Yesterday was exhausting, but amazing. We started off with a visit to Trajan's markets. The buildings have been in use for centuries, so there has been a lot of building and rebuilding, but it is amazing to walk around in the ruins and wonder how things used to work. The area is large and you're left to your own devices, wandering in and out of shady corridors and now-empty shops.
The museum that is attached to the markets, the Museo dei Fori Imperiali, is a real gem. The way the exhibits are put together is so thoughtful. Mirrors are carefully placed to allow you to see all sides of the artifacts, and there are little fun interactive elements that make the museum more engaging. We were particularly fond of collecting stamps throughout the museum. Ancient craftspeople branded their work with stamps, just like modern companies at their logos to their products. The museum lets you run around collecting ancient stamps, which you can then compare to the real deal!
But the real highlight of the day was our trip into the Domus Aurea—the house that Nero built after he fiddled while Rome burned in 64 AD. Nero died before the building was finished, and some of its building materials were pillaged for other projects. But much of the structure is still intact, and on Saturdays and Sundays, you can sign up to take a tour. The Domus Aurea tour was amazing for a number of reasons. Not only is the Domus itself a stunning place to visit, but on a scorching hot day in Rome, it's blessedly cold in there—so cold that you'll want to wear a hoodie. A/C is hard to come by in the eternal city, so the natural cool of the Domus Aurea was a welcome change of pace. The building is huge, and only some of it is open to the public.
We all had to wear hard hats inside, just in case, but honestly I felt safe in there. It was stunning to get to walk around a building constructed for a rich Roman, with its high ceilings and impressive decorations (even though they weren't finished). The dining room, with a high domed ceiling, was amazing. I would certainly want to host a dinner party in there.
If you are in Rome, you must tour this building. Not only will you get a look at decorations that date all the way back to Nero's day, but your admission fee goes towards continued excavation and restoration that will make the building safer and even more accessible to future tourists. I'm so excited I got to see this.
The museum that is attached to the markets, the Museo dei Fori Imperiali, is a real gem. The way the exhibits are put together is so thoughtful. Mirrors are carefully placed to allow you to see all sides of the artifacts, and there are little fun interactive elements that make the museum more engaging. We were particularly fond of collecting stamps throughout the museum. Ancient craftspeople branded their work with stamps, just like modern companies at their logos to their products. The museum lets you run around collecting ancient stamps, which you can then compare to the real deal!
But the real highlight of the day was our trip into the Domus Aurea—the house that Nero built after he fiddled while Rome burned in 64 AD. Nero died before the building was finished, and some of its building materials were pillaged for other projects. But much of the structure is still intact, and on Saturdays and Sundays, you can sign up to take a tour. The Domus Aurea tour was amazing for a number of reasons. Not only is the Domus itself a stunning place to visit, but on a scorching hot day in Rome, it's blessedly cold in there—so cold that you'll want to wear a hoodie. A/C is hard to come by in the eternal city, so the natural cool of the Domus Aurea was a welcome change of pace. The building is huge, and only some of it is open to the public.
We all had to wear hard hats inside, just in case, but honestly I felt safe in there. It was stunning to get to walk around a building constructed for a rich Roman, with its high ceilings and impressive decorations (even though they weren't finished). The dining room, with a high domed ceiling, was amazing. I would certainly want to host a dinner party in there.
If you are in Rome, you must tour this building. Not only will you get a look at decorations that date all the way back to Nero's day, but your admission fee goes towards continued excavation and restoration that will make the building safer and even more accessible to future tourists. I'm so excited I got to see this.
1 comment:
Now this looks very interesting. Love the hard-hat look. - Mom
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