Palazzo Pitti – Palatine Chapel (Florence, Italy)

Posted on 29 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Palatine Chapel

The Palatine Chapel, completed in 1575, was originally a large environment forming part of the suites used as dining rooms that Bartolomeo Ammannati created on the ground floor of the Pitti Palace. Later, it was used firstly as a reception room and enhanced by precious vestments. In 1658, it was used as a lounge for the foreign princes and, in 1661, when Cosimo III married Marguerite Louise d’Orléans, the suite was renovated and used as a residence for the “Wedded Royals.”

For this occasion, Jacopo Chiavistelli decorated the rooms with frescoes featuring subjects and architectures we can only imagine today. According to the descriptions of the time, they portrayed Cosimo’s challenge and Apollo’s cart, among allegories of Day and Night on the vault, the months of the year and the Zodiac signs, alternating with backgrounds of architecture on the main walls and, on the smaller walls, the weapons of the Medici and the Orleans family.

In 1765, following the arrival of Grand Duke Leopold II of Lorraine in Florence, the area was radically transformed. Deciding to convert the hall into a new palace chapel, Leopold II assigned the renovation project to architects Ruggeri and Paoletti. They created stages for the court and musicians, opened up the great arched window that replaced the original ones and added choirs to the opposite side.

To the right of the altar, a small choir for the rulers was built while, on the wall behind the altar, a space for hosting ladies was carved out. Finally, the iconographic content of Chiavistelli’s frescoes was changed, with a few retouches, by painter Vincenzo Meucci who transformed it from the profane to sacred.

Ceiling fresco

Initially, in 1766, work commenced on three wooden altars designed for the Chapel. In 1785, the three wooden altars were replaced by a new large single altar designed by painter Santi Pacini and made using parts of the altar, commissioned by Ferdinando I de’ Medici in the 16th century and destined for the Cappella dei Principi in San Lorenzo, which was never finished (the altar, over time, became a true mine of precious material to use for new works). They included two very interesting panels in bas-relief, attributed to Ludovico Cigoli, which were created using the semi-precious stone mosaic technique that dates to the early 17th century.

The first one, constituting the door of the ciborium above, represents “The Adoration of the Magi.” The second one, depicting “The Last Supper,” is positioned in the center of the frontal with allegories of Faith and Charity at the sides. It is flanked by full-relief figures, in niches, of the saints Athanasius and Giovanni Grisostomo. Both panels, set in splendid frames of white marble and golden bronze, feature jaspers, pearls, chalcedonies, quartz, amethysts and lapis lazuli. The precious ivory Crucifix with the figure of Magdalene at the feet of Christ, a masterpiece of Baroque eburnean sculpture, was left at the top of the new altar. Today, Lorenz Rues is credited with carving it and Antonio Raggi with creating the figure of Magdalene.

The altar of the chapel

The altar, one of the most precious treasures contained in the Pitti Palace, was definitely created under the direction of Cosimo Siriès (then Superintendent of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure), who was also an artist. He further decorated the altar with holy ornaments in silver (a so-called “residence” with a cross, statues of saints and candlesticks). Unfortunately, all traces of the holy silver elements were lost during the French dominion. However, to this day, the silver and gold wooden ‘baldachin,’ added in 1793, still stands in the same spot.

The choirs were enhanced by adding two columns of alabaster from Montalcino. The two central doors of the main walls were closed to make space for the new fresco decorations created by Luigi Ademollo. Ademollo also painted the frescoes on the vault and the decorations on the choirs and small choirs, portraying “various events in the life of Jesus Christ’s” with strikingly scenographic characteristics (the “Crucifixion” on the wall to the right of the altar and “Palm Sunday” on the wall to the left). When Ferdinand III returned to Florence, Ademollo completed the decoration of the Chapel by decorating the left-hand choir in the chapel, built in 1823.

Palm Sunday (Luigi Ademollo)

Between 1791 and 1792, Ferdinand III (who succeeded Leopold II) completely changed the decorative layout of the chapel in an operation that endowed the chapel with its current shapes, based on the design by Bernardo Fallani.

Although dating back to the mid 19th century, the ensemble picks up on the designs and motifs in use in the previous century, establishing a seamless dialog with the articulate decorations in white stucco and gold (carried out between 1685 and 1687 from designs by Giovan Battista Foggini), with scrolls and mottoes referring to Ferdinando and his wife, Violante di Baviera.

The Crucifixion (Luigi Ademollo)

Palatine Chapel: Ground Floor, Pitti Palace, Piazza de’ Pitti, 1, Florence, Italy. Tel:+39 055 294883. Open Tuesdays-Sundays, 8:15 AM – 6:50 PM. Admission: Palatine Gallery (€8.50), Silver Museum (€6.00), Gallery of Modern Art (€8.50), Costume Gallery/Porcelain Museum/Boboli Gardens/Bardini Garden (€6.00).

How to Get There: Take the C3 or D bus to the Pitti stop.

Piazza della Santissima Annunziata (Florence, Italy)

Posted on 28 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Piazza della Santissima Annunziata

On our way to the National Archaeological Museum of Florence, we passed by the Piazza della Santissima Annunziata. Named after the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata (Basilica of the Most Holy Annunciation) at the head of the square, in the center of the piazza is the large, bronze equestrian statue of Ferdinando I flanked by the Fountains of the Marine Monsters. The piazza was not designed by Brunelleschi, as is sometimes reported in guide books.

Check out “National Archaeological Museum of Florence”

This square doesn’t find itself on many mainstream itineraries but, for a very long time, it was actually the heart of the city and, even today, the piazza is a crossroad for those going to the train station, the Duomo or Piazza Beccaria.

This open, peaceful and airy space, one of the few spaces in Florence that was purposely built in the Renaissance style (which meant that it embraces the idea of a “Utopian society”- ordered and accessible to all men), was designed to be appreciated for its elegance and harmonizing colors.

Equestrian Statue of Ferdinando I

The massive and life size bronze equestrian statue of Ferdinand I of Tuscany (Ferdinando I de’ Medici), astride a stallion, was executed by noted sculptor Giambologna (who had, by now, reached international fame for his equestrian statues), was cast in 1602 using bronze from cannons on Turkish galleys captured in war, and was placed in the square in 1608.

Fountains of the Marine Monsters

The Fountains of the Marine Monsters are two Late Mannerist-style fountains, with fantastical figures, all works completed by the late-Renaissance sculptor Pietro Tacca (1577-1640), a loyal student and successor to Giambologna.

Tacca was asked to design them to decorate the port of Livorno, near the Monument of the Four Moors (“Quattro Mori”) he had created between 16th and 17th century. However, in 1641 Ferdinando II, the grandson to Ferdinando I insisted that the two fountains remain in Florence where they still are today.

In addition to the square, there are several important structures to visit – the Palazzo Budini Gattai, the Loggia dei Servi di Maria, the aforementioned National Archeological Museum, the Ospedale degli Innocenti and the Palazzo delle Due Fontane. The piazza’s eastern side is defined by the Ospedale degli Innocenti, the wet by Loggia dei Servi di Maria, and the north by the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata

Basilica della Santissima Annunziata

The Renaissance-style Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, considered the mother church of the Servite Order, was founded in 1250. The facade was added in 1601 by the architect Giovanni Battista Caccini, imitating the Renaissance-style of Brunelleschi‘s facade of the Ospedale degli Innocenti.

Ospedale degli Innocenti

The historic Spedale degli Innocenti, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi (he received the commission in 1419 from the Arte della Seta or Silk Guild of Florence), is regarded as a notable example of early Italian Renaissance architecture. Originally a children’s orphanage and hospital, it features a nine bay loggia facing the piazza. Today, it houses a small museum of Renaissance art with works by Luca della Robbia, Sandro Botticelli, Piero di Cosimo and an Adoration of the Magi by Domenico Ghirlandaio. In 2016, it was restored and restructured.

Palazzo Budini Gattai

The Palazzo Budini Gattai (also known as Palazzo Grifoni), an aristocratic red-brick residence dating from the 16th century, was begun by Giuliano di Baccio d’Agnolo (a pupil of Michelangelo) and was continued, on his death, by Bartolomeo Ammannati, who probably also designed the Italian-style garden laid out in around 1573. At the end of the 18th century, the Grifoni family line died out and the property passed into the hands of the Riccardi family and finally to the Budini Gattai, the present owners of the property.

Why is the last window on the right hand side, at the second floor of Palazzo Budini-Gattai, always open? Well, according to a legend, the Grand Duke Ferdinand I was called to the army to fight a war with the noble and patrician families of Florence and he had to leave Bianca Cappello, his beautiful young bride of a few months, who gave him the last greeting from the window of the palace. She waited for the return of her beloved husband, spending her days embroidering, and sitting on an armchair beside the window overlooking the square, never giving up hope until the day she died.

Upon her death, the family carried her body out and closed the window only to find themselves haunted by a frenzy of books flying, furniture dancing, paintings falling down and the lights going out. From that day forward the window remains open, just in case he comes home. Another version tells about the neighborhood of the square who, moved by that sad love story, decided to keep the window open in memory of the woman,

The arches and columns of the Loggia dei Servi di Maria, the romantic loggia (or portico) next to the Palazzo Budini Gattai, complete the symmetry in the square. It was built, between 1516-1525, on a design created by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder. Originally, Brunelleschi intended for the circles between the columns on the Loggia for the Hospital to remain empty but, Andrea della Robbia (selected in 1490, long after Brunelleschi’s demise) decorated the six frontal and 4 lateral concaves.

Loggia dei Servi di Maria

The 10 tondi (medallions) have the standard light blue background, with white putti, dressed in swaddling cloth, to represent the abandoned children and orphans. Originally built for the mendicant order, today the Servi di Maria, together with Palazzo Budini Gattai, are now a hotel.

Palazzo delle Due Fontane

Palazzo delle Due Fontane, between via dei Servi and via dei Fibbiai, was originally a building of ancient construction, reconfigured between the end of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century to provide an adequate backdrop to the square. Its relatively recent façade repeats, while simplifying them, the shapes and colors of the nearby Palazzo Budini Gattai. The building is currently occupied by the Albergo le Due Fontane, an accommodation facility. The ground floor, in particular, has a stone ashlar.

Piazza della Santissima Annunziata: Florence, Italy.

Orsanmichele Church (Florence, Italy)

Posted on 27 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Orsanmichele Church

The square Orsanmichele Church was constructed on the site of the now gone kitchen garden of the Benedictine monastery of San Michele (from the contraction of “Kitchen Garden of St. Michael” in Tuscan dialect of the Italian word orto.

It was originally built in 1337 as a grain market (chutes for the wheat are still to be seen inside the piers) by architects Simone di Francesco Talenti, Neri di Fioravante and Benci di Cione and finished in 1349. Between 1380 and 1404, the loggia was closed in and designed (by Francesco Talenti) and converted into a chapel of Florence’s powerful craft and trade guilds.

Incredulity of St. Thomas (Andrea del Verrocchio)

St. George (Donatello)

The lower level façade was embellished with 14 architecturally designed external niches (originally 13th-century arches that originally formed the loggia of the grain market) which were filled, from 1399 to around 1430, with statues of the guild’s patron saints. The statues of the three richest guilds were made in more costly bronze (approximately ten times the amount of the stone figures).

St. John the Baptist (Lorenzo Ghiberti)

St. Luke (Giambologna)

The tabernacles around the outside, from the foremost Florentine Renaissance artists of the 15th (Nanni di Banco, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Andrea del Verrocchio, Donatello) and 16th century (Giambologna), were assigned to the principal guilds (Arti Maggiori), the medium guilds (Mediane) and to the guild of the Armorers and Swordmakers.

St. Matthew (Lorenzo Ghiberti)

Those guilds which did not have the privilege of an external tabernacle had their patron saint depicted in fresco or on panel inside the building. The most important tabernacle, in the center of the façade, facing Via de’ Calzaioli, was assigned first to the Parte Guelfa and then to the Tribunal of the Mercatanzia. The tabernacles are:

St. Peter by Donatello
St. Philip by Nanni di Banco
Four Crowned Saints group by Nanni di Banco
St. George (1417) by Donatello
St. Matthew by Lorenzo Ghiberti
St. Stephan by Lorenzo Ghiberti
St. Eligius by Nanni di Banco
St. Mark by Donatello
St. Jacob by Niccolò di Piero Lamberti (?)
Madonna della Rosa by Govanni di Piero Tedesco (?)
John the Evangelist by Baccio da Montelupo
St. Luke by Gianbologna
Incredulity of St. Thomas (1467-83) by Andrea del Verrocchio, replacing Louis of Toulouse (1433) by Donatello
St. John the Baptist by Lorenzo Ghiberti

The sculptures seen today are modern duplicates. To protect them from the elements and vandalism, many of the original sculptures have been removed to the museum of Orsanmichele at the upper floor of the church. Statues of St. George (and its niche) and St. Louis of Toulouse, both works by Donatello, are in the Bargello Museum (moved in 1892) and in the Museum of Santa Croce of the Basilica di Santa Croce respectively.

Frescoes of saints on the pillars by Jacopo dal Casentino

The façade also has elegant mullioned windows, in the Late Gothic style, and stained glass by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini showing Scenes and miracles of the Virgin (1395-1405).

The Late Gothic interior

The almost intact but atmospherically gloomy Late Gothic interior, with its square layout and piers (their positioning recalls the arrangement of the original open loggia) features the monumental marble altar, with Virtues and scenes from the life of the Virgin in relief, not in the center but to the right.

Fresco painting on ceiling by Jacopo dal Casentino

The bejeweled Gothic tabernacle encases a repainting, by Bernardo Daddi, of an older icon of the Madonna and Child (1346), known as the Madonna delle Grazie. It was commissioned in 1355, a year after the terrible plague, from Andrea Orcagna (Andrea di Cione), but not finished until 1359.

The Gothic tabernacle

To the left of the nave is the votive altar of St. Anne, built in 1379 by order of the Signoria, with a marble group of St. Anne, the Virgin and Child by Francesco da Sangallo (c. 1526). On the walls there are patchy traces of frescoes that depict the patron saints of the various guilds.

Altar of St. Anne

Orsanmichele Church: Via dell’Arte della Lana, corner with Via Calzaiouli 50122 Florence, Italy. Tel: +39 055 23885. Admission: free. The Museum of the Orsanmichele (Museo di Orsanmichele), reached by the bridge from the adjacent Palazzo dell’Arte della Lana, is open every Monday.

Church of Santa Maria Maddalena (Rome, Italy)

Posted on 25 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Church of Santa Maria Magalena

Named after Saint Mary Magdalene, this Roman Catholic church is located on the one of the streets leading from the Piazza della Rotonda in the Campo Marzio area of historic Rome. Started in the 17th century, the current church was completed in 1699 after seventy years of work involving several architects including Carlo Quadri, Carlo Fontana (who is thought to have designed the dome) and Giovanni Antonio de Rossi. It is uncertain who designed the curved main Rococo-style (unusual style in Roman church facades) facade, which was finished circa 1735.

The elongated, octagonal Borrominesque nave flanked by two chapels

Built in the Baroque style, early guide books credit Giuseppe Sardi with its highly unusual façade decoration. It also displays motifs reminiscent of Borromini. Between 1732 and 1734, Portuguese Manuel Rodrigues dos Santos (historian Alessandra Marino believes that it is Dos Santos, rather than Giuseppe Sardi, that the design should be attributed), an architect of the order, directed the completion of works at the church. The monastery, on the church’s left, was constructed circa 1678 by Paolo Amato (from Palermo) and completed in the early 1680s by C.F. Bizzacheri.

The architecturally complex interior has an elongated, octagonal Borrominesque nave flanked by two chapels. The main chapel, to the right, is dedicated to and holds the relics of Saint Camillus, its vault frescoed in 1744 by Sebastiano Conca. The church also has a Christ, Virgin, and St. Nicolas of Bari by Baciccia and a San Lorenzo Giustiniani with Infant Jesus by Luca Giordano. The elaborately painted, stuccoed Rococo sacristy is decorated with polychrome marble.

Church of Santa Maria Maddalena: Via della Maddalena, Rome, Italy

Pantheon (Rome, Italy)

Posted on 25 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — 1 Comment ↓

The Pantheon and Piazza della Rotunda

The fountain and obelisk

Built more than 1800 years ago, the magnificent Pantheon still stands as a reminder of the great Roman Empire. It borders the Piazza della Rotonda, a rectangular square with at its center an eighteenth-century fountain crowned with an obelisk.

This constantly crowded square, situated in the historic center of Rome, is not far from Piazza Navona. With its thick brick walls, large columns and 43 m. high dome, this cylindrical building made an immediate impression on us. As the best-preserved example of an ancient Roman monumental building, the Pantheon has been enormously influential in Western architecture from at least the Renaissance on. Even in its present state, the Pantheon allowed me a glimpse into the marvelous and stunning world of Roman architecture. This wonderful example of second century Roman architecture boasts mathematical genius and simple geometry that even today still impressed an architect like me.

Standin L-R: the author and Jandy. Seated L-R: Grace, Kyle and Cheska

Standing L-R: the author and Jandy. Seated L-R: Grace, Kyle and Cheska

The present Pantheon was built on the site of an earlier building commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD), The Augustan Pantheon, along with other buildings, was destroyed in a huge fire in the year 80 AD. Domitian rebuilt the Pantheon, which was burnt again in 110 AD. It was completed by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated about 126 AD. In 202, the building was repaired by the joint emperors Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla (fully Marcus Aurelius Antoninus), for which there is another, smaller inscription on the architrave of the façade. In the walls at the back of the Pantheon’s portico are niches, perhaps intended for statues of Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar, and Agrippa, or for the Capitoline Triad, or another set of gods.

Jandy and the author. The inscription above reads: M•AGRIPPA•L•F•COS•TERTIVM• FECIT meaning “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made [this building] when consul for the third time.”

The entrance doorway

In 609, the Byzantine emperor Phocas gave the building to Pope Boniface IV, who converted it into a Christian church and consecrated it to St. Mary and the Martyrs (Latin: Santa Maria ad Martyres) on May 13, 609.

The building’s consecration as a church saved it from the abandonment, destruction, and the worst of the spoliation that befell the majority of ancient Rome’s buildings during the early medieval period. This circular building, with a front portico of three rows of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment, has a rectangular vestibule that links the porch to the rotunda. The rotunda, under a coffered concrete dome, has a central opening (oculus) to the sky.

The Pantheon

Here’s some interesting trivia regarding the Pantheon:

The name Pantheon refers to the building’s original function as a temple for all the gods. However, the generic term pantheon has sometimes been applied to other buildings in which illustrious dead are honored or buried.
Its date of construction has been confused as Hadrian retained Agrippa’s original inscription – M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM· FECIT meaning “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made [this building] when consul for the third time.”
It is one of the best-preserved of all ancient Roman buildings, in large part because it has been in continuous use throughout its history.
Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon’s dome, substantially larger than earlier domes, is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome, spanning 150 Roman ft. It was the largest dome in the world until 1436 when Brunelleschi‘s 42-m. dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence was constructed.
The building was originally approached by a flight of steps but these were eliminated after later construction raised the level of the ground leading to the portico.
The Pantheon was probably constructed by using an elaborate setup of costly wooden scaffolding.
The grey 39 ft. (11.9 m.) high, 5 ft. (1.5 m.) diameter granite columns that were actually used in the Pantheon’s pronaos, each weighing 60 tons, were quarried at Mons Claudianus in the eastern mountains in Egypt. Each of these was dragged, on wooden sledges, more than 100 kms. (62 miles) from the quarry to the Nile River, floated by barge when the water level was high during the spring floods, then transferred to vessels to cross the Mediterranean Sea to the Roman port of Ostia. There, they were transferred back onto barges and pulled up the Tiber River to Rome. After being unloaded near the Mausoleum of Augustus, it was necessary to either drag them or to move them on rollers to the construction site 700 m. away.
Most of the bombards for the fortification of Castel Sant’Angelo used about 90% of the bronze from the ceiling of the Pantheon’s portico, ordered melted down by Pope Urban VIII (1623 to 1644). The remaining amount was used by the Apostolic Camera for various other works. It is also said that the bronze was used by Bernini in creating his famous baldachin above the high altar of Peter’s Basilica (however, one expert states that the bronze for the baldachin came from Venice).
The large bronze doors to the cella, once plated with gold, are ancient but not the original ones of the Pantheon. The current doors, manufactured too small for the 40 Roman ft. high door frames, have only been there since about the 15th century.
The height to the oculus (30 Roman feet in diameter) and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 m. (145 Roman feet or 141 feet 8 inches), so the whole interior would fit exactly within a cube. In a similar note, the interior could house a sphere 43.3 m. in diameter. If the dome of the rotunda were flipped upside down it would fit perfectly inside the rotunda.
From the outside, the Pantheon appears rectangular in shape but it is only the first small room (cella) that has corners. The rotunda is completely round.
The Pantheon has no windows. The oculus, an engineering gem of the Roman world at the dome’s apex, and the entry door are the only natural sources of light in the interior.
Though often drawn as a free-standing building, the Pantheon abuts a building at its rear which helps buttress the rotunda but was no interior passage from one to the other.
The interior of the dome was possibly intended to symbolize the arched vault of the heavens. Throughout the day, the light from the oculus moves around this space in a reverse sundial effect.
The oculus, still lined with the original Roman bronze, also serves as a cooling and ventilation method. Never covered, rain falls into the interior and runs off the slightly convex floor to the still functioning Roman drainpipes underneath.
No oculus had even dared come close in size to the one in the Pantheon.
In 2013, the Pantheon was visited by over 6 million people.
Since the Renaissance the Pantheon has been used as a tomb. Among those buried there are the painters Raphael and Annibale Carracci, the composer Arcangelo Corelli, and the architect Baldassare Peruzzi. Two kings of Italy are also buried in the Pantheon: Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I, as well as Umberto’s Queen, Margherita.
The Pantheon is in use as a Catholic church. Masses are celebrated there on Sundays and holy days of obligation. Weddings are also held there from time to time.

A state property, the Pantheon is ruled by Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism through the Polo Museale del Lazio. The National Institute of Honor Guards to the Royal Tombs, founded in 1878, maintain the royal tombs and also organize picket guards at the tombs.

The dome and oculus

The 4,535 metric ton (4,999 short ton) Roman concrete dome is concentrated on a ring of 9.1 m. (30 ft.) diameter voussoirs that form the oculus while the downward thrust of the dome is carried by 8 barrel vaults in the 6.4 m.(21 ft.) thick drum wall into eight piers. The thickness of the dome varies from 6.4 m. (21 ft.) at the base of the dome to 1.2 m. (3.9 ft.) around the oculus. The material used in the concrete of the dome also varies.

During the construction of the Pantheon, the most important problem the Romans faced was the massive weight of the large dome. To substantially reduced stresses in the dome, successively less dense aggregate stones in higher layers of the dome were used. At its thickest point, the aggregate is travertine, then terracotta tiles and, lastly, at the very top, where the dome would be at its weakest and vulnerable to collapse, tufa and pumice, both porous light stones. The elimination of the apex by means of the oculus actually lightened the load.

The evenly spaced, difficult to achieve layout of the dome, featuring elegant sunken panels (coffers) in five rings of 28, is presumed to have symbolic meaning, either numerical, geometric, or lunar. In antiquity, the panels may have contained bronze stars, rosettes or other ornaments. Most likely, they were struck with a device that was exacted from floor level

Hidden chambers engineered within the rotunda formed a sophisticated structural system. The top of the rotunda wall features a series of brick relieving arches, visible on the outside and built into the mass of the brickwork. Inside, there are relieving arches over the recesses, all hidden by marble facing on the interior and possibly by stone revetment or stucco on the exterior.

Half dome above the high altar

High altar

The present high altars and the apses inside were commissioned by Pope Clement XI (1700–1721) and designed by Alessandro Specchi.

A 7th-century Byzantine icon of the Virgin and Child, given by Phocas to Pope Boniface IV on the occasion of the dedication of the Pantheon for Christian worship on May 13, 609, is enshrined on the apse above the high altar. The choir, added in 1840, was designed by Luigi Poletti.

Madonna of the Girdle and St Nicholas of Bari (1686)

Annunciation (Melozzo da Forli)

The first niche, to the right of the entrance, holds a Madonna of the Girdle and St Nicholas of Bari (1686) painted by an unknown artist. The Chapel of the Annunciation, the first chapel on the right, has a fresco of the Annunciation attributed to Melozzo da Forlì.

On the left side is a canvas of St Lawrence and St Agnes (1645–1650) by Clement Maioli. The Incredulity of St Thomas (1633), by Pietro Paolo Bonzi, is on the right wall. A 15th-century fresco of the Tuscan school, depicting the Coronation of the Virgin, is in the second niche.

St Lawrence and St Agnes (Clement Maioli)

Incredulity of St Thomas (1633, Pietro Paolo Bonzi)

Tomb of King Victor Emmanuel II

In the second chapel, originally dedicated to the Holy Spirit and designed by Manfredo Manfredi, is the tomb of King Victor Emmanuel II who died in 1878.

Started in 1885, the tomb consists of a large bronze plaque, surmounted by a Roman eagle, and the arms of the house of Savoy.

The golden lamp above the tomb burns in honor of Victor Emmanuel III who died in exile in 1947.

The Roman eagle and the arms of the House of Savoy

St Anne and the Blessed Virgin (Il Lorenzone)

The third niche has a sculpture of St Anne and the Blessed Virgin done by Il Lorenzone. In the third chapel is The Madonna of Mercy between St Francis and St John the Baptist, a 15th-century painting of the Umbrian school, also known as the Madonna of the Railing, because it originally hung in the niche on the left-hand side of the portico where it was protected by a railing.

It was moved to the Chapel of the Annunciation and then, sometime after 1837, to its present position. The bronze epigram commemorated Pope Clement XI‘s restoration of the sanctuary.

The Madonna of Mercy between St Francis and St John the Baptist

St. Anastasio (Bernardino Cametti)

On the right wall is the canvas Emperor Phocas presenting the Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV (1750) done by an unknown artist.

There are three memorial plaques in the floor, one commemorating a Gismonda written in the vernacular.

The final niche, on the right side, has a statue of St. Anastasio (1725) done by Bernardino Cametti.

Assumption (1638, Andrea Camassei)

St Joseph and the Holy Child (Vincenzo de Rossi)

On the first niche to the left of the entrance is an Assumption (1638) done by Andrea Camassei. The Chapel of St Joseph in the Holy Land, the first chapel on the left, is the chapel of the Confraternity of the Virtuosi at the Pantheon referring to the confraternity of artists and musicians that was formed here by Desiderio da Segni, a 16th-century Canon of the church, to ensure that worship was maintained in the chapel.

The institution still exists but is now called the Academia Ponteficia di Belle Arti (The Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts), based in the Palace of the Cancelleria. The altar in the chapel, covered with false marble, has a statue of St Joseph and the Holy Child done by Vincenzo de Rossi.

Adoration of the Magi (Francesco Cozza)

Adoration of the Shepherds (Francesco Cozza)

The paintings Adoration of the Shepherds, on left side, and Adoration of the Magi on right were done in 1661 by Francesco Cozza, one of the Virtuosi.

The Dream of St Joseph, the stucco relief on the left, was done by Paolo Benaglia while Rest during the flight from Egypt, the one on the right, was done by Carlo Monaldi.

Stucco relief Dream of St Joseph (Paolo Benaglia)

Rest during the flight from Egypt (Carlo Monaldi)

Bust of Baldassare Peruzzi

On the vault are several 17th-century canvases, from left. to right: Cumean Sibyl by Ludovico Gimignani; Moses by Francesco Rosa; Eternal Father by Giovanni Peruzzini; David by Luigi Garzi; and Eritrean Sibyl by Giovanni Andrea Carlone.

The second niche has a statue of St Agnes and Agnus Dei done by Vincenzo Felici (1700). The bust on the left is a portrait of Baldassare Peruzzi, derived from a plaster portrait done by Giovanni Duprè.

St Agnes and Agnus Dei (1700, Vincenzo Felici)

Tomb of King Umberto I and Margherita of Savoy

The next chapel, opposite the tomb of King Victor Emmanuel II, is the tomb of Umberto I and his wife Margherita di Savoia. Originally dedicated to St Michael the Archangel and then to St. Thomas the Apostle, the present design is by Giuseppe Sacconi and completed, after his death, by his pupil Guido Cirilli.

It consists of a slab of alabaster mounted in gilded bronze and a frieze with allegorical representations of Generosity, by Eugenio Maccagnani, and Munificence, by Arnaldo Zocchi. The altar with the royal arms is by Cirilli.

Generosity (Eugenio Maccagnani)

Munificence (Arnaldo Zocchi)

Bust of the painter Raphael (Giuseppe Fabris)

The third niche, with the inscription on the sarcophagus Ossa et cineres (“Bones and ashes”), holds the mortal remains of the great artist Raphael while to the right of his sarcophagus is that of his fiance, Maria Bibbiena who died before they could marry.

The sarcophagus, given by Pope Gregory XVI, has an epigraph, written by Pietro Bembo, that reads ILLE HIC EST RAPHAEL TIMUIT QUO SOSPITE VINCI / RERUM MAGNA PARENS ET MORIENTE MORI (“Here lies Raphael, by whom the mother of all things (Nature) feared to be overcome while he was living, and while he was dying, herself to die”).

Tomb of Raphael

Madonna del Sasso (1524, Lorenzetto)

The present arrangement, designed by Antonio Munoz, is from 1811. The bust of Raphael (1833) was done by Giuseppe Fabris.

The two plaques commemorate Maria Bibbiena and Annibale Carracci. Behind the tomb is the statue, commissioned by Raphael and made by Lorenzetto in 1524, known as the Madonna del Sasso (Madonna of the Rock) so named because she rests one foot on a boulder.

Chapel of the Crucifixion

St. Rasius (1727, Francesco Moderati)

The Roman brick wall is visible in the niches of the Chapel of the Crucifixion. The wooden crucifix on the altar is from the 15th century.

On the left wall is a Descent of the Holy Ghost (1790), done by Pietro Labruzi, while on the right side is the low relief Cardinal Consalvi presents to Pope Pius VII the five provinces restored to the Holy See (1824) made by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. The bust is a portrait of Cardinal Agostino Rivarola. The final niche on this side has a statue of St. Rasius (S. Erasio) (1727) done by Francesco Moderati.

Chapel of the Madonna of Mercy

Statue of Archangel Gabriel

The unifying theme of the ecclesiastical interior design, a striking synthesis of tradition and innovation which contrasts with the temple’s structural design, is circles and squares. The checkerboard marble floor pattern, still the ancient Roman original, consists of a series of geometric patterns which contrast with the concentric circles of square coffers in the dome.

From floor to ceiling, each interior decorative zone is subdivided according to a different scheme and, as a result, do not line up. Even though the cylindrical space, topped by a hemispherical dome, is inherently ambiguous, the overall effect is immediate viewer orientation according to the major axis of the building. This discordance has not always been appreciated. In fact, in the 18th century, the attic level was redone according to Neo-Classical taste.

Pantheon: Piazza della Rotonda, 00186 Rome, Italy. Tel: +39 06 68300230. Open Mondays to Saturdays, 9 AM – 6.30 PM, and Sundays, 9 AM –1 PM. There is no admission charge and no security screening.

How to Get There: You have to walk to get there as the narrow streets where you find the Pantheon are far too narrow for buses. By bus, get off at the Trevi Fountain stop then walk for 5 mins. There is also no Metro station nearby.Take Line A, stop at Barberini station and then walk for about 10 mins.

Vatican Museum – Sistine Chapel (Vatican City)

Posted on 25 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

The Sistine Chapel

The piece de resistance of our visit to the Vatican Museums is the Sistine Chapel, a high, rectangular chapel in the Apostolic Palace (the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City) and the very last sala within the museum. A place of both religious and functionary papal activity, it is the site of the Papal conclave, the process by which each successive pope is selected by the College of Cardinals.

Old Testament Books of the Bible – Isaiah

Originally known as the Cappella Magna, the present chapel, on the site of the Cappella Maggiore, was designed by Baccio Pontelli for Pope Sixtus IV, for whom it is named, and built under the supervision of Giovannino de Dolci between 1473 and 1481. The pope also hired the most famous High Renaissance artists (including Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Roselli) to create a series of frescos, completed in 1482, depicting the Life of Moses and the Life of Christ, offset by papal portraits above and trompe l’oeil drapery below. On August 15, 1483, the Feast of the Assumption, Sixtus IV consecrated the Sistine Chapel, dedicated it to the Virgin Mary, and celebrated the first mass.

Drunkenness of Noah

Here are some trivia regarding the chapel:

The chapel is 40.9 m. (134 ft.) long by 13.4 m. (44 ft.) wide, the same dimensions of the Temple of Solomon, as given in the Old Testament.
It has an unadorned exterior façade, devoid of architectural or decorative details (common in many Italian Medieval and Renaissance-era churches), which can only be seen only from nearby windows and light-wells in the palace.
It has no exterior processional doorways. Ingress has always been from internal rooms within the Apostolic Palace.
Very large buttresses brace the exterior walls.
The building is divided into three stories. The lowest storey is a very tall basement level, robustly vaulted to support the Sistine Chapel above, with several utilitarian windows and a doorway giving onto the exterior court. The third storey, a wardroom for guards above the vault, has an open, roofed, projecting gangway which encircles the building, supported on an arcade springing from the walls.
The Sistine Chapel has 6 tall arched windows down each side and two at either end, several of which have been blocked.

The tall arched windows on the side walls

The 20.7 m. (68 ft.) high ceiling is a flattened barrel vault springing from a course that encircles the walls at the level of the springing of the window arches. It is cut transversely by smaller vaults over each window which divide the barrel vault, at its lowest level, into a series of large pendentives rising from shallow pilasters between each window.
The pavement, in opus alexandrinum (a decorative style using marble and colored stone in a pattern that reflects the earlier proportion in the division of the interior), marks, from the main door, the processional way used by the Pope on important occasions such as Palm Sunday.
A screen (transenna), sculpted in marble by Mino da Fiesole, Andrea Bregno and Giovanni Dalmata (they also provided the cantoria or projecting choir gallery), divides the chapel into two parts. It is surmounted by a row of ornate, once gilt candlesticks and has a wooden door (formerly an ornate door of gilded wrought iron).

The ceiling frescoes

The chapel’s fame, however, lies mainly in the frescoes by Michelangelo that decorate the interior, most particularly the Sistine Chapel ceiling, a masterpiece without precedent that was to change the course of Western art. Michelangelo used bright colors, easily visible from the floor. Ever since they were revealed five hundred years ago, the fame of Michelangelo’s paintings has drawn multitudes of visitors to the chapel.

Eritrean Sibyl

Here is the timeline of the painting of the walls and ceiling of the chapel:

Of the present scheme of frescoes, the earliest part is that of the side walls, divided into three main tiers. At the central tier of the walls are The Life of Moses and The Life of Christ, two cycles of paintings which complement each other, commissioned in 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV and executed by Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Cosimo Roselli and their workshops. The lower level of the walls, beneath the 2 cycles, is decorated with frescoed hangings in silver and gold. The upper tier, above the narrative frescoes, is divided into two zones. A Gallery of Popes, at the lower level of the windows, was painted at the same time as the 2 cycles.
From 1481–1482, the southern wall was decorated with the Stories of Moses. Starting from the altar, they include Moses Leaving to Egypt (by Pietro Perugino and assistants); The Trials of Moses (by Sandro Botticelli and his workshop); The Crossing of the Red Sea (by Cosimo Rosselli, Domenico Ghirlandaio or Biagio di Antonio Tucci); Descent from Mount Sinai (by Cosimo Rosselli or Piero di Cosimo); Punishment of the Rebels (by Sandro Botticelli); and Testament and Death of Moses (by Luca Signorelli or Bartolomeo della Gatta).

The Last Supper (Cosimo Rosselli)

The northern wall, dating to 1481–1482, houses the Stories of Jesus. They include Baptism of Christ (by Pietro Perugino and assistants); Temptation of Christ (by Sandro Botticelli); Vocation of the Apostles (by Domenico Ghirlandaio); The Sermon on the Mount (attributed to Cosimo Rosselli); The Delivery of the Keys to Peter (by Pietro Perugino); and The Last Supper (by Cosimo Rosselli).

Pietro Perugino’s “”Delivery of the Keys to Peter”

In 1572, the eastern wall was repainted with the Resurrection of Christ by Hendrick van den Broeck (over Domenico Ghirlandaio’s original) and, in 1574, by the Disputation over Moses’ Body by Matteo da Lecce (over Luca Signorelli’s original).
The ceiling of the barrel vault was first painted in brilliant-blue, studded with gold stars, to the design of Piermatteo Lauro de’ Manfredi da Amelia, and with decorative borders around the architectural details of the pendentives.
The ceiling, entirely replacing the old one, was commissioned by Pope Julius II and painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and November 2, 1512. Originally commissioned to paint the 12 Apostles on the triangular pendentives which support the vault, Michelangelo, however, demanded a free hand in the pictorial content of the scheme and he painted a series of 9 pictures showing God’s Creation of the World, God’s Relationship with Mankind, and Mankind’s Fall from God’s Grace. On the large pendentives he alternately painted 12 Biblical and Classical men and women, with Jonah over the altar, who prophesied that God would send Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind. On the highest section, Michelangelo painted 9 stories from the Book of Genesis. Around the arched tops of the upper parts of the windows, on the lowest part of the ceiling, are areas known as the lunettes which Michelangelo painted with the Ancestors of Christ as part of the scheme for the ceiling.

The Ancestors of Christ

Between 1535 and 1541, between two important historic events (the Sack of Rome by mercenary forces of the Holy Roman Empire in 1527 and the Council of Trent which commenced in 1545), Popes Clement VII and Paul III Farnese commissioned Michelangelo to decorate the entire wall above and behind the altar with The Last Judgment (depicting the second coming of Christ on the Day of Judgment as described in the Revelation of John, Chapter 20). The painting of this scene, designed on a grand scale, necessitated the obliteration of two episodes from the Lives, the Nativity of Jesus and the Finding of Moses; several of the Popes and two sets of Ancestors. High on the wall is the heroic figure of Christ, with the saints clustered in groups around him while, at the bottom left of the painting, the dead are raised from their graves and ascend to be judged. To the right are those who are assigned to Hell and are dragged down by demons.
On November 7, 1984, the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling restoration began. The chapel was re-opened to the public on April 8, 1994.

Noah After The Flood

Here are some interesting trivia regarding the paintings:

Contrary to popular belief, Michelangelo did not lie on the scaffolding (which he designed and built) while he painted, but painted from a standing position.
The Last Judgment was an object of a bitter dispute between Cardinal Carafa and Michelangelo because he depicted naked figures (the artist was accused of immorality and obscenity). A censorship campaign (known as the “Fig-Leaf Campaign”) was organized by Carafa and Monsignor Sernini (Mantua‘s ambassador) to remove the frescoes. The genitalia in the fresco were later covered by the artist Daniele da Volterra, whom history remembers by the derogatory nickname “Il Braghettone” (“the breeches-painter”).
In The Last Judgment, Michelangelo painted his own portrait on the flayed skin held by St Bartholomew. The semblance of Biagio da Cesena, the Pope’s Master of Ceremonies and another of Michelangelo’s critics, was worked into the scene as Minos, judge of the Underworld (it is said that when he complained to the Pope, the pontiff responded that his jurisdiction did not extend to Hell, so the portrait would have to remain).

Adam and Eve

After the ceiling work was finished, there were more than 300 figures showing Biblical scenes such as the Creation, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and the Great Flood. The painted area is about 40 m. (131 ft.) long by 13 m. (43 ft.) wide which means that Michelangelo painted well over 5,000 sq. ft. (460 m²) of frescoes.

The Great Flood

During the 1984-1994 restoration, the ceiling, painted by Michelangelo, caused the most concern because the emergence of the brightly colored Ancestors of Christ from the gloom sparked a reaction of fear that the processes being employed in the cleaning were too severe and removed the original intent of the artist.

St. Peter’s Basilica (Vatican City)

Posted on 25 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — 1 Comment ↓

St. Peter’s Basilica

The Papal Basilica of St. Peter (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri; Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply St. Peter’s Basilica, the most prominent building in the Vatican City, is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines and the most renowned work of Italian Renaissance architecture. As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the greatest building of its age. Located west of the River Tiber, near the Janiculum Hill and Hadrian’s Mausoleum, its central dome Its dome is a dominant feature of the skyline of Rome. Best appreciated from a distance, the basilica is approached via St. Peter’s Square.

Jandy and the author at St. Peter’s Basilica

The basilica has the following specifications:

Area: 2.3 hectares (5.7 acres)
Cost of construction of the basilica: more than 46,800,052 ducats
Geographic orientation: chancel west, nave east
Total length: 730 ft. (220 m.)
Total width: 500 ft. (150 m.)
Interior length including vestibule: 693.8 ft. (211.5 m.), more than ⅛ mile.
Length of the transepts in interior: 451 ft. (137 m.)
Width of nave: 90.2 ft. (27.5 m.)
Width at the tribune: 78.7 ft. (24 m.)
Internal width at transepts: 451 ft. (137 m.)
Internal height of nave: 151.5 ft. (46.2 m.) high
Total area: 227,070 sq. ft. (21,095 m²), more than 5 acres (20,000 m²).
Internal area: 163,182.2 sq. ft. (3.75 acres; 15,160.12 m²)
Height from pavement to top of cross: 448.1 ft. (136.6 m.)
Façade: 167 ft. (51 m.) high by 375 ft. (114 m.) wide
Vestibule: 232.9 ft. (71 m.) wide, 44.2 ft. (13.5 m.) deep, and 91.8 ft. (28 m.) high
The internal columns and pilasters: 92 ft. (28 m.) tall
The circumference of the central piers: 240 ft. (73 m.)
Outer diameter of dome: 137.7 ft. (42.0 m.)
The drum of the dome: 630 ft. (190 m) in circumference and 65.6 ft. (20.0 m) high, rising to 240 ft. (73 m) from the ground
The lantern: 63 ft. (19 m.) high
The ball and cross: 8 and 16 ft. (2.4 and 4.9 m.), respectively
Peter’s Square: 1,115 ft. (340 m.) long, 787.3 ft. (240 m.) wide
Each arm of the colonnade: 306 ft. (93 m.) long, and 64 ft. (20 m.) high
The colonnades have 284 columns, 88 pilasters, and 140 statues
Obelisk: 83.6 ft. (25.5 m.). Total height with base and cross, 132 ft. (40 m.).
Weight of obelisk: 360.2 short tons (326,800 kgs.; 720,400 lbs.)

The author within the nave

Here are some interesting trivia regarding St. Peter’s Basilica:

It is probably the largest church in Christendom.
The dome, rising to a total height of 136.57 m. (448.1 ft.) from the floor of the basilica to the top of the external cross, is the tallest dome in the world.Its 41.47 m. (136.1 ft.) internal diameter, greater in diameter by approximately 30 ft. (9.1 m.) than Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia church (completed in 537), is slightly smaller than two of the three other huge domes that preceded it – the 3 m. (142 ft.) of the Pantheon of Ancient Rome and the 44 m. (144 ft.) of the Early Renaissance Florence Cathedral. Conceived, from the outset, as the greatest dome of Christendom, the architects of St. Peter’s looked for solutions as to how to go about building the dome from the domes of the Pantheon and Florence Duomo.
While it is neither the Pope‘s official seat, mother church (this honor is held by the Pope’s cathedral, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran) of the Catholic Church or the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, St. Peter’s is certainly the Pope’s principal church in terms of use because most Papal liturgies and ceremonies take place there due to its size, proximity to the Papal residence, and location within the Vatican City proper. The Pope presides at a number of liturgies throughout the year, drawing audiences of 15,000 to over 80,000 people, either within the Basilica or the adjoining Peter’s Square.
One of the holiest sites of Christianity, Catholic tradition holds that the Basilica is traditionally the burial site of its titular, Peter, head of the twelve Apostles of Jesus and, according to tradition, the first Bishop of Antioch and later the first Bishop of Rome, rendering him the first Pope Supposedly, St. Peter’s tomb is directly below below the baldachin and high altar of the Basilica in the “Confession.”
Peter’s, one of the Papal Basilicas (previously styled “patriarchal basilicas”), is one of the four churches of Rome that hold the rank of Major Basilica (all of which are also Papal Basilicas), the others being the Basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul outside the Walls. However, unlike all the other Papal Major Basilicas, it is wholly within the territory, and thus the sovereign jurisdiction, of the Vatican City State, and not that of Italy.
Contrary to popular misconception, it is not a cathedral because it is not the seat of a bishop. The Cathedra of the Pope, as Bishop of Rome, is in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.
Within St. Peter’s Basilica are over 100 tombs (extant to various extents), many located in the Vatican grotto, of 91 popes (the most recent interment was Pope John Paul II, on April 8, 2005), since the Early Christian period, in the necropolis beneath the basilica. Many of the tombs of popes are considered outstanding artworks. Other notable people are also buried here. They include, St. Ignatius of Antioch; Holy Roman Emperor Otto II; the composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina; exiled Catholic British royalty James Francis Edward Stuart and his two sons, Charles Edward Stuart and Henry Benedict Stuart; Cardinal Bishop of Frascati (having been granted asylum by Pope Clement XI); Maria Clementina Sobieska (wife of James Francis Edward Stuart); Queen Christina of Sweden (who abdicated her throne in order to convert to Catholicism); and Countess Matilda of Tuscany (supporter of the Papacy during the Investiture Controversy). Beneath, near the crypt, is the recently discovered vaulted 4th-century “Tomb of the Julii.”
The “Chair of Saint Peter” (cathedra), an ancient chair sometimes presumed to have been used by St. Peter himself and used by many popes, was actually a 12th century gift from Charles the Bald.

Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the façade of the basilica, designed by Maderno, is 114.69 m. (376.3 ft.) wide and 45.55 m. (149.4 ft.) high and is built of travertine stone, with a giant order of Corinthian pilasters, all set at slightly different angles to each other (in keeping with the ever-changing angles of the wall’s surface), and a central pediment rising in front of a tall attic surmounted by 13 statues: Christ flanked by 11 of the Apostles (except St. Peter, whose statue is left of the stairs) and John the Baptist.

The inscription below the cornice on the 1 m. (3.3 ft.) tall frieze reads: IN HONOREM PRINCIPIS APOST PAVLVS V BVRGHESIVS ROMANVS PONT MAX AN MDCXII PONT VII In honour of the Prince of Apostles, Paul V Borghese, a Roman, Supreme Pontiff, in the year 1612, the seventh of his pontificate)

The huge cornice, above them, ripples in a continuous band, giving the appearance of keeping the whole building in a state of compression. The facade stretches across the end of the square and is approached by steps on which stand two 5.55 m. (18.2 ft.) statues of Saints Peter and Paul, the 1st-century apostles to Rome. Construction of the current basilica, replacing the Old St. Peter’s Basilica begun by the Emperor Constantine the Great (between 319 and 333 AD), was started on April 18, 1506 by Pope Julius II. In the next 120 years, after a succession of popes and architects, it was solemnly dedicated by Pope Urban VIII on November 18, 1626.

The nave

Cruciform in shape, the basilica has an elongated nave in the Latin cross form with a central space dominated, both externally and internally, by one of the largest domes in the world. In the towers to either side of the facade are two clocks, designed by Giuseppe Valadier from 1786-1790. The one on the right, called the Oltramontano Clock, has one hand showing European mean time. The one on the left, called the Italian Clock, shows Rome time. The oldest bell of the clock on the left, operated electrically since 1931, dates from 1288.

The clock on the left of the facade

Behind the façade of St. Peter’s, stretching across the building, is a narthex (long portico or entrance hall) such as was occasionally found in Italian Romanesque churches. Part of Maderno’s design, it has a long barrel vault decorated with ornate stucco and gilt and successfully illuminated by small windows between pendentives. Its ornate marble floor is beamed with light reflected in from the piazza

The Narthex

A mosaic, one of the most important treasures of the basilica, is set above the central external door. Called the “Navicella,” it is mostly a 17th-century copy of Giotto‘s early 14th century and it represents a ship symbolizing the Christian Church. At each end of the narthex is a theatrical space framed by Ionic columns. Within each is set a equestrian statue – an 18th century equestrian figure of Charlemagne by Cornacchini in the south end and Constantine the Great by Bernini (1670) in the north end.

Statue of St. Peter

Of the five portals (three framed by huge salvaged antique columns)from the narthex to the interior, three contain notable doors. The Renaissance bronze door (called Filarete), the central portal created by Antonio Averulino in 1455 for the old basilica, was somewhat enlarged to fit the new space. The “Door of the Dead,” the southern door, was designed by 20th-century sculptor Giacomo Manzù and includes a portrait of Pope John XXIII kneeling before the crucified figure of St. Peter. The “Holy Door,” the decorated northernmost bronze doors leading from the narthex is, by tradition, walled-up with bricks and opened only for holy years such as the Jubilee year by the Pope. The present door is bronze and was designed by Vico Consorti in 1950 and cast in Florence by the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry. Above it are inscriptions commemorating the opening of the door.

The design of St. Peter’s Basilica and, in particular, its dome, has greatly influenced church architecture in Western Christendom. They include:

Sant’Andrea della Valle (Rome) – designed by Giacomo della Porta before the completion of St Peter’s Basilica, and subsequently worked on by Carlo Maderno.
San Carlo ai Catinari
Sant’Agnese in Agone
St Paul’s Cathedral(London, England) – designed by Christopher Wren
Karlskirche(Vienna, Austria)
Nicholas Church(Prague, Czech Republic)
Pantheon(Paris, France)

Elements of St Peter’s Basilica’s were imitated, to a greater or lesser degree, by a great number of churches built during 19th and early-20th-century Post-Modernism architectural revivals. They include:

Compared with other churches, its entire, “stupendously large” interior, lavishly decorated with marble, reliefs, architectural sculpture and gilding, has vast dimensions so much so that it is hard to get a sense of scale within the building. The nave, framed by wide aisles (which have a number of chapels off them), lead to the central dome and is in three bays, with piers supporting a barrel vault, the highest of any church. In keeping with Michelangelo’s work, it has huge paired pilasters.

The central dome

The aisles each have two smaller chapels and a larger rectangular chapel, the Chapel of the Sacrament and the Choir Chapel. Though lavishly decorated with marble, gilt, sculpture, stucco and mosaic they, remarkably, have very few paintings, although some, such as Raphael’s “Sistine Madonna” have been reproduced in mosaic. A small icon of the Madonna, removed from the old basilica, is the most precious painting.

The sanctuary culminates in a sculptural ensemble, also by Bernini, and contains the so-called “Chair of Saint Peter” (Cathedra Petri ), a large bronze throne in the apse enshrined, with great celebration, in its new home on January 16, 1666. Symbolizing the continuing line of apostolic succession from St. Peter to the reigning Pope, the chair is raised high on 4 looping supports held effortlessly by massive and dynamic bronze statues, with sweeping robes and expressions of adoration and ecstasy, of the four Doctors of the Church – Saints Ambrose and Augustine, representing the Latin Church, and Athanasius and John Chrysostom, the Greek Church. A window of yellow alabaster, behind and above the Cathedra, illuminates, with a blaze of light, the Dove of the Holy Spirit at its center.

The Nave

Two holy water basins, fluttering against the first piers of the nave, are held by four cherubs, each commissioned by Pope Benedict XIII from designer Agostino Cornacchini and sculptor Francesco Moderati, (1720s). They appear of quite normal cherubic size but, once approached, it becomes apparent that each one is over 2 m. high and that real children cannot reach the basins unless they scramble up the marble draperies.
Markers, showing the comparative lengths of other churches, starting from the entrance, are found along the floor of the nave.
Medallions, with relief depicting the first 38 popes, are on the decorative pilasters of the piers of the nave.
Statues, depicting 39 founders of religious orders, are in niches between the pilasters of the nave.
A statue of St. Peter Enthroned, set against the north east pier of the dome, is sometimes attributed to late 13th-century sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio (some scholars dating it to the 5th century). One foot of the statue is largely worn away by pilgrims kissing it for centuries.
The sunken, crypt-like Confessio or “Chapel of the Confession” (in reference to the confession of faith by St. Peter, which led to his martyrdom), leading to the Vatican Grottoes, is located at the heart of the basilica, beneath the dome and high altar. Maderno’s last work, it contains a large kneeling statue, by Canova, of Pope Pius VI, who was captured and mistreated by the army of Napoleon Bonaparte. Two curving marble staircases, remnants of the old basilica, lead to this underground chapel at the level of the Constantinian church and immediately above the purported burial place of Saint Peter. Here, cardinals and other privileged persons could descend in order to be nearer to the burial place of the apostle. Around its balustrade are 95 bronze lamps.
The Niche of the Pallium (“Niche of Stoles”), in the Confessio, contains a bronze urn, donated by Pope Benedict XIV, to contain white stoles embroidered with black crosses and woven with the wool of lambs blessed on St. Agnes’ Day.

The badalchin

The High Altar, surmounted by a baldachin (baldacchino), its central feature, was the first work designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini at St. Peter’s. This 30 m. (98 ft.) high, pavilion-like structure, claimed to be the largest piece of bronze in the world, stands beneath the dome and above the Papal Its design, based on the ciborium (of which there are many in the churches of Rome), serves to create a sort of holy space above and around the table on which the Sacrament is laid for the Eucharist and emphasizing the significance of this ritual.
As part of the scheme for the central space of the church, Bernini had the piers, , hollowed out into niches, and had staircases made inside them, leading to four balconies. On the balconies Bernini created showcases, framed by the eight ancient twisted columns, to display the four most precious relics of the basilica. Set in each of the niches, within the four huge piers (begun by Bramante and completed by Michelangelo) supporting the dome, are the huge statues of the saint associated with the basilica’s primary holy relics – Saint Helena, Constantine’s mother, holding the True Cross and the Holy Nails (by Andrea Bolgi); Saint Longinus holding the spear that pierced the side of Jesus (by Bernini, 1639); Saint Andrew, the brother of St. Peter, with the Andrew’s Cross (by Francois Duquesnoy) and Saint Veronica holding her miraculous veil with the image of Jesus’ face (by Francesco Mochi).

Statue of St. Longinus (Bernini)

North Aisle

Michelangelo‘s Pietà is in the first chapel of the north aisle.
The monument of Queen Christina of Sweden, who abdicated in 1654 in order to convert to Catholicism, is on the first pier in the right aisle.

Monument to Pope Innocent XI

The second chapel, dedicated to Sebastian, contains the statues of popes Pius XI and Pius XII. The space below the altar, housing the remains of Pope John Paul II (placed here on May 2, 2011), used to be the resting place of Pope Innocent XI whose remains were moved to the Altar of the Transfiguration on April 8, 2011.

Altar of the Transfiguration

The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, the large chapel on the right aisle, contains the tabernacle by Bernini (1664). Resembling Bramante‘s Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio, it is supported by two kneeling angels and, behind it, is a painting of the Holy Trinity by Pietro da Cortona.
The monuments of popes Gregory XIII by Camillo Rusconi (1723) and Gregory XIV are near the Altar of Our Lady of Succor.
An altar containing the relics of Petronilla, with an altarpiece “The Burial of St Petronilla by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), 1623, is at the end of the aisle.

South Aisle

Baptistery

The baptistery, the first chapel in the south aisle, was commissioned by Pope Innocent XII and designed by Carlo Fontana, (great nephew of Domenico Fontana). The font, previously located in the opposite chapel, is the red porphyry sarcophagus of Probus, the 4th-century Prefect of Rome. The lid came from a sarcophagus which had once held the remains of the Emperor Hadrian. Previously stored in the Vatican Grotto, workmen broke it into ten pieces during removal and Fontana restored it expertly and surmounted it with a gilt-bronze figure of the “Lamb of God.”

Monument to the Royal Stuarts

The Monument to the Royal Stuarts, set against the first pier of the aisle, is a Neo-Classical tomb (designed by Canova and unveiled in 1819) for James and his sons, Charles Edward (known as “Bonnie Prince Charlie”) and Henry, Cardinal and Duke of York. Opposite it is the memorial to Maria Clementina Sobieska, James Francis Edward Stuart’s wife.

Monument to Maria Clementina Sobieski

The second chapel, that of the Presentation of the Virgin, contains the memorials of Pope Benedict XV and Pope John XXIII.

Monument to Pope Benedict XV (Pietro Canonica, (1928)

The tombs of Pope Pius X and Pope Innocent VIII are set against the piers.
The Choir Chapel, the large chapel off the south aisle, contains the Altar of the Immaculate Conception.
The tomb of Pope Pius VIII is at the entrance to the Sacristy.

Monument to Pius VIII (Pietro Tenerani, 1866)

The altars of Saint Thomas, Saint Joseph and the Crucifixion of Saint Peter are at the south transept.
Towards the end of the aisle is the tomb of Fabio Chigi, Pope Alexander VII. The work of Bernini and called by Lees-Milne “as one of the greatest tombs of the Baroque Age,” it is awkwardly set in a niche above a doorway, utilized by Bernini in a symbolic manner, into a small vestry. Pope Alexander, facing outward, kneels upon his tomb. The tomb, supported on a large draped shroud in patterned red marble, is supported by four female figures, of whom only the two at the front, representing Charity and Truth, are fully visible. The foot of Truth rests upon a globe of the world, her toe being pierced symbolically by the thorn of Protestant England. The skeletal winged figure of Death, coming forth, seemingly, from the doorway as if it were the entrance to a tomb, has its head hidden beneath the shroud, but its right hand carries an hour glass stretched upward towards the kneeling figure of the pope.

Monument to Pope Leo XI (Alessandro Algardi)

The white marble Monument to Leo XI, by Alessandro Algardi (1595-1654), has roses carved on the plinth and the inscription “Sic florui”, refer to the fact that he reigned only 27 days, in 1605. Beside him are two female allegories: Fortitude and Generosity.

Monument to Pope Pius VII

The Monument of Pius VII, occupying part of the left wall of the Clementine Chapel, is the work of the Danish sculptor, Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844).Two winged cupids, one symbolizing time (hourglass) and the other history (book), are located on the sides of the throne. The two statues of “Knowledge” and “Fortitude,” on high pedestals, are located on the sides of the Doric door. The first is depicted in a meditative pose, with the Bible open and, at its feet, an owl, the symbol of prudence. The second figure is dressed in lion skins, while one foot stands on a club.

Altar of the Lie

Passing from the transept to the left aisle, on the left is the Altar of the Lie or the Altar of Ananias and Sapphira. Its mosaic, after a painting by Cristoforo Roncalli (known as Pomarancio, 552-1626), shows the punishment of the couple who had lied to St. Peter about the price of a field sold by them, and were therefore immediately struck dead.

St. Peter’s Basilica: Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City. Open daily, April -September, 7 AM -7 PM; October – March, 7 AM – 6 PM.

How to Get There:

By Subway – Take Linea A (red line) toward Battistini and exit at Ottaviano-S. Pietro. Walk south on Via Ottaviano toward St. Peter’s Square.
By Walking – From the city center, the most direct route is to cross the Tiber and walk straight up Via Conciliazioni. A more interesting route is to go under the Passetto arch near Castel S. Angelo and walk up Pio Borgo, providing a more dramatic entrance from the right (north) side of the Piazza.

La Bocca della Verita (Rome, Italy)

Posted on 24 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin

From Piazza Navona, we rode a couple of buses to get to the beautiful but very modest Paleo- Christian Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, at the foot of the Aventine Hills. Inside the left wall of the portico of the church was a queue leading to the famous La Bocca della Verita (English: the Mouth of Truth), a sculpture of a man-like face with a relief carving of an open mouth, 2 oddly shaped horns, wide eyes and a flowing mane of hair carved from a massive round medallion of Pavonazzetto marble from Docimium in Frigia (today’s Turkey). It has a diameter of 175 cms. (about 5 ft., 9in.); a thickness of 19 cms. (about 7 in.) and weighs about 1,200 kgs. (26,400 lbs.).

The author tries his hand at La Bocca della Verita

The Bocca, thought to be part of a first-century ancient Roman fountain or perhaps a manhole cover from the nearby Temple of Hercules Invictus (it is also thought that cattle merchants used it to drain the blood of cattle sacrificed to the god Hercules), portrays one of several possible pagan river gods, probably Oceanus. Most Romans believe that it represents the ancient god of the Tiber River.

Grace and Kyle

Cheska and Kyle

However, the most famous characteristic of the La Bocca della Verita, starting from the Middle Ages, is its role as a lie detector, the reason for its unshakeable fame. It was believed that if one told a lie, with one’s hand in the mouth of the sculpture, it would be bitten off. Roman soldiers used to bring their wives to the mouth when they returned from their campaigns and prove whether they had been faithful in their absence. It was placed inside the church in the 17th century.

Jandy

The mask has attracted the attention and curiosity of English-speaking audiences and tourists from all over the world mostly from its appearance in the charming 1953 Hollywood film Roman Holiday where Audrey Hepburn‘s and Gregory Peck‘s characters, both of whom were not initially truthful with each other, uses the Mouth of Truth as a sort of lie detector and a storytelling device. In one of the film’s most memorable scenes, Peck, in front of a terrified Hepburn, daringly challenges the mask by putting his hand inside its mouth. This scene was also replicated in the 1994 film Only You starring Robert Downey Jr. and Marisa Tomei.

Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck at the Mouth of Truth in Roman Holiday

Today, queues of tourists line up outside the church for the evidently too strong thrill of the risk as they honestly can’t resist, while hoping for the best, of audaciously sticking their hand inside this harmless, but unsettling ancient stone mask from the Classical period .

The church interior

The church, founded in the 6th century on the ruins of the statio annonae (the food-distribution center of classical Rome), was enlarged by Pope Adrian I in the 8th century. It is also home to the supposed relics of Saint Valentine (including his skull). Aside from the portico, other noteworthy features of the church include its elegant Romanesque campanile (the tallest Medieval belfry in Rome), the schola cantorum (choir), the rich Cosmatesque pavement and decorations and the Gothic baldacchin over the high altar.

Relic of St. Valentine

A fragment of an 8th-century mosaic, from the original St Peter’s Basilica, can be found in the sacristy. A block of tufa, from which the tiny crypt was hollowed out, is said to be the remains of an altar from the Forum Boarium (the ancient cattle market), erected in honor of Hercules, in view of his victory over the giant Cacus, who stole his cattle. Throughout its history this church was repeatedly restored and redecorated, especially in the 12th and 13th centuries. At the end of the last century, the architect Giovanni Battista Giovenale gave the church its excessively Medieval appearance.

Gothic baldacchino over the high altar

Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin: Cor. Via di Greca and Via Teatro di Marcello, Piazza della Bocca della Verità 18, Rome, Italy. Open daily, 9 AM – 1 PM an 2:30 – 7 PM (off season until 5 PM). There’s no entrance fee.

How to Get There: It is located down the street from Piazza Venezia, south of the Roman Forum, near the Tiber River, and close to Piazza Campidoglio. Take the Via de Marcello down (south) from the Capitoline Hill.

Metro: Circo Massimo
Bus: 44, 95 Piazza Venezia

Fountain of the Four Rivers (Rome, Italy)

Posted on 24 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Fountain of the Four Rivers

The Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi), triumphantly and theatrically unveiled to the Roman populace on June 12, 1651, is Rome’s greatest achievement in this genre and the epitome of Baroque theatricality.

Piazza Navona

The author (right) and son Jandy at Piazza Navona

This fountain, which can be strolled around, was built on Piazza Navona, the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in 1st century AD. It was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for Pope Innocent X (reigned 1644-1655). The pope’s family palace, the Palazzo Pamphili, faced onto the piazza as did the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone of which Innocent was the sponsor.

Palazzo Pamphili

Bernini‘s design was influenced by the design of the Monument of the Four Moors (Monumento dei Quattro mori). It may have also been influenced by a fountain in Marino, Lazio which was constructed to commemorate the defeat of the Ottomans at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.

The obelisk

The base of the fountain is a basin whose center has a slender, ancient Egyptian obelisk, brought in pieces from the Circus of Maxentius to Rome by the Emperor Caracalla. It was built for the Roman Serapeum in AD 81 but had been buried for a long time at Capo di Bove.

Pamphili family emblem

Beneath it are four semi-prostrate giant nudes of river gods, all in awe of the central tower surmounted with the Pamphili family emblem of a dove with an olive twig, symbol of Papal power and the Holy Spirit. The river gods depict the four major rivers of the four continents, (whose rivers feed the ocean, represented by the large pool) as then recognized by the Renaissance geographers, through which papal authority had spread.

The river gods

Supported on the base by a jagged and pierced mountainous disorder of travertine marble rocks, the marble giants are arranged at the center of a scene of carved grottoes and decorated with flowers, exotic plants and 7 animals (a horse, a sea monster, a serpent, a dolphin, a crocodile, a lion and a dragon) that further carry forth identification.

Lion

Sea monster

Each carries a certain number of allegories and metaphors with it. The Nile, representing Africa, has a head draped with a loose piece of cloth, meaning that no one, at that time, knew exactly where the Nile’s source was. Symbolically, this also refers to what the Catholic world saw as the dark ignorance of the “pagan” world: the sculpture has not seen the light of Christianity

Statue of the Nile River

The apathetic Ganges river god, representing Asia, carries a long oar, representing the river’s navigability, and looks away from the light of the Church, representing the spiritual ignorance of this hedonistic land.

Statue of the Ganges

The Danube, representing Europe, touches the Pope’s personal coat of arms, since it is the large river closest to Rome. The most “civilized” and cultured of the figures, the Danube looks toward and embraces the light of the lord.

Statue of the Danube

The Río de la Plata (the word plata means “silver” in Spanish), representing America, sits on a pile of coins, a symbol of the riches America could offer to Europe. The Río de la Plata also looks scared by a snake, showing rich men’s fear that their money could be stolen. Although he throws his hands back in surprise, this representative of the newly converted lands has begun to see the light.

Statue of the Rio de la Plata

There are a number of urban legends regarding the fountain, nasty rumors fed by the famous rivalry between the Bermini and Borromini, designer of the church of Sant’Agnese right in front of the fountain. Borromini lost the fountain commission to Bermini. Many tour-guides, would tell you that Bernini positioned the cowering sculpture of the Rio de la Plata River as if it feared the facade of the church could possibly crumble against him; that the statue of the Nile covered its head so as not to have to see the church; and that the statue of Sant’Agnese on the facade of the church, with her hand on her chest, seems to reassure the Rio de la Plata of the church’s stability. However, the truth is the fountain was completed several years before Borromini began work on the church.

Church of Sant’ Agnese

Today, this revolutionary and grandiose monument to the power and glory of the pope and his family and dynamic fusion of architecture and sculpture, with its highly dramatic, evocative, and individualized figures, dramatically spurting water and a wealth of surprising and charming sculptural details, continues to amaze and entertain visitors to Rome.

Fontana del Moro

Statue of the Moor

One of four Tritons

Piazza Navona has two other fountains – the Fontana del Moro, at the southern end, and the Fountain of Neptune at the northern end. The Fontana del Moro has a basin and four Tritons sculpted by Giacomo della Porta in 1575. In 1673, Bernini added a statue of a Moor, standing on a conch shell, wrestling with a dolphin.

Fountain of Neptune

The Fountain of Neptune was also created by Giacomo della Porta in1574. In1878, the statue of Neptune, by Antonio Della Bitta, was added in to create a balance with La Fontana del Moro.

Museo di Roma

Other buildings within the piazza include the Museo di Roma, housed in the large Neoclassical Palazzo Braschi, covering the history of the city in the period from the Middle Ages through the nineteenth century; and the Church of Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore (Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, also known as the Church of San Giacomo degli Spagnoli), the national church of the Spanish community in Rome.

Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart

Fountain of the Four Rivers: Piazza Navona, Boccadellaverità, Rome, Italy.

Church of St. Dominic of Guzman (Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur)

Posted on 25 March, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Church of St. Dominic of Guzman

This church was built in 1762 by Dominican Father Jose Millan. Father Miguel Padilla (parish priest from 1825 to 1869) made many improvements on the church and, in 1939, Monsignor Crisanto Padernal plastered and painted the church. Both bell tower and presbytery were damaged and rectory completely ruined by the earthquakes of June 12 and 22, 1957. The present bell tower has a base foundation of 9 m.. Diego Silang, leader of the 1762 Ilocano Revolt, was a bell ringer here.

The Baroque-style facade

Its protruding Baroque façade, divided into two levels by a string course, has a segmental arched main entrance flanked by superpositioned coupled Doric columns on pedestals. Above the entrance is a statue of St. Dominic of Guzman and a blind, wing-like arch with decorative moldings following its outline.

Blind, wing-like arch

Lancet windows at the sides

Above this ensemble is a two-level bell tower with semicircular arch openings. The receding side walls of this central segment have square pilasters topped by urn-like finials. The sides of the church have lancet windows.

The modern church interior

Church of St. Dominic of Guzman: Manila North Road, Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur. Tel: (077) 726-3932. Feast of St. Dominic of Guzman: August 8.

How to Get There: Sto. Domingo is located 413.85 kms.(an 8-hour drive) from Manila and 12.7 kms. (a 25-min. drive) from Vigan City.

This travel blog, a diary of the author’s local and international travels, aims to provide the reader with news and information on people, places and events that would interest the avid traveler and tourist. But, it also aims to be much more, providing insights on the wonders of this beautiful country, as well as the world, beyond the strict confines of the city. Have a BLAST seeing old churches, exotic temples, educational museums as well as palm-fringed islands; white sand beaches; thundering waterfalls; placid lakes; fiery sunsets; turquoise seas; cathedral-like caves; swirling rivers; majestic mountains; stupendous, amphitheater-like rice terraces; awesome volcanoes and the like. Get to know the movers and shakers in the tourism industry; find out where to titillate the palate; rejuvenate your body; feed your adrenalin, unwind and relax; satisfy your craving for history and culture; and find out what's being celebrated and where.

BENJAMIN “BENJIE” LAYUG, an architect by profession (he finished his B. S. Architecture degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1982), is also a copy editor for two publishing houses; travel writer; blogger; architectural historian; author; concert. movie and musical reviewer (for www.pep.ph); and a motivational speaker.

As a free-lance travel writer, he has, in the past, contributed articles to Travel Update, Philippine Daily Inquirer, COLORS, TODAY, 7107 Islands Magazine, Business Day and Bluprint. He currently writes for Artplus Magazine and the Business Mirror.

He is also the author of the following travel books:

A Philippine Odyssey (New Day Publishers, 2005)
Pathfinder’s Travel Guide: Boracay (Great Books Trading, 2006)
A Tourist Guide to Notable Philippine Churches (New Day Publishers, 2007)
A Tourist to Notable Philippine Historical Landmarks, Monuments and Shrines (New Day Publishers, 2010)
A Tourist Guide to Notable Philippine Museums (New Day Publishers, 2012)

Some of his books now appear in the local library shelves of the National Library of the Philippines, De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, University of Sto. Tomas, U.P. Diliman, Centro Escolar University, San Sebastian College, Miriam College, Silliman University, to name a few, as well as internationally at the National Library of Australia and the University of California Berkeley Library.

Now a senior citizen, he is probably one of the oldest, if not the oldest, active travel blogger in the country today. He also has a lifestyle blog called F.Y.I.:Firing Your Imagination (www.firingyourimagination.blogspot.com). Benjie has traveled to two-thirds (53) of the country’s 81 provinces and over 20 countries in 4 continents.