On 6/9/22(the second day of our Rome trip), We undertook a tour of the Roman Forum which is one of the most sought after sights of Rome.Neighbouring the spectacular architecture of the Colosseum,the Roman Forum boasts of many of the oldest & important structures located here including some ancient shrines & Churches.The Basilica of Maxentius was the largest building in the Forum.The Roman Forum fell into ruins soon after the fall of the Roman Empire .Here I am describing the history of the Forum(its inception ,its functions & the buildings it encompasses in its premises) as well as the brief history of Roman Empire for my interested readers.

ROMAN FORUM :

The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum, is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum. For centuries the Forum was the center of day-to-day life in Rome: the site of triumphal processions and elections; the venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches; and the nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city’s great men. The teeming heart of ancient Rome, it has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history. Located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, the Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archaeological excavations attracting 4.5 million or more sightseers yearly. Many of the oldest and most important structures of the ancient city were located on or near the Forum. The Roman Kingdom’s earliest shrines and temples were located on the southeastern edge.

A forum (Latin forum “public place outdoors”, plural fora) was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls. Many fora were constructed at remote locations along a road by the magistrate responsible for the road, in which case the forum was the only settlement at the site and had its own name, such as Forum Popili or Forum Livi. For centuries the Forum was the center of day-to-day life in Rome: the site of triumphal processions and elections; the venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches; and the nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city’s great men.

According to tradition, the Forum was founded as a result of the conciliation of two rivals, Romulus (founder of Rome) who ruled the Palatine Hill, and his nemesis Titus Tatius, who controlled the Capitoline Hill.

THE FUNCTIONS OF THE FORUM:

In addition to its standard function as a marketplace, a forum was a gathering place of great social significance, and often the scene of diverse activities, including political discussions and debates, rendezvous, meetings, et cetera. In that case it supplemented the function of a Conciliabulum. Every muncipium had a forum. Fora were the first of any civitas synoecized whether Latin, Italic, Etruscan, Greek, Celtic or some other. The first forums were sited between independent villages in the period, known only through archaeology. After the rise of the Roman Republic, the most noted forum of the Roman world, the Roman Forum in Rome itself, served as a model of new construction. By the time of the late Republic expansions refurbishing of the forums of the city had inspired Pompey Magnusto create the Theatre of Pompeyi n 55 BC. The Theatre included a massive forum behind the theatre arcades known as the Porticus Pompei (Colonnades of Pompey). The structure was the forebearer to Julius Caesar’s first Imperial forum and the rest to follow. Fora were a regular part of every Roman province in the Republic and the Empire.All fora would have a Temple of Jupiter at the north end, and would also contain other temples, as well as the Basilica.At election times, candidates would use the steps of the temples in the forum to make their election speeches, and would expect their clients to come to support them.

LIST OF MONUMENTS OF ROMAN FORUM:

1 Existing (or reconstructed) ruins
1.1 Temples
1.2 Basilicas
1.3 Arches
1.4 Government buildings or official residences
1.5 Smaller monuments
1.6 Pools, springs
1.7 Roads, streets, staircases
2 Vanished (or almost vanished) structures
2.1 Associated with the old Comitium
2.2 Elsewhere in the Forum
3 Christian churches

This list of monuments of the Roman Forum(Forum Romanum) includes existing and former buildings, memorials and other built structures in the famous Roman public plaza during its 1,400 years of active use (8th century BC–ca 600 AD). It is divided into three categories: those ancient structures that can be seen today as ruins or reconstructions, ancient structures that have vanished or exist only as fragments, and churches of the later, Christian, era. Many of the Forum’s monuments were originally built in the periods of the Kingdom (753 BC–509 BC) and the Republic (509 BC–27 BC), although most were destroyed and rebuilt several times. The existing ruins generally date from the Imperial period (27 BC–476 AD).

ROMAN EMPIRE:
After Julius Caesar’s death and the end of the subsequent civil war, Augustus would finish his great-uncle’s work, giving the Forum its final form. This included the southeastern end of the plaza where he constructed the Temple of Caesar and the Arch of Augustus there (both in 29 BC). The Temple of Caesar was placed between Caesar’s funeral pyre and the Regia. The Temple’s location and reconstruction of adjacent structures resulted in greater organization akin to the Forum of Caesar. The Forum was also witness to the assassination of a Roman Emperor Galba in 69 AD.

The history of the Roman Empire covers the history of ancient Rome from the fall of the Roman Republic in 27 BC until the abdication of Romulus Augustulus in AD 476 in the West, and the Fall of Constantinople in the East in AD 1453. Ancient Rome became a territorial empire while still a republic, but was then ruled by Roman emperors beginning with Augustus (r. 27 BC – AD 14), becoming the Roman Empire following the death of the last republican dictator, the first emperor’s adoptive father Julius Caesar.Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the Roman Republic in the 6th century BC, though it did not expand outside the Italian Peninsula until the 3rd century BC.Civil war engulfed the Roman state in the mid 1st century BC, first between Julius Caesar and Pompey, and finally between Octavian and Mark Antony. Antony was defeated at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. In 27 BC, the Senate made Octavian imperator (“commander”) thus beginning the Principate, the first epoch of Roman imperial history usually dated from 27 BC to AD 284; they later awarded him the name Augustus, “the venerated”.
The success of Augustus in establishing principles of dynastic succession was limited by his outliving a number of talented potential heirs; the Julio-Claudian dynasty lasted for four more emperors—Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero—before it yielded in AD 69 to the strife-torn Year of the Four Emperors, from which Vespasian emerged as victor. Vespasian became the founder of the brief Flavian dynasty, to be followed by the Nerva–Antonine dynasty which produced the “Five Good Emperors”: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and the philosophically inclined Marcus Aurelius.
In 212, during the reign of Caracalla, Roman citizenship was granted to all freeborn inhabitants of the Empire. Despite this gesture of universality, the Severan dynasty was tumultuous—an emperor’s reign was ended routinely by his murder or execution. In the reign of Philip the Arab (r. 244–249), Rome celebrated the thousandth anniversary of her founding by Romulus and Remus with the Saecular Games. Diocletian (r. 284–305) restored stability to the empire .Diocletian’s reign also brought the Empire’s most concerted effort against the perceived threat of Christianity, the “Great Persecution”. The state of absolute monarchy that began with Diocletian endured until the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453. Order was eventually restored by the victories of Constantine, who became the first emperor to convert to Christianity, and who founded Constantinople as a new capital for the empire after defeating his co-emperor Licinius. The reign of Julian, who under the influence of his adviser Mardonius attempted to restore Classical Roman and Hellenistic religion, only briefly interrupted the succession of Christian emperors of the Constantinian dynasty. Theodosius I, the last emperor to rule over both the Eastern empire and the whole Western empire, died in AD 395 after making Christianity the official religion of the Empire.
The Western Roman Empire began to disintegrate in the early 5th century as the Germanic migrations and invasions of the Migration Period overwhelmed the capacity of the Empire to assimilate the immigrants and fight off the invaders. Most chronologies place the end of the Western Roman Empire in 476, when Romulus Augustulus was forced to abdicate to the Germanic warlord Odoacer.By placing himself under the rule of the eastern emperor Zeno, rather than naming himself or a puppet ruler as emperor, as other Germanic chiefs, had done, Odoacer ended the separate Roman government of the Western empire. The Eastern empire exercised diminishing control over the west over the course of the next century. The empire in the east—known today as the Byzantine Empire, but referred to in its time as the “Roman Empire” or by various other names—ended in 1453 with the death of Constantine XI and the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks.

Arch of Septimius Severus:
The white marble Arch of Septimius Severus was added at the northwest end of the Forum close to the foot of the Capitoline Hill and adjacent to the old, vanishing Comitium. It was dedicated in 203 AD to commemorate the Parthian victories of Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons against Pescennius Niger, and is one of the most visible landmarks there today. The arch closed the Forum’s central area. Besides the Arch of Augustus, which was also constructed following a Roman victory against the Parthians, it is the only triumphal arch in the Forum. The Emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305) was the last of the great builders of Rome’s city infrastructure and he did not omit the Forum from his program. The reign of Constantine the Great saw the completion of the construction of the Basilica of Maxentius (312 AD), the last significant expansion of the Forum complex. This restored much of the political focus to the Forum until the fall of the Western Roman Empire almost two centuries later.

The Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine ( Basilica di Massenzio), sometimes known as the Basilica Nova—meaning “new Basilica”—or Basilica of Maxentius, is an ancient building in the Roman Forum, Rome, Italy. It was the largest building in the Forum, and the last Roman basilica built in the city.

The Basilica Julia (Basilica Giulia) was a structure that once stood in the Roman Forum. It was a large, ornate, public building used for meetings and other official business during the Roman Empire. Its ruins have been excavated. What is left from its classical period are mostly foundations, floors, a small back corner wall with a few arches that are part of both the original building and later Imperial reconstructions and a single column from its first building phase.It was built on the site of the earlier Basilica Sempronia (170 BC) along the south side of the Forum, opposite the Basilica Aemilia. It was initially dedicated in 46 BC by Julius Caesar with building costs paid from the spoils of the Gallic war, and was completed by Augustus, who named the building after his adoptive father. The ruins which have been excavated date to a reconstruction of the Basilica by the Emperor Diocletian, after a fire in 283 AD destroyed the earlier structure.

The Roman Forum fell into complete disrepair after the fall of the Roman Empire. It was eventually used as a grassland, known in the Middle Ages as the ‘Campo Vaccino,’ translating to the Cow Field. This resulted in a large majority of the stone and marble to be extensively plundered.

The Roman Forum was reconstructed many times during its existence. This allowed for various forms of architecture from different eras to merge together. Influence from each period can be seen in the design and construction of the buildings.

We have all heard the phrase “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” The popular saying, attributed to a medieval French proverb, conveys that it takes time to build beautiful things. This time frame can’t really be quantified. Of course, you can say that Rome is still being built, that it has experienced cycles of construction and demolition since its founding in 753 BCE

THE ROMAN FORUM – MORE THAN A MILLENIUM :

The center of civic life in ancient Rome, the Forum developed gradually over more than a millennium, with construction beginning in the late 8th century BC and continuing through the early 7th century AD.

One of the earliest monuments in the Roman Forum that still exists today is the Temple of Castor and Pollux, which dates from 494 BC (Roman Republic).One of the most sought-after sights in Rome, the Forum remains at the top of the list for most visitors. Now standing as ruins of temples, monuments, and other structures, the Forum still welcomes crowds.

My dear readers may kindly point out any incorrect information in my above writeup needing any corrections! I am truly indebted to Wikipedia & for the invaluable information on the subject !Happy Reading !

On 6/9/22(second day of our 3-days tour of Rome),We visited the largest ancient amphitheatre of the Roman Empire still standing & hosting numerous dramas & guided tours to depict the history of Roman Empire!Its one of the ‘seven Wonders of the World”.The venue is very well maintained with great explanation panels & knowledgeable guides facilitated with a convenient audio system to assist the guides.Its a great place to visit if we care for the architectural landmarks.The amazing structure is being used for entertainment,exhibitions & various sports activities.Its where the gladiators ,criminals & lions alike fought for their lives.The Colossium remains a world renowned iconic symbol of Roman Empire .Completed in the 80AD ,the Colessium was opened with great fanfare by Titus ,Vespasians’s son & successor with 100 days games including stunning battle recreations of artificial lakes of water.

COLOSSEUM (Italian: Colosseo) :

The Colosseum in Rome, Italy, is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world today, despite its age. The Colosseum, also named the Flavian Amphitheater, is a large amphitheater in Rome. It was built during the reign of the Flavian emperors as a gift to the Roman people. Construction began under the emperor Vespasian (r. 69–79 AD)and was completed in 80 AD under his successor and heir, Titus (r. 79–81)Further modifications were made during the reign of Domitian (r. 81–96)The three emperors that were patrons of the work are known as the Flavian dynasty, and the amphitheatre was named the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium; Italian: Anfiteatro Flavio by later classicists and archaeologists for its association with their family name (Flavius).The amphitheater hosted events like gladiatorial games. The most common and most well known were gladiator battles. The Colosseum also held hunts, executions (some by wild beasts, the famous damnatio ad bestias) and right at the beginning, a few Naumachia — staged naval battles for which the Colosseum was flooded.After the devastating earthquake, the Colosseum continued to be plundered of its bare materials. The stone was stripped from the amphitheatre’s interior and the bronze clamps were hacked off the building’s walls. These harsh hack jobs left severe scars on the Colosseum’s walls, which are still visible today.Severe damage was inflicted on the Colosseum by the great earthquake in 1349, causing the outer south side, lying on a less stable alluvial terrain, to collapse. Much of the tumbled stone was reused to build palaces, churches, hospitals and other buildings elsewhere in Rome.

AMPHITHEATRE :

An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ἀμφιθέατρον (amphitheatron),from ἀμφί (amphi), meaning “on both sides” or “around”and θέατρον (théātron), meaning “place for viewing”
Ancient Roman amphitheatres were oval or circular in plan, with seating tiers that surrounded the central performance area, like a modern open-air stadium. In contrast, both ancient Greek and ancient Roman theatres were built in a semicircle, with tiered seating rising on one side of the performance area.
Modern parlance uses “amphitheatre” for any structure with sloping seating, including theatre-style stages with spectator seating on only one side, theatres in the round, and stadia. They can be indoor or outdoor.
Natural Amphitheatres are formations of similar shapes.
Arles Amphitheatre, France: a Roman arena still used for bullfighting, plays and summer concerts. About 230 Roman amphitheatres have been found across the area of the Roman Empire

The Colosseum is built of travertine limestone, tuff (volcanic rock), and brick-faced concrete. It could hold an estimated 50,000 to 80,000 spectators at various points in its history,having an average audience of some 65,000; it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles including animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Roman mythology, and briefly mock sea battles. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.
Although substantially ruined by earthquakes and stone robbers taking spolia, the Colosseum is still an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome and was listed as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.It is one of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions and also has links to the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit “Way of the Cross” procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum. The Colosseum is depicted on the Italian version of the five-cent euro coin.

A thanksgiving gesture to the obliging photoshooter at the Colosseum amphitheatre.

Name :
Originally, the building’s Latin name was simply the Latin: amphitheatrum, lit. ’amphitheatre’. Though the modern name Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium) is often used, there is no evidence it was used in classical antiquity. This name refers to the patronage of the Flavian dynasty, during whose reigns the building was constructed, but the structure is better known as the Colosseum. In antiquity, Romans may have referred to the Colosseum by the unofficial name Amphitheatrum Caesareum (with Caesareum an adjective pertaining to the title Caesar), but this name may have been strictly poetic as it was not exclusive to the Colosseum; Vespasian and Titus, builders of the Colosseum, also constructed a Flavian Amphitheatre in Puteoli (modern Pozzuoli).
The name Colosseum is believed to be derived from a colossal statue of Nero. The Colossus of Nero (Colossus Neronis) was a 30-metre bronze statue that the Emperor Nero (37–68 AD) created in the Vestibule of his Domus Aurea .The giant bronze sculpture of Nero as a solar deity was moved to its position beside the amphitheatre by the emperor Hadrian (r. 117–138).The word colosseum is a neuter Latin noun formed from the adjective colosseus, meaning “gigantic” or “colossean”.

After Nero’s suicide and the civil wars of the Year of the Four Emperors, the Colossus of Nero statue was remodeled by the condemned emperor’s successors into the likeness of Helios (Sol) or Apollo, the sun god, by adding the appropriate solar crown. It was then commonly referred to as the “Colossus solis”. Nero’s head was also replaced several times with the heads of succeeding emperors.Despite its pagan links, the statue remained standing well into the medieval era and was credited with magical powers. The emperor Constantine the Great remodeled the statue’s face as his own.

History: Construction, Inauguration, and Roman Renovations:
The site chosen was a flat area on the floor of a low valley between the Caelian, Esquiline and Palatine Hills, through which a canalised stream ran as well as an artificial lake/marsh. It was devastated by the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD, following which Nero seized much of the area to add to his personal domain. He built the grandiose Domus Aurea on the site, in front of which he created an artificial lake surrounded by pavilions, gardens and porticoes. The existing Aqua Claudia aqueduct was extended to supply water to the area and the gigantic bronze Colossus of Nero was set up nearby at the entrance to the Domus Aurea.

Having a curious look at the beautiful miniature model of Colossium amphitheatre

Although the Colossus was preserved, much of the Domus Aurea was torn down. The lake was filled in and the land reused as the location for the new Flavian Amphitheatre. Gladiatorial schools and other support buildings were constructed nearby within the former grounds of the Domus Aurea. Vespasian’s decision to build the Colosseum on the site of Nero’s lake can be seen as a populist gesture of returning to the people an area of the city which Nero had appropriated for his own use. In contrast to many other amphitheatres, which were on the outskirts of a city, the Colosseum was constructed in the city centre, in effect, placing it both symbolically and precisely at the heart of Rome.
Construction was funded by the opulent spoils taken from the Jewish Temple after the First Jewish–Roman War in 70 AD led to the Siege of Jerusalem. According to a reconstructed inscription found on the site, “the emperor Vespasian ordered this new amphitheatre to be erected from his general’s share of the booty.” It is often assumed that Jewish prisoners of war were brought back to Rome and contributed to the massive workforce needed for the construction of the amphitheatre, but there is no ancient evidence for that; it would, nonetheless, be commensurate with Roman practice to add humiliation to the defeated population.Along with this free source of unskilled labor, teams of professional Roman builders, engineers, artists, painters and decorators undertook the more specialized tasks necessary for building the Colosseum. The Colosseum was constructed with several different materials: wood, limestone, tuff, tiles, cement, and mortar.

Modern use :
The Colosseum today is a major tourist attraction in Rome with thousands of tourists each year entering to view the interior arena.There is now a museum in the upper floor of the outer wall of the building. Beneath the Colosseum, a network of subterranean passageways once used to transport wild animals & gladiators to the arena opened to the public in summer 2010. The Colosseum is also the site of Roman Catholic ceremonies in the 20th and 21st centuries. For instance, Pope Benedict XVI led the Stations of the Cross called the Scriptural Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Fridays.
Restoration :
In 2011 Diego Della Valle, head of the shoe firm Tod’s, entered into an agreement with local officials to sponsor a €25 million restoration of the Colosseum. Work was planned to begin at the end of 2011, taking up to two and a half years. Due to the controversial nature of using a public–private partnership to fund the restoration, work was delayed and began in 2013. The restoration is the first full cleaning and repair in the Colosseum’s history.The first stage is to clean and restore the Colosseum’s arcaded façade and replace the metal enclosures that block the ground-level arches. After three years, the work was completed on 1 July 2016, when the Italian minister of culture, Dario Franceschini, also announced that the funds have been committed to replace the floors by the end of 2018. These will provide a stage that Franceschini says will be used for “cultural events of the highest level.” The project also includes creating a services center and restoring the galleries and underground spaces inside the Colosseum. Since 1 November 2017, the top two levels have been opened for guided visits. The fourth level held the marketplace, and the top fifth tier is where the poorest citizens, the plebeians, gathered and watched the show, bringing picnics for the day-long event.

Significance in Christianity:
The Colosseum is generally regarded by Christians as a site of the martyrdom of large numbers of believers during the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, as evidenced by Church history and tradition. On the other hand, other scholars believe that the majority of martyrdoms may have occurred at other venues within the city of Rome, rather than at the Colosseum, citing a lack of still-intact physical evidence or historical records. These scholars assert that “some Christians were executed as common criminals in the Colosseum—their crime being refusal to reverence the Roman gods”, but most Christian martyrs of the early Church were executed for their faith at the Circus Maximus.

Posing against the backdrop of the great amphitheatre-COLOSSEUM, ROME

My dear readers may kindly point out any incorrect information in my above writeup needing any corrections! I am truly indebted to Wikipedia & for the invaluable information on the subject !Happy Reading !

On our 3-day tour of Rome,we visited & enjoyed some amazing architectures & sculptures!Here I am posting their brief description & photos for my readers.Piazza Navona owes its name to the agonal games (in agonis), gymnastic competitions that took place in ancient Rome. Over time it is believed that the name “in agone” has changed to “Navone” and, due to its similarity to the hollow profile of a ship, the square finally assumed the name “Navona” .Piazza Navona is one of the most beautiful squares in Rome, home to some of its most famous fountains, like the Fountain of the Four Rivers and the Fountain of Neptune.Also took a stroll through the historic Domitian Stadium!Enjoyed the tasty Italian snacks-Suppli.

PIAZZA NAVONA:

In Ancient Rome, the site was a stadium built during Emperor Domitian’s rule. Nowadays, Piazza Navona is best known as a location for Baroque architecture, like Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers). It is a public open space in Rome. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in the 1st century AD.Defined as a public space in the last years of 15th century, when the city market was transferred there from the Campidoglio, Piazza Navona was transformed into a highly significant example of Baroque Roman architecture and art during the pontificate of Innocent X, who reigned from 1644 until 1655, and whose family palace, the Palazzo Pamphili, faced the piazza. It features important sculptural creations: in the centre stands the famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or Fountain of the Four Rivers (1651) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, topped by the Obelisk of Domitian, brought in pieces from the Circus of Maxentius;the church of Sant’Agnese.

Fontana del Moro (Moor Fountain)

Its a fountain located at the southern end of the Piazza Navona in Rome, Italy. It represents a Moor, or African (perhaps originally meant to be Neptune), standing in a conch shell, wrestling with a dolphin, surrounded by four Tritons. It is placed in a basin of rose-colored marble.
History:
The fountain was originally designed by Giacomo della Porta in 1575 with the dolphin and four Tritons. 16th-century artists including Gillis van den Vliete, Taddeo Landini, Simone Moschini and Giacobbe Silla Longhi sculpted the tritons, dragons and masks after the designs of della Porta.In 1653, the statue of the Moor, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and sculpted by Giannantonio Mari, was added. In 1874, during a restoration of the fountain, the original statues were moved to the Galleria Borghese and replaced with copies by Luigi Amici. In September 2011, the fountain was damaged after a vandal attacked it with a hammer. The vandal also damaged the Trevi Fountain that night.

During its history, the piazza has hosted theatrical events and other ephemeral activities. From 1652 until 1866, when the festival was suppressed, it was flooded on every Saturday and Sunday in August in elaborate celebrations of the Pamphilj family. The pavement level was raised in the 19th century, and in 1869 the market was moved to the nearby Campo de’ Fiori. A Christmas market is held in the piazza square.

SANT’ AGNESE CHURCH IN AGONE (also called Sant’Agnese in Piazza Navona):

It is a 17th-century Baroque church in Rome, Italy. It faces onto the Piazza Navona, one of the main urban spaces in the historic centre of the city and the site where the Early Christian Saint Agnes was martyred in the ancient Stadium of Domitian. Construction began in 1652 under the architects Girolamo Rainaldi and his son Carlo Rainaldi. After numerous quarrels, the other main architect involved was Francesco Borromini.The church is a titular deaconry, with Gerhard Ludwig Müller being the current Cardinal-Deacon.well as religious services, the church hosts regular classical concerts in the Borromini Sacristy, from sacred Baroque works to chamber music and operas

THE STADIUM OF DOMITIAN:

It was dedicated in AD 86, as part of an Imperial building programme at the Field of Mars, following the damage or destruction of most of its buildings by fire in AD 79. It was Rome’s first permanent venue for competitive athletics. It was patterned after the Greek model and seated approximately 15,000 – 20,000 – a smaller, more appropriate venue for foot-races than the Circus Maximus, although a catalogue complied at the end of the 4th century recorded that the stadium’s seating capacity was 33,080 persons. The substructures and support frames were made of brick and concrete – a robust, fire-retardant and relatively cheap material – clad in marble. Stylistically, the Stadium facades would have resembled those of the Colosseum; its floor plan followed the same elongated, U-shape as the Circus Maximus, though on a much smaller scale. Various modern sources estimate the arena length to have been approximately 200 – 250 metres, the height of its outer perimeter benches as 30 m (100 ft) above ground level and its inner perimeter benches as 4.5 m (15 ft) above the arena floor.This arrangement offered a clear view of the track from most seats. The typically Greek layout gave the Stadium its Latinised Greek name, in agones (the place or site of the competitions). The flattened end was sealed by two vertically staggered entrance galleries and the perimeter was arcaded beneath the seating levels, with travertine pilasters between its cavea (enclosures). The formation of a continuous arena trackway by a raised “spina” or strip has been conjectured.
The Stadium of Domitian was the northernmost of an impressive series of public buildings on the Campus Martius. To its south stood the smaller and more intimate Odeon of Domitian, used for recitals, song and orations. The southernmost end of the Campus was dominated by the Theater of Pompey, restored by Domitian during the same rebuilding program.

SUPPLI :A typically Roman cuisine :

Supplì (Italianization of the French word surprise) are Italian snacks consisting of a ball of rice (generally risotto) with tomato sauce, typical of Roman cuisine. Originally, they were filled with chicken giblets, mincemeat or provatura (a kind of cheese from Lazio),now also with a piece of mozzarella; the whole morsel is soaked in egg, coated with bread crumbs and then fried (usually deep-fried).They are closely related to Sicilian arancini and croquettes. Supplì can be also prepared without tomato sauce.
They are usually eaten with the fingers: when one is broken in two pieces, mozzarella is drawn out in a string somewhat resembling the cord connecting a telephone handset to the hook. This has led to these dishes being known as supplì al telefono (“telephone-style supplì”, in reference to cables).Supplì were originally sold at friggitorie, typical Roman shops where fried food was sold. Now they are commonly served in most pizzerias all around Italy as an antipasto.

At this restaurant we enjoyed the tasty Italian cuisine, SUPPLI !Great fulfilling taste!

My dear readers may kindly point out any incorrect information in my above writeup needing any corrections! I am truly indebted to Wikipedia & for the invaluable information on the subject !Happy Reading !

On the 5th of Sept.2022,(during our 3-day trip of Rome) we set-off on a tour of some marvellous sights such as the spanish Steps ,Piazza de spagna ,Piazza Trinita Monti Church ,Palazzo Monaldeschni ,Fontana della Barcaccia & Piazza Mignanelli !We enjoyed the sights thoroughly.I will give some brief history of the places visited here!

The Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy:

Climb a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti (dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church) at the top.The monumental stairway of 135 steps was built with French diplomat Étienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds of 20,000 scudi, in 1723–1725, linking the Trinità dei Monti church under the patronage of the Bourbon kings of France, at the top of the steps, and the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See in the Palazzo Monaldeschi at the bottom of the steps. The stairway was designed by architects Francesco de Sanctis and Alessandro Specchi.The name can be a bit confusing, as construction of the steps was actually commissioned by the French (Louis XII). In the 17th century, the Spanish embassy was located on the square – ‘Piazza di Spagna’ – at the base of the stairs, hence the name ‘Spanish Steps’.Its Italian name is “Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti” and composed of 12 ramps and 135 travertine steps, it is considered the widest and longest staircase of Europe, welcoming millions of tourists and Romans who visit at all times of the day.The goal of the spanish steps was to link the church at the top of the stairs, which was also a French church, to Palazzo Manaldeschi below in Piazza di Spagna. The 135 stairs were designed by Francesco de Sanctis and were completed in 1725 after two years of hard work.

Piazza di Spagna :

In the Piazza di Spagna at the base is the Early Baroque fountain called Fontana della Barcaccia (“Fountain of the longboat”), built in 1627–29 and often credited to Pietro Bernini, father of a more famous son, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who is recently said to have collaborated on the decoration. The elder Bernini had been the pope’s architect for the Acqua Vergine, since 1623. According to a legend, Pope Urban VIII had the fountain installed after he had been impressed by a boat brought here by a flood of the Tiber.

In the piazza, at the corner on the right as one begins to climb the steps, is the house where English poet John Keats lived and died in 1821; it is now a museum dedicated to his memory, full of memorabilia of the English Romantic generation. On the same right side stands the 15th-century former cardinal Lorenzo Cybo de Mari’s palace, now Ferrari di Valbona, a building altered in 1936 to designs by Marcello Piacentini, the main city planner during Fascism, with modern terraces perfectly in harmony with the surrounding baroque context.

The Fontana della Barcaccia (“Fountain of the Boat”):

It is a Baroque-style fountain found at the foot of the Spanish Steps in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Square). Pope Urban VIII commissioned Pietro Bernini in 1623 to build the fountain as part of a prior Papal project to erect a fountain in every major piazza in Rome. The fountain was completed between 1627 and 1629 by Pietro possibly along with the help of his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini, especially after his father’s death on August 29, 1629. The sculptural fountain is made into the shape of a half-sunken ship with water overflowing its sides into a small basin. The source of the water comes from the Acqua Vergine, an aqueduct from 19 BCE. Bernini built this fountain to be slightly below street level due to the low water pressure from the aqueduct. Water flows from seven points of fountain: the center baluster; two inside the boat from sun-shaped human faces; and four outside the boat.

According to legend, as the River Tiber flooded in 1598, water carried a small boat into the Piazza di Spagna. When the water receded, boat was deposited in the center of the square & this event that inspired Bernini’s creation. The fountain is decorated with the papal coat of arms of the Barberini family as a reminder of Pope Urban VIII’s ancestry.

Palazzo Gabrielli-Mignanelli:

Its a late-Renaissance palace in Rome, overlooking Piazza Mignanelli and Piazza di Spagna. The palace was built around 1575 by Alessandro Moschetti for count Girolamo Gabrielli, of a noble family from Gubbio. The chosen location was at the edge of the Pincian hill, over what remained of the fabled gardens of Lucullus. In the 16th century the area was still considered periurban, and the palace was the first monumental building erected there. As a result of the marriage between Carlo Gabrielli, Girolamo’s nephew, and Maria Mignanelli, relative of cardinal Fabio Mignanelli, celebrated in 1615, the palace was presented by the Gabriellis to the Mignanellis, who owned the building until 1871 and gave their name to the square in front of the palace. After having been rented to different institutions from the late 18th century onwards, the building became the property of the Holy See in 1887, and on that occasion was restored and enlarged by Andrea Busiri Vici. Palazzo Gabrielli-Mignanelli is today the residence of Valentino Garavani as well as the Roman headquarters of his maison.

PIAZZA MIGNANELLI :

Piazza Mignanelli takes its name from the palazzo owned by the Mignanelli family, originally from Siena. Constructed by the architect Mr. Moschetti, the building is now the headquarters of the high fashion designer, Valentino. The apartment, situated on the first floor of the ancient building, has six balconies with views of ‘Column of The Immaculate Virgin Mary’ and in the background, the Barcaccia (Boat) fountain of Lorenzo Bernini. Recently renovated with high quality finishes.

The Roman Catholic church of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti :

Its often called merely the Trinità dei Monti, is a Roman Catholic late Renaissance titular church in Rome, central Italy. It is best known for its position above the Spanish Steps which lead down to the famous Piazza di Spagna. The church and its surrounding area (including the Villa Medici) are a French State property. In 1494, Saint Francis of Paola, a hermit from Calabria, bought a vineyard from the papal scholar and former patriarch of Aquileia, Ermolao Barbaro, and then obtained the authorization from Pope Alexander VI to establish a monastery for the Minimite Friars. In 1502, Louis XII of France began construction of the church of the Trinità dei Monti next to this monastery, to celebrate his successful invasion of Naples. Building work began in a French style with pointed late Gothic arches, but construction lagged. The present Italian Renaissance church was eventually built in its place and finally consecrated in 1585 by the great urbanizer Pope Sixtus V, whose via Sistina connected the Piazza della Trinità dei Monti (outside the church) to the Piazza Barberini across the city.

Monaldeschi Palace: Headquarters of the Embassy of Spain:
The Palace of Spain located in the famous Piazzia di Spagna (Spain’s Square), in the historic center of Rome, a square that in fact takes its name from the Palace. The construction between plants and terraces that constitute one of the most beautiful and rich architectural works of the time.The Palace of Spain or Monaldeschi Palace is a baroque palace that houses the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See since 1647.

The Spanish ambassadors had rented the Monaldeschi Palace for more than a decade. In 1647, the new ambassador, Íñigo Vélez de Guevara, 8th Count of Oñate, made an offer for the palace, owned by the Monaldeschi Family, an old Roman noble family, through an Italian agent, Bernardino Barber, and later obtained the permission of purchase of the Congregation of Barons of the Pontifical State, that had the power to approve the sale of important palaces. Barber bought it for 22,000 Roman scudos and was immediately transferred to the Count of Oñate. Soon after, four other houses next to the palace were bought to expand the building. In 1654, the palace was acquired by the Spanish crown as a permanent residence for ambassadors.King Philip IV sent 19,000 ducats for maintenance and repair.

My dear readers may kindly point out any incorrect information in my above writeup needing any corrections! I am truly indebted to Wikipedia & for the invaluable information on the subject !Happy Reading !

On 5/9/22 ,We got an opportunity to visit the world famous ‘Trevi Fountain’ with an amazing architecture.The incredible sculpture took thirty years for completion.The iconic tourist destination is the centre of Rome.The fountain, at the junction of three roads marks the terminal point of the “modern” Acqua Vergine—the revived Aqua Virgo, one of the aqueducts that supplied water to ancient Rome through the Baths of Agrippa.Turquoise colour of water is due to the marble surface of the fountain.Out of the numerous allegories in the heart of the fountain ,the horses reflect the states of the sea,calm or stormy.Also the statue of God Oceanus looked enchanting amidst the beautiful setting .The two statues of women to the left & right of Oceanus,represent the abundance that water brings.Aqueducts bring more clean water than the Romans will ever need allowing them to grow crops & fruits to enhance their health. Trevi fountain hosts a never ending flow of tourists all the time :very early morning to the late nights.The beautiful spectacle of the fountain will linger long in our memories.We thoroughly enjoyed the stunning fountain sculptures!

THE TREVI FOUNTAIN :
The Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana di Trevi) is an 18th-century fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi, Giuseppe Pannini & Allessandro Galilie. Standing 26.3 metres high and 49.15 metres wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world. The fountain has appeared in several films, including Roman Holiday (1953); Three Coins in the Fountain (1954); Federico Fellini’s classic, La Dolce Vita (1960); Sabrina Goes to Rome (1998); and The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003).
History before 1629:
The fountain, at the junction of three roads marks the terminal point of the “modern” Acqua Vergine—the revived Aqua Virgo, one of the aqueducts that supplied water to ancient Rome. In 19 BC, supposedly with the help of a virgin, Roman technicians located a source of pure water some 13 km from the city. (This scene is presented on the present fountain’s façade.) This Aqua Virgo led the water into the Baths of Agrippa. It served Rome for more than 400 years.
Name origin : The name of the Latin fountain derives from the Latin word Trivium (intersection of three streets). The statue is located right in the center of De ‘Crocicchi Street, Poli Street and Delle Muratte Street.

COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN :

In 1629, Pope Urban VIII, finding the earlier fountain insufficiently dramatic, asked Gian Lorenzo Bernini to sketch possible renovations, but the project was abandoned when the pope died. Though Bernini’s project was never constructed, there are many Bernini touches in the fountain as it exists today. An early influential model by Pietro da Cortona, preserved in the Albertina, Vienna, also exists, as do various early 18th century sketches, most unsigned, as well as a project attributed to Nicola Michettione attributed to Ferdinando Fuga and a French design by Edmé Bouchardon.

Competitions had become popular during the Baroque era to design buildings, fountains, as well as the Spanish Steps. In 1730, Pope Clement XII organized a contest in which Nicola Salvi initially lost to Alessandro Galilei – but due to the outcry in Rome over a Florentine having won, Salvi was awarded the commission anyway. Work began in 1732. Salvi died in 1751 with his work half finished, but he had made sure a barber’s unsightly sign would not spoil the ensemble, hiding it behind a sculpted vase, called by Romans the asso di coppe, the “Ace of Cups”, because of its resemblance to a Tarot card. Four different sculptors were hired to complete the fountain’s decorations: Pietro Bracci (whose statue of Oceanus sits in the central niche), Filippo della Valle, Giovanni Grossi, and Andrea Bergondi. Giuseppe Pannini (1718-1805), son of Giovanni Paolo Panini, was hired as architect.

The Trevi Fountain was finished in 1762 by Pannini, who substituted the present allegories for planned sculptures of Agrippa and Trivia, the Roman virgin.It was officially opened and inaugurated on 22 May by Pope Clement XIII. Trevi Fountain was painted by G. P. Panini in the 18th century .The majority of the piece is made from Travertine stone, quarried near Tivoli, about 35 kilometres east of Rome.

Iconography:
The backdrop for the fountain is the Palazzo Poli, given a new façade with a giant order of Corinthian pilasters that link the two main storeys.Taming of the waters is the theme of the gigantic scheme that tumbles forward, mixing water and rockwork, and filling the small square. Tritons guide Oceanus’s shell chariot, taming hippocamps.
In the centre, a robustly-modelled triumphal arch is superimposed on the palazzo façade. The centre niche or exedra framing Oceanus has free-standing columns for maximal light and shade. In the niches flanking Oceanus, Abundance spills water from her urn and Salubrity holds a cup from which a snake drinks. Above, bas reliefs illustrate the Roman origin of the aqueducts. The Tritons and horses provide symmetrical balance, with the maximum contrast in their mood and poses.

GOD OCEANUS:The Titan God of the river Oceanos:

In Greek mythology, Oceanus was a Titan son of Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys, and the father of the river gods and the Oceanids, as well as being the great river which encircled the entire world.
Coin throwing:
Coins are purportedly meant to be thrown using the right hand over the left shoulder.There are some religious faiths attached to the practice.As per legend those who throw the coin will return to Rome. This was the theme of 1954’s ‘Three Coins in the Fountain‘ and the Academy Award-winning song by that name which introduced the picture. An estimated 3,000 euros are thrown into the fountain each day. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket -a noble service for Rome’s needy people.Every week the muncipality cleans the fountain and donates a large amount of the collected coins to a charity which helps the needy.

My dear readers may kindly point out any incorrect information in my above writeup needing any corrections! I am truly indebted to Wikipedia & for the invaluable information on the subject !Happy Reading !

On 5/9/22,We made a visit to the Pantheon which is one of the best-preserved monuments of ancient Rome.From the history literature we learnt that the structure, completed around 126-128 A.D. during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, features a rotunda with a massive domed ceiling that was the largest of its kind when it was built. The most fascinating part of the Pantheon is its giant dome, with its famous hole in the top (The eye of the Pantheon, or oculus). The dome was the largest in the world for 1300 years and to present remains the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. Its diameter is 43.30 meters .There are no windows inside but the large oculus! The Pantheon now contains the tombs of the famous artist Raphael and of several Italian Kings and poets. The marble floor, which features a design consisting of a series of geometric patterns, is still the ancient Roman original.

About Pantheon :

The Pantheon (Latin: Pantheum from Greek Pantheion, “temple of all the gods”) is a former Roman temple and, since 609 AD, a Catholic church (Basilica di Santa Maria ad Martyres or Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs) in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). It was rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated c. 126 AD. Its date of construction is uncertain, because Hadrian chose not to inscribe the new temple but rather to retain the inscription of Agrippa’s older temple, which had burned down.

The building is cylindrical with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon’s dome is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43 metres .

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: since the 7th century, it has been a church dedicated to St. Mary and the Martyrs (Latin: Sancta Maria ad Martyres) but informally known as “Santa Maria Rotonda”. The square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda. The Pantheon is a state property, managed by Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism through the Polo Museale del Lazio. In 2013, it was visited by over 6 million people.. The interior of the Pantheon in the 18th century, painted by Giovanni Paolo Panini.

RENAISSANCE :

Since the Renaissance the Pantheon has been the site of several important burials. Among those buried there are the painters Raphael and Annibale Carracci, the composer Arcangelo Corelli, and the architect Baldassare Peruzzi.

MODERN :

Two kings of Italy are buried in the Pantheon: Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I, as well as Umberto’s Queen, Margherita. It was supposed to be the final resting place for the Monarchs of Italy of House of Savoy, but the Monarchy was abolished in 1946 and the authorities have refused to grant burial to the former kings who died in exile (Victor Emmanuel III and Umberto II). The Pantheon is in use as a Catholic church, and as such, visitors are asked to keep an appropriate level of deference. Masses are celebrated there on Sundays and holy days of obligation. Weddings are also held there from time to time

My dear readers may kindly point out any incorrect information in my above writeup needing any corrections! I am truly indebted to Wikipedia & for the invaluable information on the subject !Happy Reading !

On 5/9/22,We proceeded from Barcelona to Rome on a 3-day trip to visit some amazing destinations.Here I am giving the list of all destinations worth visiting! Description of the destinations I will be posting alongwith the forthcoming respective blogs!Here we will also have some glimpses of famous Italian sculptors & painters

ROME :

Rome is the capital city of Italy. It is also the capital of the Lazio region, the centre of the Metropolitan City of Rome, and a special comune named Comune di Roma Capitale. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of the Tiber. Vatican City (the smallest country in the world) is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city. Rome is often referred to as the City of Seven Hills due to its geographic location, and also as the “Eternal City”.Rome is generally considered to be the “cradle of Western civilization and Christian culture”, and the centre of the Catholic Church.
Rome’s history spans 28 centuries. While Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it a major human settlement for almost three millennia and one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in Europe. Eventually, the city successively became the capital of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Rome became first one of the major centres of the Renaissance and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors, and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, creating masterpieces throughout the city. In 1871, Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, which, in 1946, became the Italian Republic.
In 2019, Rome was the 14th most visited city in the world, with 8.6 million tourists, the third most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist destination in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The host city for the 1960 Summer Olympics, Rome is also the seat of several specialised agencies of the United Nations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The city also hosts the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean.Rome’s EUR business district is the home of many oil industries, the pharmaceutical industry, and financial services companies. The presence of renowned international brands in the city has made Rome an important centre of fashion and design, and the Cinecittà Studios have been the set of many Academy Award–winning movies.

SOME WORTH VISITING DESTINATIONS OF ROME :

1)COLESSIUM ,2)ROMAN FORUM ,3)THE PANTHEON(Pizza Della Rotonda) ,4)TREVI FOUNTAIN ,5)ST.ANGELO CASTLE, 6)PIAZZA NAVONA ,7)SPANISH STEPS ,8)SAINT PETERS SQUARE ,9)VATICAN MUSEUM ,10)LEANING TOWER OF PISA

Some famous Italian Sculptors & Painters:

1)BERNINI SCULPTURES:

Impressive & realistic sculptures by the 17th-century baroque artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini can be seen in Rome’s churches, museums & squares. You’ll find his life-sized, marble “David” in the Borghese Gallery & Museum & can spot carvings of river gods in the Fiumi Fountain in Piazza Navona, an open public space on the site of Stadium of Domitian, Rome. Italian sculptor & architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was a genius of the Baroque era who left an indelible mark on Rome’s artistic & architectural heritage. Almost three & half centuries after his death, Bernini’s masterpieces can be found in Rome’s streets as well as its churches, museums & palaces.

2)MICHAELANGELO SCULPTURES:

In his lifetime, Michelangelo (6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), was often called Il Divino (“the divine one”) was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work had a major influence on the development of Western art, particularly in relation to the Renaissance notions of humanism and naturalism.Michelangelo is one of the best-documented artists of the 16th century and several scholars have described Michelangelo as the most accomplished artist of his era.

He sculpted two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, before the age of thirty. Despite holding a low opinion of painting, he also created two of the most influential frescoes in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, and The Last Judgment on its altar wall. His design of the Laurentian Library pioneered Mannerist architecture. At the age of 71, he succeeded Antonio da Sangallo the Younger as the architect of St. Peter’s Basilica. He transformed the plan so that the western end was finished to his design, as was the dome, with some modification, after his death. Michelangelo was the first Western artist whose biography was published while he was alive. In fact, two biographies were published during his lifetime.

3)DONATELLO SCULPTURES :

Donatello was born in Florence, Italy in 1386 and started his apprenticeship as a goldsmith before becoming an apprentice to the famed architect and designer, Filippo Brunelleschi. Numerous of Donatello’s paintings depicted characters from the early Christian movement, such as John the Baptist and many of Jesus’ followers.

Donatello’s representation of the Bible’s David is one of his most renowned sculptures.

4)MARINO MARINI SCUPTURES :

Marino Marini (27 February 1901 – 6 August 1980) was a sculptor and educator from Italy.Marini created sculptures based on numerous subjects, including equestrian, Pomonas (nudes), portraits, and circus characters.

Marini is most known for his stylized equestrian sculptures, which depict a man riding a horse with extended arms. The artist’s reaction to the changing setting of the contemporary world is reflected in the development of the horse and rider as a subject in Marini’s paintings. In Florence, there is a museum devoted to his work in the old church of San Pancrazio.

5)BENVENUTO CELLINI SCUPTURES :

Cellini, Benvenuto (1500 –1571) was an Italian jeweler, sculptor, and author. Cellini’s most well-known existing works are the Cellini Salt Cellar, Perseus with the Head of Medusa, and his autobiography, which has been dubbed “one of the most significant texts of the sixteenth century.”Apart from his gold and silver creations, Cellini created sculptures on a greater scale. Probably one of the most significant works of his French time is the Golden Gate at the Château de Fontainebleau.

6)FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI SCULPTURES:

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) was an Italian architect, designer & sculptor who is today regarded as the first modern engineer, planner & single construction supervisor. Brunelleschi received the first patent in the Western world in 1421.

He is best known for designing the dome of the Florence Cathedral, a feat of engineering not seen since antiquity, as well as for pioneering the mathematical technique of linear perspective in art, which governed pictorial representations of space until the late nineteenth century and influenced the rise of modern science. Other architectural achievements, sculpture, mathematics, engineering, &ship design are also among his talents.Majority of his surviving works are housed in Florence,Italy.

7)LUCA DELLA ROBBIA SCULPTURES:

Though he was a prominent stone sculptor, he specialized in terracotta after establishing his technique in the early 1440s. His vast studio produced both affordable mass-made works cast from molds and more pricey one-of-a-kind personally sculpted pieces.

The Nativity (about 1460) and Madonna and Child (around 1475) are two of his most renowned paintings. In stone, his most renowned work, the choir gallery, Cantoria in the Florence Cathedral (1431–1438)(shown above), is also his first important assignment.

8)ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO SCULPTURES:

Andrea del Verrocchio (1435 – 1488), born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de’ Cioni, was an Italian sculptor, painter, and goldsmith who was the master of a prestigious studio in Florence. Leonardo da Vinci, Pietro Perugino, and Lorenzo di Credi were among his students.

His greatest accomplishment was as a sculptor, and his last work, the Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice is widely considered a masterpiece. The monument was subsequently mounted on a Leopardi-designed pedestal in Venice’s Santi Giovanni e Paolo Basilica, where it still stands today.

9)ANDREA PISANO SCULPTURES:

Andrea Pisano (Pontedera, 1290 – Orvieto, 1348), also known as Andrea da Pontedera, was a sculptor and architect from Italy. Pisano began his career as a goldsmith. Around 1300, Pisano became a disciple of Mino di Giovanni, with whom he collaborated on the sculpture for S. Maria della Spina in Pisa and elsewhere.

Andrea Pisano also created several signicant works of marble sculpture while residing in Florence, all of which have a striking resemblance to Giotto’s work. He replaced Giotto as Master of the Florence Cathedral’s Works in 1340. In 1347, he was appointed Master of the Works at Orvieto Cathedral, which Lorenzo Maitani had previously planned & completed. Pisano’s sole known works are these &the aforementioned doors. Pisano also had a role in emancipating contemporary art from Byzantine influence.

10)LEONARDO DA VINCI :

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor,& architect. While his fame initially rested on his achievements as a painter, he also became known for his notebooks, in which he made drawings &notes on a variety of subjects, including anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting & paleontology. Leonardo is widely regarded to have been a genius who epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal,&his collective works comprise a contribution to later generations of artists matched only by that of his younger contemporary, Michelangelo.

Leonardo is identified as one of the greatest painters in the history of art & is often credited as the founder of the High Renaissance.Despite having many lost works and less than 25 attributed major works—including numerous unfinished works—he created some of the most influential paintings in Western art. His magnum opus, the Mona Lisa, is his best known work & often regarded as the world’s most famous painter.

11)RAPHAEL :

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (1483 –1520) was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur.Together with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period.

My dear readers may kindly point out any incorrect information in my above writeup needing any corrections! I am truly indebted to Wikipedia & for the invaluable information on the subject !Happy Reading !

On 5/9/22, we went on a visit to the Maritime museum. Its one of the best museums we have been to! Excellent exhibits, descriptive panels and beautifully explained by the staff. If you want to know about early Barcelona, from the 1200’s on, or are just curious about ship building and shipping, this is a must see place. Congratulations to the exhibit designers, curators and museologists for a job well done. Staff is very cooperative and friendly.An excellent museum, beautifully curated. A full size galley ship is inside and incredible in addition to many other exhibits. not crowd at all. Great information on the history of Spain and how the strong influence of the sea shaped Barcelona for over 1,000 years to this day. Nice canteen with a pleasant shady garden for a welcome rest.Great experience.

The Maritime Museum of Barcelona (Catalan: Museu Marítim de Barcelona, MMB) The Maritime Museum of Barcelona is a public facility dedicated to the conservation and diffusion of the cultural and cultural heritage of Catalonia.It is located in the building of Drassanes Reials de Barcelona, the royal arsenal of Barcelona, dedicated to shipbuilding between the thirteenth century & eighteenth century. The first mension of these arsenals date from 1243 in a document indicating the boundaries of the city of Barcelona where it mentions its shipyard. It shows the history of the navigation from the early days together with the history of the Spanish Navy since the Catholic Monarchs, in the 15th century, up to the present. It also hosts several navigation instruments, weapons, portolans and paintings. The museum was declared Museum of National Interest by the Government of Catalonia.

The Maritime Museum of Barcelona is a space for interpreting and sharing Catalan maritime culture in a way that is innovative, participative and in touch with society and the country through research, conservation and the protection of our heritage. It seeks to be a point of reference for Mediterranean maritime culture, open and accessible to society as a whole, an entity that works in cooperation with people and organizations. It strives for excellence in the management of heritage, the creation of knowledge and in education, with the mission of promoting social progress locally. It does all of this while focusing on the relationship between Catalonia, its people and the sea. This is what sets the Maritime Museum of Barcelona apart from other museums of its kind.

The Maritime Museum’s collections are extremely rich and varied. They include pieces ranging from a ship that still sails to a postal stamp, or from a steam engine to a 14^th-century manuscript. Of course, they also include everything you expect to find in a maritime museum: binnacles, anchors, model ships, navigational tools, etc. In other words, all sorts of documents and objects from the miniscule to the huge, from all different periods and made of all sorts of materials. For decades, the Museum has gathered examples of the maritime past, a heritage that reminds us of the lives of seafarers, the histories of ships and maritime activities in peacetime or war.

The archive: Its a public service that is open to all scholars & anyone interested in its collection it. Users may access the inventories & online catalogues or consult the documents in person at the Museum Consultation Space & obtain copies of documents.

Navigational instruments

Navigation is about moving from one place to another in the safest and fastest way possible. We need to know where we are, where we want to go and which path is best. But at sea, with no references other than the sky and the sea itself, the need to navigate drove the development of a series of techniques that combine maths, physics, astronomy, meteorology and any other possible resources. Using artificial references like latitude and longitude, sophisticated systems have been created to help us find our way. Humans have developed and built a range of instruments and mechanisms that have allowed them to measure the height of the sun and the stars (like the 14^th-century astrolabe or the sextant), find magnetic north (compasses, sometimes inside binnacles), measure time (chronometers), measure the speed of ships (chip logs), see far away (spyglasses), etc.  The combination of knowledge and use of these tools allowed for an understanding of the natural environment that has served navigation both on water and in the air. The Maritime Museum of Barcelona holds a rich collection of instruments and other artefacts related to the art of navigating and understanding the sea and the sky, applying human ingenuity to problems that once seemed impossible to solve.

Following are some important Navigation Instruments :

• 19TH-CENTURY OCTANT
• SPYGLASS
• ADKINS SEXTANT
• DIPTYCH SOLAR QUADRANT
• BRASS UNIVERSAL SOLAR QUADRANT
• ASTROLABE DISK
• CHRONOMETER MADE IN THE 19TH CENTURY BY JOHN POOLE
• BINNACLE FROM A COMPAÑÍA TRASMEDITERRÁNEA SHIP

Entrance to the Maritime Museum :

It is located inside Barcelona Royal Shipyard (Spanish: Atarazanas Reales de Barcelona) a shipyard and former military building of Gothic architecture placed at the Port Vell area of the Port of Barcelona. Construction started during the 13th century under the rule of Peter III of Aragon. The building is of Gothic style, its construction was carried out in a first stage between 1283 / 1328 and the second between 1328 / 1390. Subsequent reforms and extensions have been made, basically keeping the original structure. During excavations in it was discovered that in the late 16th century a new building was constructed on top of the old medieval dockyard, giving the building its current structure. This excavations also uncovered a Roman graveyard. The shipyard’s restoration was finished in early 2013. The Museum was reopened in 2014.

The National Maritime Museum, based in UK, is a site that deals with the preservation and showcasing of ships, astronomical observations, time, stars and many other unique items different from the ones that are routine in other museums. In simple words, the National Maritime Museum is dedicated to elaborate the relationship that exists between nature, mankind and its creations. The National Maritime Museum comprises of three different components – the Maritime galleries, the Royal Observatory and the Queen’s House which in totality make up the National Maritime Museum. Established in the 1930s, the National Maritime Museum has over the years grown to be one of the most important idea-setter on the subjects of marine engineering, ships and astronomy. The importance of the National Maritime Museum is that it serves the purpose for which it was established. It has great stores of data and examples that benefit the people visiting the museum for the purpose of understanding concepts previously unknown to them about ships and astronomy.

 My dear readers may kindly point out any incorrect information in my above writeup needing any corrections! I am truly indebted to Wikipedia & for the invaluable information on the subject !Happy Reading !

In the forenoon of 5/9/22, We visited the majestic Montjuic Castle reaching the top using the Gondola amidst great panoramic views of the city below & while returning on foot enjoying the beautiful park & gardens on the way back.The iconic Castle offers an eagles eye view of Barcelona city, cruise ships & the commercial port.The castle’s entry fee is €5, & we believe that it was money worth the investment with respect to the experience gained.The museum tells the history of the Castle in an interesting way through interactive videos.In all,the visit to the Castle & nearby surrounding attractions was a magical experience. The exhibition halls are numerous, and loaded with information. A History buff can spend an entire day here. For visitors like me who are pressed on time, the exhibitions provide an overview of the historical turbulence associated with Catalonia, and the sufferings of the Catalans during various conflicts. The Barcelona harbour & Cruises can be viewed from here in its entirety. They have a nice cafe with very efficient and polite staff.

Montjuïc Castle is an old military fortress, with roots dating back from 1640, built on top of Montjuïc hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain .Standing on a vantage point 173 metres above the port, Montjuïc Castle commands stunning views of the city. Now a peaceful place, the memory of this fortress endures in Barcelona as a symbol of repression but also of the city’s struggles during different periods in its history. The top of Montjuïc is the ideal place for a bastion of defence, with 360º views of the city below. However, this military enclave wasn’t built until the Reapers’ War in 1640. In 1652, the fortress, which stands on the site of a watchtower, came under royal ownership and, some 50 years later, was one of the key defence points in the War of the Spanish Succession, between 1705 and 1714.

In the middle of the 18th century, the military engineer, Juan Martín Cermeño, was commissioned to restore the castle which had been badly damaged during the war, and its current appearance dates from this time. The castle has launched bombing raids on the city on a number of occasions and it has also been used as a prison. On 15th October 1940, the president of the Catalan government, Lluís Companys, was executed by firing squad at the castle. The castle was used as a military prison until 1960 when it was given back to the city and used as an army base. Three years later, Franco opened a weapons museum in the castle. In 2007, the castle came under the ownership of Barcelona City Council and, as a result, now belongs to all the citizens of Barcelona.

The green Montjuïc (213 metres) is the most famous hill in Barcelona. Because of the 1929 World Fair in Barcelona, palaces, pavilions, parks, botanical gardens, sports stadiums, and exhibition rooms were built on the hill. Some of those buildings still remain today and serve as museums.

HISTORY :
The foundation stone for the basic fortification was laid out in 1640. A year later, in January 1641, the fort saw its first battle, during the Catalan Revolt when the Principality of Catalonia challenged Spain’s authority. On orders from the King of Spain, Pedro Fajardo, heading an army of 26,000 men, proceeded to crush the revolt. The Spanish recaptured several cities, but they were defeated at the Battle of Montjuïc by Catalan, led by Francesc de Tamarit. At that battle, Colonel Shane O’Neill or known in Spain as Prince Juan O’Neill, died leading his regiment during the Battle of Montjuic near Barcelona, dying from a musket-ball wound to his chest near the town of Castelldefels. In his honor, the King of Spain granted the Colonel the death title of Viscount Montjuïc.

Fifty years later, in 1694, new bastions and battlements were erected and the fortress became a castle. In the Siege of Barcelona (1705) the fortress was captured by the British 6th Regiment of Foot led by Lt.-Col William Southwell, paving the way for the siege of Barcelona itself. Southwell was afterwards made Governor of the castle.

The fortifications are now extensively planted with parterre gardens .The old fort was however demolished in 1751 by the Spanish engineer and architect Juan Martin Cermeño, creating the current structure, still standing. The final shape of the castle took form during 1779 and 1799, when major construction works took place in order to improve the castle and accommodate the needs. It was also during this time that the castle was equipped with 120 cannons.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the French Army entered Barcelona, and, on orders from Napoleon, they also captured the castle without firing a shot as the troops guarding the castle were ordered not to fight the French. In the last 350 years Montjuïc Castle has played a decisive role in the history of Barcelona, becoming a symbol after the Catalan defeat to Spain in 1714, date that has become of significant importance. Since then the Montjuïc cannons have bombarded the city and its citizens on various occasions & Montjuïc has been used as a prison & torture centre repeatedly for three centuries. In the late 19th century, Montjuïc was synonymous with barbarism based on the torture of anarchists and others imprisoned there.

The castle is infamous in Catalan history books because of its role in the civil war from 1936 to 1939, when both sides of the conflict imprisoned, tortured and shot political prisoners at Montjuïc,among them Lluís Companys, who was the president of the Generalitat of Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War. Companys was executed upon orders from the Spanish State at Montjuïc Castle in 1940.

Museum installation :

In the 20th century, the castle became a military museum. In June 1963, Francisco Franco inaugurated the Military Armor Museum, the official name given to the institution. In April 2007, the government transferred the castle to Barcelona City Council. Following discussions over the next months, the castle became a municipal facility. Subsequently, in 2010 the museum was closed and the City Council started a project of restoration and waterproofing of the roof and a watchtower. The current plans for the castle include L’Espai de la Memòria, El Centre d’Interpretació de la Muntanya de Montjuïc, and cultural activities.

CABLE CAR :

The castle can be accessed by the Montjuïc cable car, a gondola lift that has its upper station near the castle entrance and connects, via the Montjuïc funicular, with the Barcelona Metro at Paral·lel station. The Montjuïc Cable Car is a gondola lift in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The cable car runs from a lower terminus adjacent to the Montjuïc Park upper station of the Montjuïc funicular, and climbs higher up the Montjuïc hill to a terminal near the Montjuïc Castle on the summit of the hill. At its midpoint, the line executes a 90 degree turn and the cabins pass through Mirador station, although only down-bound cabins stop at this point.
The cable car was originally put into service in 1970, replacing a former upper stage of the Montjuïc funicular. As built, it used a fleet of open cars. It was closed between October 2004 and May 2007, for a complete overhaul in order to increase capacity. At the same time the open cars were replaced by 55 new closed cabins .The cars slow to a crawl as they pass through the station to allow passengers to board or exit. Two cars are equipped with the facility to carry wheelchairs. The line is operated by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) .Access to the castle is also available from the top funicular station via the 150 bus .

The route starts at Parc de Montjuïc, where the cable car goes directly to Castell de Montjuïc without making any stops. On the return route, the Montjuïc Cable Car stops at Mirador de l’Alcalde. This stop is optional, but highly recommended to relax in the Miramar Costa i Llobera, Cinto Verdaguer and Joan Brossa gardens, with the best views over Barcelona. The return route ends in Parc de Montjuïc. However, if you like walking, you can get off at the Mirador stop and continue walking to Parc de Montjuïc.

Park Montjuic Stop :From this stop you can visit some of Montjuïc Mountain’s main cultural attractions: Miro Foundation, the National Art Museum of Catalonia, Poble Espanyol and Barcelona Ethnological Museum. You will also be very close to the Olympic Stadium , the historic site of the Barcelona ’92 Olympic Games.

The Montjuïc circuit: 

Its a former street circuit located on the Montjuïc mountain in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The circuit was also the venue for the Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix from 1950 to 1968, and then hosted the event on even-numbered years until 1976. The last Formula One Grand Prix was held there in 1975.

MONTJUIC PARKS & GARDENS :

Montjuïc’s large, natural park is the best site for getting refreshed enjoying nature ,history and culture together, as it is full of splendid gardens and cultural facilities.

Nature, culture and sport :

There are lots of gardens on this big, green, city lung where you can walk, rest, play, do sport or just enjoy nature. The Jardí Botànic lays out its collection of Mediterranean plants on steep slopes that provide a great viewpoint. You can also enjoy the plants and views in the Jardins de Mossèn Costa i Llobera, featuring cactus, and the Jardins de Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer,where the numerous species means there are flowers in bloom all year round. The Jardins de Laribal, with their surprising waterfalls, hide the popular Font del Gat, a fountain where Barcelona folk went to picnic on Sundays in the past. And the Jardins Joan Brossa, among the newest gardens, open out into a refreshing woodland park, with musical cushions, games and zip lines here and there to amuse the kids. Dotted with cultural and sports facilities, such as the Miró Foundation, CaixaForum, Bernat Picornell Swimming Pools and the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, Montjuïc offers culture, nature and history all in one. The Magic Fountain (Font Màgica) and Spanish Village (Poble Espanyol) are two of the sights that most appeal to visitors in an enormous natural space full of hidden corners waiting to be discovered.

VIEWS OF BARCELONA CITY AND THE PORT FROM THE CASTLE:

Apart from the visits to the exhibition halls & the museum ,the views of the city ,the port & the cruises offered from top of the historical Montjuic Castle are simply breathtaking.

My dear readers may kindly point out any incorrect information in my above writeup needing any corrections! I am truly indebted to Wikipedia & for the invaluable information on the subject !Happy Reading !

On the second day (4/9/22) of our 3-day Barcelona trip ,we visited the world-renowned Architectural masterpiece Sagrada Familia Roman Catholic Church(The Basilica and the Temple of Holi Family) built by Architect, Antoni Gaudi who strived really hard to make it into his magnus opus !We were thoroughly amazed by the mesmerizing splendour of the great architecture.Here I am giving a detailed description of the monument & the Architects for my lovely supportive readers!Happy reading !

The Basílica i Temple Sagrada Família (The Basilica and the Temple of Holi Family), is a large unfinished church building in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, and is currently the largest unfinished Roman Catholic church. Designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, his work on Sagrada Família is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On 7 November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the church and proclaimed it a minor basilica. On 19 March 1882, construction of the Sagrada Família began under architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. In 1883, when Villar resigned, Gaudí took over as chief architect, transforming the project with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted the remainder of his life to the project, and he is buried in the crypt. At the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Relying solely on private donations, the Sagrada Família’s construction was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, progressed slowly and is still being constructed intermittently as per received donations.

Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano (1828 – 1901) was a Spanish architect.

Biography of Villar :
Villar studied architecture in Madrid at the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, and qualified in 1852. The following year he settled in Barcelona and was elected a member of what is now known as the Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi. In 1854 he designed a series of emergency hospitals for victims of the cholera epidemic. Amongst other public appointments he became president of the Association of Architects and director of the Higher School of Architecture.

He held the post of diocesan architect from 1874 to 1892, and was succeeded in it by his son Francesc de Paula del Villar i Carmona. He restored the church of Santa Maria del Pi, the Basílica de Santa Maria de Vilafranca and the Casa de Misericòrdia; he also designed many parish churches and the apse of the basilica of the Monastery of Montserrat, a commission on which Antoni Gaudí worked under him in a junior capacity.
In 1877 he was commissioned by the Associació de Devots de Sant Josep to build the church of the Sagrada Família. Villar planned a Neo-Gothic design, of which only the crypt was built. He abandoned the project in 1883 as a result of disagreements with Joan Martorell, the architect advising Josep Maria Bocabella, president of the Associació de Devots de Sant Josep and promoter of the project. The job was offered to Martorell, who turned it down, and instead recommended Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi then took charge of the project and made it into his magnum opus.

Although today the Basilica of the Sagrada Família is intrinsically linked to Antoni Gaudí, he wasn’t named head architect until 1883, one year after the cornerstone was laid and after architect Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano had stepped down. These circumstances, which occurred 134 years ago, have decisively conditioned the Basilica as it is today.

Developer of the temple :

The construction of the Basilica of the Sagrada Família was begun at the initiative of Barcelona-born book merchant and extremely devout Catholic Josep Maria Bocabella i Verdaguer, who founded the Associació Espiritual de Devots de Sant Josep  (Spiritual Association of the Devotees of Saint Joseph) in 1866 in order to foster the values of the Christian family. Four years later, he went to Rome to give Pope Pius IX a silver image of the Holy Family and, on his way back, he discovered the Sanctuary of the Holy House in Loreto. This building enshrines the home where, tradition says, the Holy Family lived and was supposedly moved from Nazareth to this Italian town in the 13^th century. Bocabella was extremely impressed by the symbolic and artistic beauty of this Sanctuary, which inspired him to build a replica in Barcelona. And this was the seed of the Basilica of the Sagrada Família.

The original project : Del Villars Neo-Gothic temple :

Bocabella entrusted the project to the diocesan architect Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano, who offered to waive his fees. It was an extremely dynamic era in Barcelona, socially, economically and culturally. And it was also a difficult moment in history for Christianity in Europe. This is the context in which Bocabella, intending to rekindle the people’s spirituality, decided that the temple he wanted to build on a piece of land in the Eixample district, which would be paid for with the donations of devotees of the Associació de Devots a Sant Josep, had to be an awe-inspiring building that would convey a feeling of peace to all residents.

Although he dreamt of building an exact replica of the sanctuary in Loreto, del Villar convinced him to discard this idea and build a neo-Gothic temple, as was the trend at the time, while respecting Bocabella’s intention of creating a monumental building.

Del Villar’s project was inspired by the great medieval cathedrals and planned for a church with three naves in a Latin-cross floor plan, a sizeable crypt, an apse with seven chapels and a pointed bell tower located over the portico and rising 85 metres above street level. This verticality, along with the outer buttresses and large cloisonné windows, gave the building a clearly Gothic look.

The cornerstone was laid on 19 March 1882, the feast of Saint Joseph, and construction began, as was the custom, on the foundations for the crypt.

Del villar steps down ……

One year later, in 1883, the first discrepancies arose between del Villar, on the one hand, & Bocabella & his top advisor, architect Joan Martorell, on the other. Del Villar wanted to use solid stone pillars in the crypt, making each section between horizontal joints a single piece, while the developer & Martorell believed this was way too expensive. Their differences of opinion would drive del Villar to step down for the first time in his career as an architect.

…..and Gaudi comes on the scene : After del Villar stepped down, Bocabella offered his position to Martorell. He declined out of professional courtesy and because of his advanced age, but proposed his most outstanding disciple: Antoni Gaudí. He was just 31 years old and had also worked for del Villar.

Gaudí was named architect of the Temple on 3 November 1883 and found a fully drafted project and work already under way: the foundation of the crypt had already been laid and the columns were half built. Despite being a young architect with only five years of experience, Gaudí tackled this new challenge confidently and enthusiastically, which would end up marking the rest of his career. Right from the beginning, he regretted the orientation of the Temple, as it could not be built diagonally on the land with canonical orientation, facing Jerusalem: the head of the cross (the apse) facing the rising sun and the main entrance (the foot of the cross) towards the setting sun. As the works on the crypt had already begun, however, there was no other option than to respect the orientation del Villar had already established.

About the chief Architect : Antony Gaudi :

Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Catalan architect from Spain known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism.Gaudí’s works have a highly individualized, sui generis style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his main work, the church of the Sagrada Família.
Gaudí’s work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. He considered every detail of his creations and integrated into his architecture such crafts as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry. He also introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadís which used waste ceramic pieces.
Under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudí became part of the Modernista movement which was reaching its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work transcended mainstream Modernisme, culminating in an organic style inspired by natural forms. Gaudí rarely drew detailed plans of his works, instead preferring to create them as three-dimensional scale models and moulding the details as he conceived them.

Architectural excellence of Gaudi’s monuments is world-renowned. Gaudí’s work enjoys global popularity and continuing admiration and study by architects. His masterpiece, the still-incomplete Sagrada Família, is the most-visited monument in Spain.Between 1984 and 2005, seven of his works were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Gaudí’s Roman Catholic faith intensified during his life & religious images appear in many of his works. This earned him the nickname “God’s Architect” & led to calls for his beatification at Paral·lel station.

Alongwith Sagrada Familia, some more famous monuments by Antonio Gaudi :

My dear readers may kindly point out any incorrect information in my above writeup needing any corrections! I am truly indebted to Wikipedia & for the invaluable information on the subject !Happy Reading !