Sunday Stroll on the Quirinale

Jesus may be the Light of the World, but the first thing I noticed about Roman churches back in January was that they were always dark. Except when there was a Mass.

Therefore, ever since the beginning of the semester, I have made it a point to attend Sunday Mass at those particular churches that I especially wanted to see in my time here, so that I could actually see them in all of their illuminated splendor.

Two Sundays ago, I decided to scale the Quirinale hill on a pilgrimage to Bernini's Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, a baroque church with an elliptical plan. There are a few other oval-shaped churches in Rome, but Sant'Andrea al Quirinale is unique: through a few subtle design moves, Bernini successfully converted the shorter axis of the ellipse into the main axis of the church.

Sculpture above the altar at Sant'Andrea al Quirinale

Since the Quirinale is pretty far from our studio and apartment, I decided to walk around and explore a bit while I was already in the area. After checking my handy Roma guidebook for suggestions, I strolled down the street to revisit Borromini's San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane.

One of the "Quattro Fontane" outside San Carlino

Since San Carlino also has an ellipselike plan, I decided to do a comparison sketch until the priest kicked me out of the church a half hour later to lock up. From there I walked away from the Quirinale along Via Veneto (which didn't live up to the hype of my guidebook) and eventually made my way back. Heading uphill, I had one of those Roman moments where you're just walking aimlessly and suddenly pass a monumental fountain that pops out of nowhere. This time it was the Moses Fountain.

Fontana dell'Acqua Felice (Moses Fountain)

Like the Trevi Fountain, the Moses Fountain marked the terminal of an aqueduct. I wonder if these fountains would have seemed so random when the aqueducts were still visible.

As I continued walking, I eventually stumbled upon Piazza della Repubblica, a large traffic circle with a huge fountain at the center. The piazza is really close to Termini Station, and every time we took a train for a school trip outside Roma and passed it, I wanted to come back. While there, the huge size and semi-ruined exterior of Santa Maria degli Angeli caught my eye. It didn't look like any other church I'd seen in Roma, and that enticed me to go in.

Facade of Santa Maria degli Angeli

Apparently, Santa Maria degli Angeli was built using some of the structure of the Baths of Diocletian that once stood on the site (some ruins are still there today). Therefore, the church is enormous, with huge barrel-vaulted spaces. Finally, I had a sense of just how massive the ancient Roman baths were, thanks to this rather large case of adaptive reuse.

Down half of the old frigidarium at Santa Maria degli Angeli