Rome via Brooklyn

339 words, 2 minutes read time.

The temple of Portunus seemed and is especially old, since it has been used for 2 millennia. “It was converted into a church of St. Mary at a very early date… in the mid-C16 it was given to an order of Armenian monks… “ ( 285, Claridge). This temple has so much history, and now it is pretty interesting how it is belonging just to the government and not being used for anything religious. It also makes me think about how many tourists go to the Bocca della Verità and do not take time to really look at the temple itself. There are probably so many more instances of this, and I am just walking by pieces of something that was so grand and important, but there is truly so much and so many impressions to make here that I understand how you could miss something. In the museum we went to, everything was so historic that there were probably many things missed. Even the gift shop ceiling had ornate mosaics.

Jessica and I went to the great synagogue on our break. It was one of or even the most gorgeous synagogue that I have seen. It had a square dome, which the guide said is a striking and unusual feature. I am curious to see how it compares to churches in the area. In terms of the outside, it had columns and engravings like many of the places we have seen. We passed by the ruins of Largo di Torre Argentina, which is the Site of Julius Caesar’s Death, which now has cats roaming around it!

I keep going back to the ideas of how things evolved, and it’s clear to see this by the artifacts in the museum. The one that really caught my eye was the fire pit. I also am now comparing it to the modern day fire pits, and mass production takes a lot of beauty out of everyday objects. Another example of that would be the hairbrush in the museum that had the intricate designs.