Naples - Cappella Sansevero

Tucked away in the old part of the city, known as Spaccanapoli, is the Chapel of Sansevero.  Built, and then rebuilt, to fulfill promises to God, the current Baroque interior is from the 18th Century.

Today the chapel is a museum and its most famous work is Giuseppe Sanmartino's 1753 sculpture The Veiled Christ.  Even as you stand in front of it, it's hard to believe that the entire piece is made from marble ... the sculptor has made the marble appear to be transparent.

The museum has an excellent web site, full of pictures and information here.

Omaggio a Roma (A Tribute to Rome)

A couple of years ago the director Franco Zeffirelli produced a 20 minute film entitled Omaggio a Roma, which means A Tribute to Rome.   It features stunning photograpy of Rome and, as an added bonus, Andrea Bocelli singing.  Among the sites you'll see are:

• Tiber Island (in the still shot above)
• Trevi Fountain
• Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers, in Piazza Navona)
• St. Peter's Basilica
• Detail from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
• Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio and Cordonata
• Sculptures from the Capitoline Museums
• Colosseum
• Castel Sant'Angelo (the setting for the final act of Tosca)
• Bernini sculptures from the Galleria Borghese
• Il Vittoriano, the monument to King Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy, the first king of unified Italy
• Pantheon

You can see a three minute excerpt of the film here.

Rome - Pantheon

There are two preeminent architectural survivors of the Classical age, the Pantheon in Rome and the Parthenon in Athens. The Pantheon, however, is the only one that not only remains intact, it has been in near continuous use for almost two millennium.

It's not much to look at from the outside, owing to a few ancient recycling programs; gilded bronze tiles that once decorated the exterior of the dome were carted off in 663 by the Byzantine emperor Constans II, and in the 1620's Pope Urban VIII re-purposed about two hundred tons of bronze that once encased the supporting beams and underside of the portico roof by turning them into cannons. According to some sources, he commented that the metal was better employed keeping enemies away from the Holy See than keeping rain out of the Pantheon.

Although the church is partly responsible for the Pantheon's somewhat homely exterior, the fact that it survives at all is largely due to the church taking it over in the seventh century and consecrating it as sacred space.

The interior today features a beautiful marble floor that preserves the original Roman design.  There are shrines along the circular walls that include the tombs of the Renaissance painter Raphael and of several kings of Italy. 

Probably the most interesting part of the Pantheon interior is the ceiling and the oculus, the hole at the top that illuminates the entire interior of the building. 

The dome is made of concrete, which was a relatively new material in the second century.  It is 142 feet across and was the largest in Rome by far for nearly fifteen centuries, until St. Peter's Basilica was built.  

On rainy days, tourists flock to the Pantheon to see it rain indoors and they are not disappointed.

To read more about the architecture of the Pantheon, see here.

La Grotta Azzura (The Blue Grotto)

Arguably Capri’s most famous attraction, the Blue Grotto was rediscovered in 1826 by August Kopisch, a German writer and painter, and his friend and fellow painter, Ernst Fries.  They came across the cave while swimming in the area.  Centuries earlier the grotto was the personal nymphaeum (Roman monumental fountain) of Emperor Tiberius.

The brilliant blue of the water is created by the way light bounces through the small opening to the sea and through an underground hole.

The only way to visit the grotto is via small rowboats, reached either on foot from Anacapri or by speedboat from Marina Grande.  The best time is in the afternoon, when the angle of the sunlight creates the most brilliant blue.

For more information, see here.

Ravello

The most beautiful sight that I have ever seen in the world

is the panoramic view from Villa Cimbrone on a bright winter’s day,

when the sky and the sea are so vividly blue

that it is not possible to distinguish them from each other.

Gore Vidal

Ravello is one of the easternmost towns along the Amalfi Coast.  Located about three miles up the hill from the coast road, Ravello is known for amazing vistas, famous gardens, and its annual arts festival.

According to the Ravello Concert Society, Wagner found the inspiration for the second act of Parsifal in Ravello.   Now known as the City of Music, the famous Ravello Festival began as performances of Wagner's works.  Over the years it has grown into an arts fesitval with a variety of music and dance performances.

There will be two concerts at Ravello during our time in Sorrento, if anyone is interested in attending one (or both), we can arrange for tickets and transportation:

Monday, October 17, 8:30 PM
RAVELLO - Villa Rufolo

RAFFAELE TERLIZZI piano recital
L. van Beethoven: Sonata op.101, 32 Variazioni WoO80
R. Schumann: Sonata op.22, Studi Sinfonici op.13

 

 

Wednesday, October 19, 8.30 PM
RAVELLO - Villa Rufolo

 

CARLA AVENTAGGIATO - MAURIZIO MATARRESE
piano four-hands
E. Grieg: Danze Norvegesi op.35
F. Busoni: 2 Danze Finlandesi
M. Moszowsky: 5 Danze Spagnole op.12
A. Dvorak: 6 Danze Slave
J. Brahms: 6 Danze Ungheresi

 

You can read more about the concerts (and listen to music from past events) on the web site of the Ravello Concert Society.

 

Villa Rufolo

The concerts will be held a Villa Rufolo, a beautiful old palazzo and gardens.  Although their web site is in Italian, you can see pictures of the palazzo and the gardens here.

 

 

Garden lovers will also enjoy Villa Cimbrone, the former 12th century residence of the Vuilleumier family.  Run today as a hotel, the gardens are among the most famous in Italy.

 

 

In the main pizza you'll find the cathedral of Ravello, built in 1087; it is known for its bronze doors, created in 1179 by  Barisano da Trani.

 

 

Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums hold one of the world's greatest collections of art.  According to their web site, the collection was begun with a group of sculptures that belonged to Pope Julius II (1502-1513).    Today the complex, which is housed in a series of connected palaces, is measured in acres, not feet.

Among the collections at the Vatican Museums are:

• Egyptian
• Etruscan
• Classican Antiquities (Greek and Roman)
• Christian Artifacts
• Paintings
• Tapestries
• Maps
• Ceramics
• Miniature Mosaics

Without doubt, the two most famous parts of the Vatican Museums are the Raphael Rooms (the papal apartment of Pope Julius II) and the Sistine Chapel. 

Detail from Raphael Rooms decoration

The only way to visit the Sistine Chapel is through the Vatican Museums.

Sistine Chapel, Vatican City

The museums are always crowded but you can beat the line by pre-purchasing entry tickets directly from the museum on their web site here.  You can choose from simple entry tickets or a variety of guided tours. 

For those who are not extending their time in Rome, you will have two opportunities to visit the Vatican Museums.  You could choose the Vatican Museums Under the Stars program on Friday night, October 21st, 7 PM - 11 PM, or you could pick a daytime visit on Saturday October 22nd.

Tickets are available on line 60 days prior, so August 21st/22nd is the time to make your reservations (I'll publish a reminder as we get closer).

The exit from the Vatican Museums is down the 1932 Giuseppe Momo spiral ramp:

Rome

Someone recently asked me to list the top ten tourist sites in Rome.  "That's easy" I thought, until I tried to do it.  The first eight were easy (in no particular order):

The Colosseum

Sistine Chapel/Vatican Museums

Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon

St. Peter's/Piazza San Pietro

Roman Forum

Piazza Navona

Campo dei Fiori

So there's nine, without even taking a breath.  It's difficult to pick the tenth site, I've got at least a dozen on the tip of my tongue to choose from.  Let's see, there's ...

• Palatine Hill
• Capitoline Museums/Campidoglio
• Castel Sant'Angelo
• Villa Borghese/Galleria Borghese
• Trastevere
• Santa Maria Maggiore
• Baths of Caracalla
• San Giovanni Laterano
• Appian Way/Catacombs
• Ara Pacis
• Santa Maria Cosmedin/Bocca della Verita (Mouth of Truth)
• San Clemente

... and I'm just getting warmed up.