A G: Italy Day 4 - Rome Day 4 Part 3 by Gordon, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Barberini

Sunday, June 10, 2018

Italy Day 4 - Rome Day 4 Part 3 by Gordon, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Barberini

Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Barberini

~ Gordon

Pantheon, The Ugly Boat Fountain at Spanish Steps

Fontana del Quattro Fiumi, Church of St. Agnes

If you come to Rome, there is one attraction you don’t want to miss, the Pantheon! The Pantheon was built in 113 AD. This building was one of the most well preserved building from ancient Rome, even almost 2000 years has past. It was built to commemorate all gods. The Pantheon can look very great with an obelisk at the front. The Piazza Navona is close to Pantheon. Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, designed by Bernini, locates in the center of the piazza. An obelisk is built in the center of the fountain.

Pantheon

Walking towards Pantheon

Obelisk in front of Pantheon

Pantheon

At the entrance

The dome

Under the dome of Pantheon

Dome of Pantheon

Under the dome

Interior of Pantheon

Raphael's Tomb at Pantheon

Raphael's tomb at Pantheon

Raphael's tomb at the left corner
of Pantheon

Raphael's tomb at Pantheon

Pantheon at night

Pantheon is a really cool building. Did you know that a sphere of 43.3 meters in diameter could fit in the top of the dome to the floor? The Romans liked to use a special kind of concrete, Roman concrete. It was very efficient because it was waterproof. The Pantheon contained over 5,000 tons of Roman concrete! Note that this ton is the same as 2K pounds. On Equinoxes, the Pantheon lights up the courtyard at noon sharp. Raphael had a tomb at the Pantheon which said, “Mother Nature was afraid that she would suicide if Rafael died.”

Spanish Steps

Bernini's Boat Fountain at the bottom of Spanish Steps

Column of the Immaculate Conception

Column of the Immaculate ConceptionOn the top, the blessed virgin Mary carrying a wealth of flowers

At the column

Santa Maria Maddalena Basilica

Interior of the basilica

Piazza Navona

Chiesa di S. Agnese in Agone

Chiesa di S. Agnese in Agone &
Fountain of the Four Rivers

Borromini's design of the dome

Dome

Interior of the basilica

Fountain of the Four Rivers

Fountain of the Four Rivers and obelisk

At the fountain

Ganges representing Asia

Nile representing Africa

Rio de la Plata representing Americas

Danube representing Europe

Fountain of the Four Rivers

Neptune Fountain

Neptune Fountain at Piazza Navona

Fontana dei Moro

At the fountain

Bernini's design of
the fountain

Piazza Navona is on top of the list - 10 places you must visit in Rome. For sure, the piazza alway attracts the crowds. Off course, The Fountain of the Four Rivers is the sparklight of the piazza. It has a Roman obelisk at its center, which is a copy of an Egyptian obelisk. The whole fountain looks very nice with a lot decorations. People say that the design wasn’t supposed to be Bernini’s. But the pope saw Bernini’s design and decided to build in Bernini’s way. It looks great. There are 4 river god representing 4 continent, Asia, Europe, America, Africa. The church Sant’Agnese in Agone behind the fountain was designed by 2 famous Baroque architect, Bernini and Borromini. There were 2 other fountains at the piazza, the Fountain of Neptune is at one corner, and the Fountain of the Moors People is on the other corner. Bernini redesigned the centerpiece of the Fountain of the Moors People, a moors riding an octopus.

The Pantheon and the fountains we saw look great with many lights and decorations. The Pantheon has extremely accurate calculations. The fountains look very beautiful. I wish that we could go there again!