Italy - Day 9 Rome on our own

In the morning we took a walk around the neighborhood of our hotel, spent some time relaxing in our hotel and then in the afternoon we took another tour where we visited the Catacombs of Rome, Saint John in the Lateran and Santa Maria Maggiore Basilicas.

The Catacombs are underground cemeteries consisting of subterranean gallery with recesses for tombs. It is an amazing labyrinth of tunnels and rooms for burial of the dead. Saint John in the Latreran basilica is actually the first home of the popes and was the first church built after Constantine legalized Christianity. Before that they met in house churches. Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica was constructed after some Pope had a vision of the Virgin Mary telling him to build a church there. Both churches are very similar with beautifully ornate decorations, sculptures and furnishings.

After the tours we had dinner in downtown Rome and went back to our hotel, Hotel American Palace. That evening at 9:18 pm our hotel room began to shake as we felt the earthquake approximately 150 km away. It was actually the second quake and measured 6.2 on the Richter scale.

Some scenes from around our hotel in Rome

Stairway to the Catacombes. We weren't allowed to take pictures in there, so you will have to google it if you want to see what they looked like.

Some of the Christian symbols engraved in the Catacombs

Saint John Lateran Basilica

Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica

Statue of a praying pope facing what is reputed to be fragments of the manger where Mary laid the infant Jesus.