Writing Assignment 3 - Solo trip to the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere

Front of the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere

On our first day, all the RomeKids were taken out and about town to get some beautiful views of the city (after much hiking, mind you!). We came to rest in the Plazza of Santa Maria in Trastevere on a large fountain in the center. Realizing that we had some time before our reservation for dinner, Dan and Jackie let us have a bit of free time to explore the area.

A few of us chose to head into the church that sat right in front of us. From the outside, in blends in pretty well with the surrounding area. I honestly didn't even notice that it was a church until somebody pointed out the four statues and the mosaic behind them to me. Dan told us that it was the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, and that we could go inside as long as we were dressed appropriately (knees and shoulders covered), which luckily, we all were.

The Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere is one of the oldest churches in Rome; the original floor plan dates back to the mid 4th century. Inside the foyer area (not technically inside the church yet), there are ancient stone plaques posted on the wall with Latin, ancient Greek, and some illegible words written all over them. It is difficult to read what the say, because many of them are old and faded, or broken, but it was fascinating trying to read them.

Stone plaques on the walls of the Santa Maria in Trastevere

The foyer and all the plaques were so amazing to see, but the inside truly took my breath away. For not standing out so much in the Plazza, the interior was absolutely phenomenal! I was overwhelmed by everything that was going on: the colors, the lights, the decorations, the patterns on the ceilings and floors. I could not believe that something so beautiful, so magnificent, could stay inside such a plain exterior.

The sheer size was also overwhelming. Looking from the outside, I did not think the ceiling would be so high, or the walls would be so far apart, or it would go back so deep. Remember that tent they had in the forth Harry Potter book, where on the outside it seemed like a normal, small tent, but when they went inside, it was huge and grandiose? That literally happened here.

The view when you first walk in

The entrance that I came in through was on the back wall to the right, not the traditional center doors that I'm familiar with. There were center doors and a door to the left of them, but they were closed and locked. I would assume that they would be open during celebrations (as the sign inside called them).

Once I got over my visual overload, I heard a priest singing with a beautiful tenor voice. The acoustics are absolutely phenomenal in there! I must admit, I spent a good time peeking around corners to find this mystery priest. Instead, I found a speaker where the music was coming out of. That was a little saddening, a priest singing would have made the experience so much more... breath-taking. But it is an area open to the public, and a priest would get tired if he had to sing for 8-10 hours a day.

As I walked around, I noticed that people were in the alcoves of the church, praying. It hit me then: this isn't a museum, this isn't a bunch of historical stuff all piled together, this is a real place of worship, where people come daily to pray and practice their religion. I felt like I was intruding a bit. I've been to Catholic church plenty of times and I'm familiar with many of the traditions, but I wasn't in that church as a Catholic, but a tourist. From there, I tried to be as quiet and respectful as I could. I decided to not use the flash on my camera so I wouldn't disturb anyone, hence why many of my pictures came out dark (except for the previous one - lucky shot!).

Another thing that struck me was the ceiling. The ceiling itself was a work of art. It was so intricate and decorated. And so colorful! I think this is what struck me most. The church that I took my grandmother to at home is a very nice church, but the interior is all painted the same cream color with dark brown wooden beams. This church is so decorated with so many different paintings, mosaics, and statues!

The ceiling of the church

All in all, the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere is absolutely beautiful, and such a surprising experience. I wanted to load a video that I took of inside the church so you could get a better idea of the sheer size, but alas, either blogger or the internet is just too slow, and it won't load.

I'll leave you with one last gorgeous picture of inside the church!

By the way, all these pictures I took myself, no using Wikimedia this time!