Church...

How can one town have so many churches? Walking around Rome is amazing, you walk a few blocks (keep in mind that ‘blocks’ are not what you are used to.) and you find yourself in another Piazza, and on one side of it or the other, is another church. You must also readjust yourself to the concept of churches. They really are Basilicas, not all on the grand scale of St. Peter’s or even the Duomo in Florence, but you would be amazed what the Catholic church is able to afford.

Well, first going back to the Duomo in Florence. It was built by the Florentines to show the world the beauty of their town. We had the most beautiful view of it at night from the rooftop restaurant of our hotel. All lit up to show its green, red and white marble exterior. Apparently, however, the Florentines didn’t need any reminding, because the inside of the Basilica itself is downright plane and unadorned.

Not so the churches of Rome. We would come to a church whose brick exterior, after a couple hundred years of weathering, looked like it was melting. All the corners rounded off, places where plants were growing into the walls, and whole chunks of the façade falling off. Then we would go inside to find beautiful frescos on the ceilings, shining marble floors and pillars and gold gilded alter pieces and domes. No matter what the exteriors looked like, some in disrepair and some recently repaired, the interiors were almost without exception beautiful and lavish.

I don’t think that there are enough Catholics in Rome to fill up all of those churches, luckily there are enough priests in the Vatican to service them all.