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ROME- MORE THAN ETERNAL
Character & Charm In Abundance
By Ray Chatelin
Photos By Toshi

ROME, ITALY – All of the cities in Europe, only Rome offers a combination of the finest of 21st Century fashion, along with antiquities that date back more than two millennia. Yes, Paris, London, Barcelona, Athens, and Berlin are exciting, fashion-conscious cities with wonderful histories and cultures. But, it’s Rome whose character stands out in such abundance and charm.

It was, after all, one of the largest, the most powerful, most glamorous cities of the western world for almost five centuries. And it wasn’t until the center of the Roman Empire and its power was moved away from Rome, to Constantinople, that Ancient Rome eventually became a crumbling ruin.

Today the decaying remnant of its power, the Roman Forum, is one of the city’s main attractions and where visitors go to maintain touch with the city-state’s enormous influence. Located in a valley between the Palatine and Capitoline hills where the original marsh was drained by the Romans, the area was turned into the city’s center of political and social activity, the city’s marketplace, business district and civic center.

When the Roman Empire fell, the Forum became forgotten, buried, and was used as a cattle pasture during the middle Ages. The Catholic Church took much of the marble from the old forum and used it in the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica and other edifices.

Yet, there’s so much more to Rome than old ruins and ancient temples though, admittedly, one could spend days and even weeks going from one site to another without ever tiring of exploring them. And it’s this mix of ancient character and contemporary reality that makes the city so special. It’s all within an arm’s reach of one another.

Carving its way through one of Rome’s high end residential areas, the Via Veneto - once the heart of fashionable Rome -  still hangs on to its reputation as the city’s primary shopping area although the days when the street attracted movie stars and aristocrats, are essentially gone.

But, if you want to taste the city’s sense of elegance and style, you’ll find it here in abundance. What was once the place to see and be seen still embraces a series of stylish sidewalk cafes and shops that primarily attract customers from the nearby high-end hotels and residences.

If you want high end, fashionable shopping without the crush of tourists looking for cheap trinkets, head there. For today the major attractions of Via Veneto are its large, fashionable shoe stores, like Bruno Magli, opposite the American Embassy, and along the street that winds through the district are small boutiques and larger stores.

Walk several blocks and you find yourself on the Spanish Steps, Piazza di Spagna, so named because the Spanish Embassy is located here. Just below it are several blocks of the most exquisite shops and restaurants anywhere in the city. The steps lead from Bernini's fountain - ingeniously sunk below ground level - up to the Trinità Dei Monti, the church just above the steps and one of Rome’s most famous. In spring and autumn fashion shows involving the worlds leading supermodels are held here.

It’s easy to simply run through a list of what to see and do in Rome. The monuments, the symbols of a once grand power, the ruins of ancient times seem endless and you can spend weeks just exploring.

But no examination of Rome is complete unless you spend time at The Vatican, the separate state within a state and the center of the Roman Catholic faith with St. Peters attracting pilgrims from all over the world.

Enter the extravagantly decorated basilica beneath Michelangelo's vast dome and you instantly recognize the power behind the architecture. Its history goes back to the Second Century when a shrine was erected on the site of St Peter's tomb.

The largest church in the world, it has 45 altars, many of which were designed or embellished by some of history’s greatest artists - the Pietà by Michelangelo, the papal altar by Bernini, the Throne of St. Peter - also by Bernini - and the Monument to the Stuarts by Canova. The opulent interior can be visited daily for free although a strict dress code is enforced.

And once you’re done with St, Peters, walk around the entrance to the Vatican Museum and enter a vast complex of the worlds most magnificent museums featuring one of the finest collections of art on the planet.

There are four color-coded itineraries that range from 1 ½ hours to more than 5 hours. And all end in the Sistine Chapel. Even with a five-hour tour, it’s impossible to see everything there is to admire, but you’ll get a good overview and hit the most well-known highlights of these magnificent museums.

The many museums that make up the Vatican complex are quite diverse, ranging from pre-baroque to the 21st Century. Mostly made up of intimate rooms, there are plenty of opportunities for close-up examinations of works by Michelangelo, Raphael, among hundreds of others.

And, of course, there’s the Sistine Chapel, deservedly one of the most famous places in the world. It’s the site where the conclave for the election of the popes and other solemn pontifical ceremonies are held. Consequentially, it’s more than just a museum piece and there are guards around the chapel to ensure that no-one speaks loudly and that proper respect is shown to its importance in the Catholic hierarchy.

The barrel-vaulted ceiling is entirely covered by the famous frescoes that Michelangelo painted between 1508 and 1512. Some 20 years later he came back to paint the Last Judgment on the wall behind the altar, spending five years on the work.

When you leave Rome, you’ll have a sense of both contemporary and ancient power and influence. The amount of wealth and religious influence at the Vatican, the centuries-old ruins of what was once the most influential state on earth, the love of life that you find everywhere in the city, will stay with you forever.

That’s what makes Rome eternal.