Roma a passo di carica

Following our visit to the Vatican Museums, we had scheduled a short lunch break.

  

We found a small restaurant in Via del Penitenzieri opposite the Chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia. The church dates back to a Schola Saxonum, which King Ine of Wessex had built in 727 for Saxon pilgrims. In the Middle Ages, not only pilgrims but also fighting men traveled along the Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome.

Over the centuries, the adjoining hospice and church were frequently destroyed, i.e., during the Sack of Rome by the mercenaries of Charles V. Pope Sixtus IV joined the church to the nearby Hospital of the Holy Spirit for foundlings.

We had ordered a salad, were served our water, and waited for our lunch. So we had time to look around. Opposite the restaurant, Pope Benedict XIV, one of the patrons of the institution, is commemorated.

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Eventually, time became short for our meeting at the Castello Sant'Angelo for the guided tour of Rome. We signaled to the waiter that we wanted to leave and just pay for the water. Apparently, he was not as hungry as we were, but as frustrated, and said we should go without paying.

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We arrived just in time and started our Rome visit at a fast pace. 

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We passed the Pantheon, ...

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... glanced at the Fontana di Trevi, and just made it ...

... to the farewell mass in Santa Maria Maggiore.

The mass was presided over by a cardinal who spoke in extenso about the motto of our pilgrimage: Aid to the Church in Need.

For us German pilgrims, the evening ended with a communal meal at a restaurant in the Travestere district.

     

As we approached the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere, we heard a brass band performing in the church square.

     

It was the Banda Musicale Folkloristica from Folgaria in Trentino.

The Basilica Santa Maria is the heart and soul of Rome's Trastevere district. It's one of the oldest churches in the Holy City, dating back to the 3rd century. It was rebuilt in the 12th century under Pope Innocent II.

 
The interior is of stunning Romanesque architecture, with ancient granite columns. Especially the 13th-century golden mosaics by PietroCavallini shimmer in the apse and the richly decorated ceiling. They depict scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary. 

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We spent some time in the Basilica. As we left, the darkness was setting in, and for a while we watched the pavement painters at work.

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We returned to the place after dinner and were astonished to see that the artists had brought Pope Leo XIV's central message to the pavement:

Jesus invites all people to follow Him

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