Excursion tour in Rome. Top architecture - monuments, castles, temples and palaces

» The location of the Pantheon wasn’t chosen by chance. According to the legend, this is where the founder of the city, Romulus, was raised after the death by eagles and carried away into the heavens to all the gods.
» The name of the monument comes from a pair of Greek words that mean ‘all divine.’
» In the 80 AD The Pantheon has been rebuilt after Domitian fire. Then, 30 years later, the church building caught fire again as a result of a lightning strike.
» The main feature of the Pantheon is Oculus sky window, the hole of 9 meters in diameter, which is the only window of the temple.

» Sant Agnese in Agone is the church built in honor of an early Christian martyr, St. Agnes of Rome.
» According to the legend, 13-year-old Christian woman was naked put at the arena of the stadium before a crowd of pagans. There was a miracle, when suddenly grown hair covered the future saint from head to toe.
» The crypt of the church contains the most valuable Christian relic, the head of Saint Agnes.
» The temple played the role of the court church, because it was near the palace of Pamphili family that gave birth to the Pope Innocent X. Above the entrance, lie the remains of Pope Innocent X.
» The church has a form a Greek cross, in which each segment is interconnected. This is due to the location, sandwiched by Piazza Navona and the street behind the church.

» This is the first church in Rome and one of the oldest Christian churches.
» In the Catholic hierarchy, this church stands above all other temples in the world, and that’s affirmed with inscription over the entrance – ‘The Most Holy Lateran Church, Mother and head of all the churches of the City and the world.’
»  The main temple preserves the Holy Steps, a ladder, brought by St. Helen from Jerusalem. According to church tradition, it was the ladder that Christ used to ascend to the tribunal, which preceded the crucifixion.
» The robe of the Basilica of the Virgin and the sponge with traces of blood, of which, according to legend, Jesus Christ drunk vinegar at the crucifixion, are among local relics.
» In antiquity, there was the estate of a noble family of the Lateran on the site of the Basilica.
» The temple was decorated with precious gifts of emperors, thus it got the name Golden Basilica; all of them were lost in the sack of Rome by vandals in the 5th century.

» This is the main cathedral of all, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and the fourth of the largest cathedrals in Rome.
» The cathedral has retained its original form and is the only cathedral of its type.
» The interesting legend is associated with foundation of Santa Maria Maggiore. Once, in the summer night, Madonna appeared to Pope Liberius and rich Roman Giovanni Patrizio in a dream. She ordered them to build the church at the place, where snow would fall the next day. The next morning the site, where now stands the basilica, was covered with snow.
» Main relics of the church are the image of the Virgin Mary and the silver shrine of the sacred manger, where Son of God was placed after birth.
» Under a triumphal arch stands a large canopy, behind which there is the main altar including the sarcophagus, in which the relics of St. Matthew are kept.

» Galleria Borghese is the artistic collection of the princely Borghese family.
» There is a vast and unique collection of the most famous paintings of Dutch, Flemish, French, German and Spanish masters.
» Cardinal Scipione Borghese began collecting the collection of fine arts. According to rumors, some of the paintings were stolen from churches under his orders.
» The gallery is surrounded by the very amazing park with sculptures of world-famous artists. There is a statue dedicated to Pushkin in the park.
» Romans called this palace ‘the harpsichord’ because of its shape.

» The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina is the shrine that Antoninus Pius has built in memory of his young wife Faustina.
» Gossip accused her of immorality, but the Emperor adored his wife so much that he said, "I would prefer to live in the desert, but with Faustina, than to live in the palace, but without her."
»  After his death the emperor was unanimously recognized as a god, and the church received a double name, of Antoninus and Faustina.
» During the Middle Ages, the temple was rebuilt in the church of St. Lawrence, who was burned alive on the grid here.
» Only a staircase leading to a high podium and altar used for animal sacrifice has survived there.
» You can see the jagged grooves at high columns; those are traces of ropes, which were used to topple the props, but didn’t succeed.