Rome - The Late Republic

We started our Friday morning with a visit to the Largo Argentina, a square in Rome that used to be home to 4 temples and the Pompey's theater, the first permanent theater in Rome. What is particularly interesting about this square is that, unlike the squares and forums that followed it, the buildings were all somewhat haphazard and were built by different people at different times, with little regard for the grander plan of the square. As previously noted, the theater that was built here was the first of its kind. In Ancient Rome, the tradition was to build theaters out of wood, and then tear or burn them down after the performance was over to preserve the sanctity of the Roman people. Because of this, when Pompey built the theater he added a small "temple" into the top level, in order to give the appearance of something besides a theater. In present day Rome, this square is used as a cat sanctuary. Cats in Rome are allowed to live where they are born. When they find injured cats, they bring them to this sanctuary and help them heal. It essentially serves as the "cat capital" of Rome.

A view of the Largo Argentina from the street above. Pieces of the ancient world's temples that were built here are buried beneath the current city streets. 

We spent the afternoon out of the hot sun (thankfully - it was a scorcher today) in the Centrale Montemartini. The Centrale Montemartini is a museum inside of an old power plant. Sounds weird, right? Well, here's the back story: in 1995 the Capitoline Museum had to be renovated. Rather than close down the museum to the public, because it was so popular they decided to move some of their sculptures and artifacts to this power plant that had been out of use since the 60's. It was so popular that they decided to leave them there, and the Centrale Montemartini is now an extension of the Capitoline Museum. What this phenomenon of mashing together histories and putting places where they don't seem to belong has done is create an incredible juxtaposition of Roman history. In the same moment, you can look at a statue built in 220 BC and a piston made for the power plant in 1920. It is an incredible reminder of the way Rome's history spans time, and that it is continually being added to every day. I was reminded the other day that, now that I am experiencing these things and writing about them, even I am becoming a small piece of Rome's history.

A statue from the Centrale Montemartini placed in front of heavy power equipment. It's incredibly strange to see Ancient Roman art fixed between pieces of heavy machinery. 

Today was an absolutely exhausting day. With the insane heat and the amount of walking we did, I was beat coming back from dinner. As we walked over the bridge back to our apartment, you could look out over the river and see the sun setting behind Vatican City. Rome's beauty - in the most unexpected times and places - never ceases to amaze me.

View from the bridge over the river on our walk home from dinner tonight.
Love all the beautiful colors in the sky