Building upon the Past

Day two in Italy and we are off and running.  We begin with a trip on the Metro, Rome's subway system.  It is pretty easy to navigate and we bought a one week unlimited fare so we can use this whenever we need.  Our trip today takes us downtown to the San Clemente Church.  The AAA guidebook highly recommended this and they were right.

It took a little walking to find the church as it is not listed on the maps handed out by the hotels.  It is not one of the major basilicas.  San Clemente, however, dates back to the 12th Century and the interior features some incredible frescoes and beautiful marble that is so typical of churches in this area.  But, one of the things that distinguishes this church from others is that they discovered a hole that led down into an unknown portion of the church.  The current building was constructed atop the old San Clemente church which dates around the fourth century. 

After they began the excavation of the area, they found worship spaces, old frescoes and other artifacts from the previous congregation.  These are on display as one walks through the lower interior portions of the building.  One of the frescoes had the inscription: "Whosoever may read these letters of my name, let him say, 'God have mercy on unworthy John.'"  History may never reveal the meaning behind this, but it sounds like the makings of a good story.  Unworthy John, your work survives and it is appreciated by an unworthy, but thankful, sojourner. 

Surprisingly, there is another level beneath the 4th Century church.  They discovered that the church was built atop the site of a pre-Christian temple and a home with a running spring.  There was not a lot of information about these two, but they were interesting to tour nonetheless.

I found it interesting to view the various levels and the ways in which the city has grown and changed. Later we learned that it was typical for a building to become unused and for the limestone and marble to be "recycled" in other buildings.  Modern churches may have flooring from previously pagan temples and archways may include the remnants of places of worship.  They just keep building upon the foundations that were there.

I wish I could share some photos from San Clemente, but photography was not permitted.  Even so, as with many places we have visited, I suspect that no picture could begin to do justice to the reality of its beauty.  We bought the tour book, so when we return, I can share the sights that way. 

Our gratitude goes out to the architects of the modern structures and the historical foundations of those who went before, unworthy though we may be.

Peace, friends!