Rome

Some holiday pictures from Rome below. Click on an image to go see 'em larger...

The Pantheon - Not only did Emperor Hadrian build a wall that ended in my home town of Wallsend,
he also built this temple. Absolutely stunning.

The circular window at the top of the Pantheon's dome allows sunlight to shine in.
Quite stunning how it lit a doorway high up on one wall.

Most of the temples are no more. Some of the columns just stand there in little
openings that appear in the narrow streets

Fountain of the Four Rivers in the centre of the Piazza Navona,
the Piazza has the shape of the Stadium of Domitian where chariot races took place

This was the Temple of Hadrian, converted into a palace for a pope, then
more recently converted into a bank

One of the stunning rooms in the Vatican museum

They don't make ceilings like this any more - every twist and turn in the Vatican museum
was amazing

Thirsty work walking around Rome - glass of Pinot Grigio at a cheeky little
wine bar at the top of the Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain - throw that coin over your shoulder!

Circo Massimo - what was Ancient Rome's largest ever chariot racing stadium,
150,000 spectators could watch. Ben Hur

The Colosseum - it is reported that to celebrate a great victory in 107AD they had 123
consecutive days of entertainment. 11,000 wild animals and 10,000 gladiators died. 

1,700 year old bronze door to the Temple of Romulus it still opens on the original hinges.
The purple columns are crafted from the stone Porphyry. This stone is so rare it is only found in
one quarry 1,600m up a remote mountain in Egypt. Only the Romans had the resources (large numbers of slaves)
to mine it.

Colosseum pictured from the Palatino hill