was murdered in 44 BC, the site remained vacant until his grand-nephew Augustus completed the theatre in 12 BC.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
In 1929, an attempt was made to return this side of Capitoline Hill to its role as ancient Rome's citadel by excavating the site. However, an extensive excavation was not recommended by the government's Inspector General of Art because it was determined that the ruins extend at least 8 metres (26.2 ft) below the current ground level and there was substantial wild vegetation that had taken root on the site. Additionally, some of the visible stone is cappellaccio, a crumbly type of tuff. All excavation work on the site stopped on October 28, 1930, and has never resumed. Some walls of the ancient Temple of Jupiter Opimus Maxius that was completed in 509 BC are still visible on the hillside.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Piazza Venezia (Venezia Square) is the location of the Altare della Patria (hotel) and the Palazzo dei Conservatori (capitol building), so we had arranged to meet some friends there that were also visiting Rome at the same time. Of course, since we were walking up the hill to the back side of the Piazza, we had our choice of climbing up one of two flights of stairs to the Piazza del Campidoglio. Once we reached the Piazza, we found our friends and then rented a golf cart and driver to take us around Rome. Our driver did not stop at every attraction, so we had to take some pictures on the fly.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
When we drove by the Oro Bistrot Building, our guide pointed out the large tall doors and told us that in ancient Rome, the building owner would ride his chariot into the building through these doors for interior parking.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Orti Farnesiana is a botanical garden and archeological site, but we did not stop because our driver told us that it would take several hours for a visit. He said to save this site for our next visit to Rome when we had more time.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Acquedotto di Nerone is a remaining part of the Nero Aqueduct that was built by Nero between 54-68 AD
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Circus Maximus is now just a vacant field, but there is a large parking lot and a drinking fountain in front of the Piazzale Ugo la Malfa (Monument to Giuseppe Mazzini) that tour buses stop at so tourist can fill their water bottles. We also filled our water bottles from the fountain. The monument is located on the southwest side of Circus Maximus. Giuseppe Mazzini was one of the leading activists for the unification of Italy (known as Risorgimento) that was completed in 1870.
Looking across Circus Maximus is Palatine Hill, which is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome. It is one of the most ancient parts of the City and is known as "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire." The ruins are so extensive that they extend all of the way north to the east side of Venezia Square.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Giardino degli Aranci (Orange Garden) is located at the top of Aventine Hill and offers excellent view of the City. The garden's name comes from bitter orange trees that grow over an area that was once an ancient fortress built between 1285 and 1287 AD. Actually, the fortress was built over an old castle site and some of the castle walls still surround the property. A walkway that runs through the center of the site lines up and points to The Vatican.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Nearby is the Buco della Serratura dell'Ordine di Malta, which is also know as the secret keyhole of the knights of Malta. With the correct camera equipment and lighting conditions, it is possible to take a picture of St Peter's Basilica's dome through the keyhole. Unfortunately, the dome was too far away, lighting conditions were not correct, and we did not have the correct camera equipment to take a picture.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Our guide did not realize that by ourselves we had visited the Piazza Navona, Pantheon, and Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio de Loyola, so we stopped by these locations again. While we were in the the Piazza Navona, we did a selfie of the four people that had visited Egypt together in 2023.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Basilica di Santa Maria Minerva is located at the southeast corner of the Pantheon. In the courtyard there is an art work by Ercole Ferrata featuring an elephant with an Egyptian obelisk on its back. Our guide book said that the significance of the art work and elephant is unknown.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
It was hot and muggy, so we asked our driver to take us to the best ice cream shop in Rome. He said that he knew just the place and drove us to Fatamorgana Gelato. We had to agree with him. It was some of the best Gelato that we had on the trip.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
