Trastevere and The Forum

Our last full day in Rome was packed full of things we had wanted to do on Christmas Day, but couldn't because they were all closed. Christmas probably isn't the best time to visit Rome, because it's a city that literally shuts down from Christmas Eve, all the way until we left on the day after Boxing Day.

We spent the morning in the Trastevere district of Rome. The Trastevere is west of the River Tiber, and south of the Vatican, so it was in easy walking distance from our apartment.

Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere - with a mosaic from the 12th-century of the Virgin Mary with Jesus surrounded by 10 women holding lamps

The Trastevere district is one of the loveliest parts of Rome. It almost has the feel of a Tuscan hill town, full of winding alleyways and cobbled streets.

In the centre of the district is the Piazza di Santa Maria, a piazza lined with restaurants and bars, with a big fountain in the middle. It is also the location of the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, which is one of the oldest churches in Rome. It was also one of the first to publicly celebrate Mass.

The interior, like most of Rome's churches, was just stunning. Amazing architecture on the walls and the ceilings.

After wandering the winding streets for a while in the sunshine, we stopped at one of the many tiny pizza shops and grabbed some pizza for lunch. We wandered back to the Piazza di Santa Maria and enjoyed an al fresco lunch. We enjoyed a free lunchtime concert with an awesome jazz duo playing some great music. We made sure to leave some money for them when we left. It was also some of the best pizza we've had in Italy.

Enjoying lunch on the fountain steps in Piazza di Santa Maria

After lunch we headed off in the direction of the Roman Forum, and had a quick stop off at The Mouth of Truth. This was made famous in the movie Roman Holiday which we watched before we went to Rome. The legend says, that if you put your hand in it's mouth and tell a lie, the statue will bite off your hand! I didn't take the chance...

The River Tiber with St Peter's Basilica in the background

The Mouth of Truth - made famous in the movie Roman Holiday. Which is a great movie.

We arrived at the Roman Forum and headed straight in. Luckily there were no lines. In summer, you can end up waiting for hours to get into some of the famous sites in Rome. Christmas in Rome was pretty packed, and I can't imagine how insane it must be in the summer!

The Arch of Septimius Severus

The Roman Forum began as a market place, and became the political and religious hub, plus the town square and centre of the whole of Rome. After the fall of the Roman Empire it was turned into a huge pasture.

It is located between the Palatine and Capitoline hills and is filled with amazing ancient ruins and architecture that has been excavated. Rome is filled with ancient ruins. That's why their subway system is so limited. Every time they try to dig a new line, they come across more ruins.

The remains of the Temple of Vesta

Statues at the House of the Vestal Virgins

Looking out towards the Basilica of Maxentius - also called the Basilica of Constantine. The basilica was used as Rome's public law courts.

The view over the Forum towards the Arch of Titus and the Colosseum

The tickets to the Roman Forum also included the Colosseum. We'd been there the day before, but it was closed. So we were glad we'd be able to get to see inside.

The Colosseum was built in 72AD, and could hold up to 50,000 people. It is four stories high, and the top contained seating for women and the lower classes.

The lowest storey was preserved for the most important Roman citizens. Below the ground were rooms with cages containing wild animals. The cages could be lifted up, which meant the animals could appear in the middle of the arena.

The Colosseum is pretty huge on the inside, and it's hard to get a feel of what it looked like originally. Overall it's more impressive from the outside, as the inside has not fared as well, all the seating has disappeared. It was really fun trying to imagine how it would have been thousands of years ago, with Roman gladiators fighting lions and tigers to the death.

The southern side of the Colosseum was destroyed in an earthquake in 847, and the parts that had broken off were used to build other parts of Rome, including St Peter's Basilica.

Just chilling on the Colosseum steps

After we'd had our fill of the Colosseum, we headed back to the Pantheon, hoping it would be open today. Unfortunately it was still closed, so we didn't get to see inside.

It was still nice to see it in the daytime, though it was a lot busier than when we first visited at midnight on Christmas Eve.

So after suffering the disappointment of not being able to go inside the Pantheon, we headed back towards the Vatican, so we could go inside St Peter's Basilica. We were hoping the lines weren't as big as the day before, and also that it was actually open!

On the way we crossed over the Ponte Sant'Angelo bridge. It was buit in 134AD to create a direct route from the city of Rome, to the Castel Sant'Angelo opposite. The Castel Sant'Angelo was used by the Pope's as a fortress and a castle, but it has now been turned into a museum.

The Ponte Sant'Angelo is a stunning pedestrian bridge lined with huge statues of angels. In 1669 Pope Clement IX commissioned statues of the ten angels, all holding instruments of the Passion.

The Angel with the Whips

The Angel with the Nails

The Angel with the Garments and the Dice

The Angel with the Lance

The Angel with the Cross

The view towards St Peter's Basilica from Ponte Sant'Angelo

Luckily the line to get into St Peter's Basilica wasn't that long. We ended up waiting about 20 minutes before we got through the metal detectors and could go inside.

St Peter's Basilica is the most amazing church I have ever seen. The Basilica was completed in 1626, though there has been a church in the same spot since the 4th century.

The Basilica is the largest in the world, and can hold up to 60,000 people. It's hard to describe its size, but it makes you feel tiny as soon as you step inside. It is full of amazing monuments and architecture, and houses pieces by Bernini and Michelangelo.

We stood in the same spot for ages, just staring at everything. It is definitely the most impressive thing I have ever seen. I'm glad we waited to see it until our last night, it was a good ending to our Roman Holiday.