Rome: Basilicas, the Pantheon, Ercolano and Pompeii May 7 and 8

We walked to the Basilica of St. Clement because we had been intrigued reading about its co-location of 3 churches. We walked down to bottom level, a temple used for worship up to the 2nd century AD of their god Mithras by Romans. On top of that structure, St. Clement built a Christian church in the 4th century AD, not long after Constantine gave Christianity legal status in the Roman Empire. In both levels we enjoyed being able to move around freely and take our time studying the ancient buildings. We noted the veneration paid to St. Cyril, who brought the Gospel to the Slavic peoples along with writing down their language in the script he invented for them. This 9th century AD fresco is believed to mark his grave in the church.

Another fresco from that same time is regarded as the first recording of the Italian vernacular language.

We then made our way by subway and bus to the Pantheon, another of Hadrian’s constructions and now a Catholic church. Although we’ve seen the dome and its oculus many times in pictures, it was breathtaking to stand inside and feel insignificant within that huge space.

We had been encouraged by our friends in Matera to give Ercolano (Herculaneum) priority over Pompeii for our visit to the sites buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. We took their advice and made Ercolano our first stop on Friday, May 8. The archaeological site was a short walk from the train station. Ercolano is a smaller, more compact site which appeared to us not to have been cleared of all frescoes, mosaic floors, and remnants of charred posts and lintels to the same degree as Pompeii. At the time of the eruption the foreground in this picture was the seashore.

Pompeii was still impressive for its expanse as a site, and for its location with a clear view to Mt. Vesuvius.

Pompeii has a large forum and wider streets, and the openness and general lack of roofs on the buildings made it easier to photograph artifacts that were also present In Ercolano, and generally in better shape, such as this shop which kept cooked food in the circular basins for citizens to buy,

and this bakery with its cone-shaped grist mills.

To get an idea of the size of the 79 AD eruption, mentally extend the sides of Vesuvius in the pictures shown to form the volcanic cone. The missing volume contributed to the burying of Ercolano and Pompeii.