Destination: ROME
The Roman Colosseum - Its name comes from the golden bronze colossus which Nero wanted to be built as his portrait: the real name of the monument is Flavius amphitheatre. It was built during the reign of Vespasiano about 2,000 years ago and is the greatest example of Roman engineering with the use of Greek archetypical columns as exterior decoration (Doric, Ionic and Corinthian). By putting two theaters together, they created a circular amphitheater which could seat 55,000 spectators; it was covered with a huge curtain to protect people from the sun. The spectators watched entertainment and fighting among gladiators while they enjoyed bread and wine furnished by the Emperor in his attempt to gain popularity. Warriors called Gladiators fought convicted criminals, wild beasts, Christian martyrs and other warriors to the death.
The Trevi Fountain - This is the most imposing, photographed and artistically worthy of all fountains in the world. When, at the beginning of 1730, Pope Clemente XII celebrating his reopening of the ancient aqueduct that powers it, Nicola Salvi designed the fountain and work began in 1735 and concluded under the papacy of Clamente VIII Rezzonico. The fountain was inaugurated on the 22nd of May, 1760.
Fontana del Tritone in Piazza Barberini - Thought to be one of the most beautiful of the seventeen Roman fountains, it was built in travertine by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1643. Between the dolphins' tails which support the shell on which the Triton crouches, Bernini placed two coats of arms of the Barberini family. The Triton which blows in the shell pushes out a jet of water, which, falling on the valves which direct it into the basin below creates an incredibly choreographic effect. It was restored both in 1932 and 1990.
|