Rome: Basilica Santa Croce, Aurelian walls, Giardini di via Carlo Felice

 

On my first full day in Rome I went exploring the area around our apartment.  Porta San Giovanni (St John gate) is very nearby as one of the gates through the Aurelian walls that were built between 271 and 275 AD to replace the previous city walls.  So I walked through the Giardini di via Carlo Felice to get an eyeful of the walls to the Basilica di Santa Croce to see some holy relics.

First stop was to see the statue of St Francis of Asissi and his followers that was erected in 1927 to commemorate the 700th anniversary of his death.

Then a stroll through some lovely gardens.  These gardens are quite narrow and situated alongside the Aurelian walls but incredibly green.

 The gardens are beautiful especially with the Ancient Roman walls in the background.

 I loved the fence beside the walls.  The wooden fence posts make it blend well with the Ancient walls.

The dog park by the walls is a mighty fine place to let your dog run free (see the dog in the park).  Enough to make me want a dog.  As well as the dog park there is a drinking fountain and a children's park.

Across the road from the end of the gardens is the Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.  This translates as the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem.  This church was originally a room in the Empress Helena's palace until she transformed it into a Christian church in circa 320 AD.  The floor was covered in soil from Jerusalem so the basilica was considered to be IN Jerusalem.  Helena (later canonised as a saint) made piligramage to Jerusalem where she acquired relics from Jerusalem that are on display in the basilica.

The basilica has been a place of pilgrimage for almost 2000 years.  It has remodelled since its inception and now has this grand entrance but no Jerusalem soil on the floor.

Upon entering the basilica it is dimmed with the lighting directing the eye to the aspe.  It has a detailed fresco telling the Legends of the True Cross. 

In the middle of the fresco is St Helena standing with the true cross.

On the walls are paintings.  I had the name of this one but some of my notes have gone.

Then I followed the sign towards the relics.  To get there I passed through the vestibule which includes notes on the relics and the stations of the cross.

Although I am no longer a practicing Catholic, I loved the stories of the stations of the cross when we went to this solemn ceremony on Good Friday as a kid.  This station of the cross above is sixth: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.  The story is that she felt pity for Jesus struggling with the cross and offered her veil to him to wipe his face.  The veil was returned to her with an image of her face.

Although I have quite a few pictures, I was reluctant to photograph the copy of the Holy Shroud (of Turin).  I have never seen the shroud in such detail and wondered what if that really was the face of Jesus.  Afterwards I had to search it and found opinions to support the story of the shroud being the one that wrapped Jesus' body after he died on the cross, and some that dispute the veracity of the story.

The Chapel of the Relics of the Passion feels sacred.  People sit on the pews in prayer and reflection while a brave few made their way close to the cabinet of the relics and took photos.  The above photo shows the main attraction: in the cross icon are fragments of the True Cross.  Above that from left to right is a piece of St Thomas' finger, more holy relics from Jerusalem and two thorns believed to have come from the crown of thorns on Jesus' head.

This relic is the wooden tablet where Pontious Pilate wrote King of the Jews in Hebrew, Greek and Latin and fixed it above Jesus on the cross.  While part of me is cynical, another part is excited to see actual items from the stories of my childhood.

This photo is an old fashioned confessional.  It looks to me like the priest sits in the middle and there is a seat either side.  But I am not clear that a priest would be totally concealed and the confessors would be speaking where they might be viewed.  Though I remember going to confession in the privacy of the sacristy so maybe this would be in a private place.  It still would not explain why there are two seats for confessors.

Then I was asked to leave because the Basilica closes at 12.30pm until 3.30pm.  So I walked back on the road side of the Aurelian walls.
 

Here is one final photo from the Aurelian walls.  They were so beautiful I just wanted to keep taking photos but I went home to where Sylvia was finished resting and ready to go out.