We started the day with our Context Tours docent Philip Ditchfield at the Temple Hercules Victor at Piazza Bocca della Verta. Also home to the church of S. Maria and the 'mouth of truth'. Piazza Bocca sits on the east side of the Tiber river near the Circo Massimo. Philip took us on a walking tour to see classic Rome.
A docent brings the place to life and shares all of its secrets. It is wonderful experience even if Philip posses a British accent with its slightly tarnished sense of humor which did completely fit Rome.
Today - we roamed through Rome's city streets north from the Piazza to the area near the Pantheon and Basilica di S. Maria- stopping along the way to visit churches, crypts and ruins. It is always fascinating to return to street or place with a docent. I am amazed at what I missed on the first visit.
We literally climbed to the top of Basilica di S. Nicola in Carcere and stood eye-to-eye with the top portal of one of the three temples that once stood on this spot. Most of the ancient architecture preserved today was saved by being used for other purposes in the intervening centuries. Pagan temples were often used as churches, prisons, forts or in some cases homes. Items preserved as 'Spolia' (today's word from our docent) - that is items taken from one building to create another.
In Rome - Spolia was the way of life. Each century quarried materials from the great architectural creations of the previous generations. These materials were then used to create their own masterpieces (at a lower cost and faster). For example: some of the marble that once covered much of the Colosseum is now on the steps of St. Peters. In Rome - if you look closely almost every building contains precious spolia from the past.
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