Basilica Papale Di San Paolo Fuori Le Mura

Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura)is commonly known as St Paul's Outside the Walls. It is one of Rome's four (4) ancient major basilicas or papal basilicas: the basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Peter's and Saint Paul Outside the Walls. Francesco Monterisi was named archpriest of the basilica in 2009.
Source: Wikipedia

 Everything here was huge!

I had my picture taken in front of "The Holy Door". The same idea came to this couple.

Stained Glass Artworks

The term stained glass can refer to colored glass as a material or to works produced from it. 

As a material, stained glass is glass that has been colored by adding metallic salts during its manufacture. Painted details and yellow stain are often used to enhance the design.

Stained glass, as an art and a craft, requires the artistic skill to conceive an appropriate and workable design, and the engineering skills to assemble the piece. A window must fit snugly into the space for which it is made, must resist wind and rain, and also, especially in the larger windows, must support its own weight. Many large windows have withstood the test of time and remained substantially intact since the late Middle Ages. In Western Europe they constitute the major form of pictorial art to have survived. In this context, the purpose of a stained glass window is not to allow those within a building to see the world outside or even primarily to admit light but rather to control it. For this reason stained glass windows have been described as 'illuminated wall decorations'.
Source: Wikipedia

Beautiful and interesting stained-glass artworks are at the corridors of an exhibit hall at the Basilica of St. Ignatius.

Cherish the Spanish

Great architectures (cathedrals and basilicas, even libraries - biblioteka), rows of pines, cobbled stone roads, bell towers with gigantic bells that still proudly sound-off their melodious ring . . . just wonderful!
 

Just Loving It At Spain

Singing . . . "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" . . .

El que busca la verdad corre el riesgo de encontrarla. 
Who searches for truth runs the risk of finding it. Isabel Allende

 
In Spain, attempting to obtain a chicken salad sandwich, you wind up with a dish whose name, when you look it up in your Spanish-English dictionary, turns out to mean: Eel with big abscess. Dave Barry

Breakfast and Bread

Breakfast is my favorite meal. I remember lovely and delicious breakfasts in Europe. 

 

The bread . . . love the bread . . . just love it . . . all those carbs!

But of course, I try not to forget that  . . . "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

Up Close and Personal

Strolling, strolling . . .

I am dazzled by the structures, buildings, the tiled houses and apartments. Ive read their descriptions in novels I have read. They sure are pretty at camera's length.

 

These buildings, with their color, style, material, especially the balconies and windows are fantastic.

I wonder how long have they been standing here in Portugal? 

This one was way back in the early 1900's.

Porta Santa

This is a photo of the Porta Santa when we went to the Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, Italy.

The Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major is the largest Roman Catholic Marian church in Rome, Italy. The greater size of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major justifies the adjective by which it is distinguished from the others.

As I mentioned in some of my posts, I just love doors, and now, these visits have given more spiritual structure and color to doors for me.

St. John Lateran Basilica

These are gigantic images of the apostles inside the grand St.John Lateran Basilica.

St. Phlip

St. Thomas

St. Paul

Here I am (with a funny expression on my face) at the feet of St. Peter, asking for his intercession that the gates of Heaven may open and welcome me when the time comes.

It's time to STOP going through the motions of living, and START living.

Gates Of Heaven

I love posing for a shot in front of beautiful doors. I got the treat of my life when I was so blessed as to visit these lovely churches and basilicas in Italy.

I am imagining I am in line at the very gate of Heaven. I hope it will open for me, heheh.

Here's an enlarged photo where the inscriptions can be read . . .

Christus Heri Hodie semper (Christ - Yesterday, Today, Always.)

JUBILAEUM A.D. 2000
  
It isn't the thing you do, dear, it's the thing you leave undone, that gives you a bit of a heartache, at setting of the sun.
From The Sin Of Omission by Margaret E. Sangster

The Arch in Rome

 

The Arch of Constantine (Italian: Arco di Costantino) is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was erected by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312. Dedicated in 315, it is the latest of the existing triumphal arches in Rome, and the only one to make extensive use of spolia, re-using several major reliefs from 2nd century imperial monuments, which give a striking and famous stylistic contrast to the sculpture newly-created for the arch.


The arch spans the Via Triumphalis, the way taken by the emperors when they entered the city in triumph. This route started at the Campus Martius, led through the Circus Maximus and around the Palatine Hill; immediately after the Arch of Constantine, the procession would turn left at the Meta Sudans and march along the Via Sacra to the Forum Romanum and on to the Capitoline Hill, passing both the Arches of Titus and Septimius Severus. 

Source: Wikipedia

A Welcome Guest

Meliá Roma Aurelia Antica gave me a warm welcome. Of course, there's that child-like feel of just going around that spinning glass door. Hop, spin and step into a gracious stay.

 
The hotel is an ideal location for a short visit to the Eternal City. It is 9 km from the City centre; 3 km from "exit n.1" of the Grande Raccordo Anulare (highway surrounding the city of Rome) and 20 km from the main International airport of Rome (Leonardo da Vinci- Fiumicino) and 6 km away (20 minutes by car or shuttle bus) from the Vatican City.

The hotel has two restaurants: "The Sughereta" (the name is taken from the sugar cane which surrounded the area centuries ago) and the "Mallorca". They offer not only international cuisine, but also Spanish and Roman dishes created by our Chef and his team.

Great Roman Architecture

The Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the center of the city of Rome, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering.

Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseo or Anfiteatro Flavio in Italian, was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology.

A Touch of Korea in Portugal?

At Aljustrel, Fatima, Portugal . . .

 

Lovely train, but look . . . Samsung? Just ads, hi hi hi . . .

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