Travels in the 2nd half

  If I had to guess, I would say that just about everyone has heard of and seen pictures of, Saint Peter’s Square in Vatican City, especially after the recent naming of a new Pope. I would also venture that many readers of a travel blog have had the opportunity to visit The Vatican. But I would guess that not as many people have had the chance to visit on one of the most important days on the Christian calendar. Well, I had the opportunity to be there on Palm Sunday this year, and it did not disappoint. Saint Peter’s Square was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and opened in 1667. The interior courtyard is 196 m long and 149 m wide, and is designed to hold up to 300,000 people with a view of both the speaking platform and the Pope’s balcony. It is surrounded by colonnades which contain 284 columns that are 16m tall. The covered walkways are topped off with 140 statues of saints and martyrs. Colonnade at Saint Peter's Square At the center of the square is an Egyptian obelisk (25....

Palazzo Barberini   Like many cities in Europe, Rome has taken many of its old palaces and turned them into museums. The Palazzo Barberini is and excellent example, now using the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica (National Gallery of Antique Art). The Palazzo Barberini was built between 1625 and 1633 by Maffeo Barberini, who had recently been anointed as Pope Urban VIII. The Barberini family were nobility and made their fortune as trade merchants. It was around this time that they created a workshop that created tapestries. The Barberini family lived in the palazzo until 1955. The Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica was founded in 1893. In 1883 Tomaso Corsini sold his palace to the Italian government, along with his entire collection of paintings. This collection formed the original gallery and was housed in the Palazzo Corsini, where it is still on the walls, the way the Corsini family had them arranged. Over the years the museum grew, and in 1953 Italy purchased the Palazzo Barberin...