We began our marathon of a day with a brisk walk to the Chiesa Di Sant Alfonso to see the famed icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help that we studied up on the night before. The icon, in Byzantine style, is traced to the 13th or 14th century and its current location is believed to be the result of several miracles recounted in its complicated past. A Roman merchant, Pius IX, and the Virgin Mary walk into a bar…So that may not be exactly how it unfolds, but to make a long story short, the image is stolen from Crete but eventually reclaimed by Pius IX, curing the ill as it makes it way to the Redemptorist church dedicated to St. Alfonso where it now resides. Our task was to analyze the contemporary enactment of traditionalization as it relates to the icon, made much easier as we got to observe part of a 9:00 mass in Italian. Things like direct speech in the origin story, recurring motifs, and repition in the constant display of the icon give modern context to an ancient narrative.
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| Our Lady of Perpetual Help... us finish these journals on time |
We then made our way to the Museo Ebraico di Roma to meet Micaela Pavoncello, a local celebrity who would be our guide as we explored the Jewish museum, synagogue, and ghetto. Micaela’s tour offered insight to the history of the minority Jewish population of Rome, often glossed over by the city’s overwhelmingly Catholic narrative. Defined and maintained from 1555-1870, the ghetto was a way to isolate the Jewish community in hopes of converting them to Christianity. Built for 3,000 residents, the Quarter was occupied by 9,000 people and is the reason for many of the stereotypes still maintained today, although it also contains rich history about the Roman Jews. In fact, visiting the Jewish Museum is a required part of Italian public school curriculum. After seeing the artifacts of the museum, we sat in the front rows of the Synagogue, built with 5 separate rooms to appease the several denominations coexisting in the ghetto. Micaela explained the tensions between the Catholic Church and Jewish community, in particular how they were impacted by Mussolini’s rule and the events of World War II. Micaela’s familial connections to this history gave us a candid look at the life of Roman Jews during this time, as well as contextualized their experiences today.
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| Selfie of the day with our fearless leader Micaela. Mike must be distracted by the aroma from the Kosher bakeries. |
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| Hannah, Christy, and Maddie enjoy their chocolate cheesecake from a Jewish bakery |
After a much needed cheesecake pick-me-up, we hiked to our final stop of the day: the Piazza Garibaldi in Trastevere. Trudging up the steep incline, we emerged to see a beautiful view of Rome’s cityscape and the sight of our main man Garibaldi on horseback, confidently overlooking his domain. He’s where this ~course~ began, so we discussed the symbolism and connotation of the monument’s location and appearance. We continued down the road to see our much anticipated surprise: another statue!! Exciting, I know. But this was unlike all the others we’ve seen during our travels as it depicted a woman, but not just any woman: Anita Garibaldi. Mussolini has erected the statue in the
1920s to spite the Pope, but the girl gang + Tim was very excited to see some female representation in Italian history for once (#GirlPower).
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| Sarah Katherine channels her inner Anita as she prepares for battle, AKA the walk back to the hotel |
A public transit labor strike muddled some of our logistics, so we began the long trek to what felt like the other side of the Roman Empire. The rain held off until this point, setting a somber mood as we parted ways with Anita. Including our lengthy hike back to the hotel, we’ve walked approximately 80 miles over our time in Italy. Rome may not have been built in a day, but we sure walked it in one!
Ciao a Roma!
Katie
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