PROJECT 1

Villa Giulia was another destination in our field trip class. This building/garden was built by Pope Julius III and holds the Museo Nazionale Etrusco. This trip was a little further away from our apartments, so we took a series of buses there.





When you enter the building, you can choose to either turn into the giftshop/museum area, or you can walk directly through to the gardens. This is the view that I had when I stepped into the garden. It was an overcast day, but the villa was still beautiful.





There are a series of interlocking spaces within the outdoor area. This transitional space leads to the fountain.










The villa has multiple levels, and when you walk out of the first garden, you overlook a great fountain from a balcony.










This picture was taken from one of the side gardens.











Spiro + Facial Hair = .............?

Our next site visit was to Campidoglio. Campidoglio was designed by Michelangelo, and was intended to show the connection between church and state. To accomplish this, he alligned the space so that the dome of Saint Peter's could be seen. The entry sequence into the major space is monumental, to say the least. A long ramp/stairway leads you up to the court from the street.






Before you enter Campidoglio, you cross a line of statues which symbolically guarding the space.







This picture was taken from the piazza on top of Capitoline Hill. The building shown is Pelazzo Senatorio. Alongside this building are two museums. When we were there, there were many tour groups ascending the hill and going into the museums.








There is a replica of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in the center of the piazza. It is alligned so that it is looking directly at you when you make it to the top of the hill.









This picture was taken of the equestrian statue from the other angle. You can see how the statue stands right in the middle of the piazza and looks out onto the city.






You can walk around the back of Campidoglio and look down on the other side of the hill. Behind the piazza, there tons of ancient ruins. This is the space where the Roman leader would address the public. It was an amazing sight. In the distance you can see the Colosseum.




Cool fountain picture.

Our first field trip was to the Pantheon. Seeing the building is an amazing experience. There is a huge difference between seeing the Pantheon on slides and actually standing in front of it. The size of the spaces inside and outside are almost overwhelming, but at the same time it fits into the urban setting perfectly. You can see, from the first picture, that small quiet alleys lead directly to the Pantheon. In the US, a building of this magnitude would most likely not be nestled in between smalls markets. I feel that the Pantheon is not only a beatiful building, but it also fits into its surroundings perfectly.



The inscription that runs along the facade reads, "M-Agrippa-L-F-Cos-Tertium-Fecit". This text translates to "Marcus Agrippa, Son of Lucius, During His Third Consulate, Built This".









The fountain in front of the building is incredibly detailed. There are carvings of fish and lions. The steps that radiate from the fountain are a great place to sit down and take in the sites.









This is the entrance to the Pantheon. You can get a sense of how enormous it is by comparing it to the size of the people standing underneath it.









The opening in the cieling is referred to as the "oculus". It is a huge circle that allows a lot of natural light into the interior space. The dome is absolutely enormous, and reminds us of the advanced cement building techniques discovered by Romans.








Unfortunately, Robert Langdon was not seen anywhere on our trip to the Pantheon. It was said that he was most likely busy either dominating the Illuminati, or doing the hanky panky with Vittoria.