Forgetting Indian time, the body has started adopting Italian time. Although even now the eyes open once according to Indian time at five o'clock in the morning, but now sleep again comes back to sleep and opens at five o'clock in the morning according to Italian time. It had started raining since this morning. Father decided not to accompany us and expressed his desire to rest at home. We told them that it is not raining in the evening since last day, if the weather is still good, then you can walk with us after lunch.
Mercato Foodo
I got ready at eight in the morning and went to see Mercato Foodo. It was a vegetable and fruit market but some shops also sold raw meat which was displayed in glass shelves. All the vegetables and fruits were fresh. Most of the older women were shopping in this market.
St. Angelo's Castle
We had tickets purchased from Merulana Plazzo to see certain places in Italy. These included St. Angelo's Castle. We decided to go there. Today we were able to leave the house at nine in the morning. Got the bus too soon. St. Angelo's Castle was only three kilometers from our apartment so it didn't take us long to get there.
By the time we entered St. Angelo's Castle, it had started raining. It is an ancient circular fortress located on the banks of the Tibris (Trevi and Tiber) river in the Parco Adriano area. In a way, the river Tiber forms the first line of defense of this fort. This fort was built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian of the 2nd century AD. The tombs of Hadrian and members of his family are still located in this fort. Hadrian became emperor of Rome in AD 117 and died in AD 138 'Bei' It happened in a place called.
Hadrian's queen Sabina and one of her adopted sons were probably killed along with the king. The remains of the king and his family members were brought and buried in this fort. The king had built graves here for himself and his family members even before his death. In later times the Pope of Rome made it his residence. It was the tallest building in Rome in an era. Even today very few buildings are equal to the height of this fort. We were climbing around this fort in the same way as buses ride on winding roads in hilly areas.
On the roof of this fort there is a huge statue of a goddess named Michel Archangel, after whom this fort is named. To reach this fort, one has to cross a bridge called Ponte Sant'Angelo on the Trevi River, on both sides of which are statues of ancient Christian angels and goddesses. After Hadrian, the bodies of the kings of Rome were brought here and buried.
The last king to be buried here was Caracella, who died in AD 217. In AD 401 this fort was converted into a military headquarters. Due to this, many constructions of ancient times located in the fort got demolished. When Visigoth robbers plundered Rome in AD 410, the royal tombs located in this fort were also excavated so that valuable materials could be obtained from there. In AD 537, the Goth invaders repeated the same process and destroyed many valuable statues made during the period of Hadrian and subsequent emperors.
During these destructions a precious stone placed over the tomb of Emperor Hadrian remained intact which was later sent to cover the tomb of Emperor Otto in St. Peter's Basilica. When Christianity became dominant in Rome, the statues of Roman pagan gods and goddesses located in this fort were also vandalized, some of which have been found during the excavation and cleaning etc. in the fort.
They have been placed in the corridors of the fort. Fragments of some pillars of ancient construction are also now displayed in the fort premises for the convenience of tourists and historians.
A terrible plague broke out in Rome in AD 590, in which many Romans were killed. At that time Rome was ruled by Pope Gregory I. According to a folk legend, then the goddess Arch Angel Michel appeared on the roof of this fort. In the fifteenth century AD, a traveler had heard this folk legend from the mouth of the Romans and at that time he had also seen a statue of a goddess on the fort.
At that time Pope Gregory (I) was getting the statues of Roman gods and goddesses destroyed. Pope Gregory (I) also saw blood dripping from the sword of this goddess. Yet the Pope continued to break down statues of pagan deities. In the fourteenth century AD, Pope Nicholas III built a roofed corridor from St. Peter's Basilica to the fort, called the Passato Borgo. This corridor no longer exists. It is mentioned only in books.
When Charles (V) besieged Rome in AD 1527, Pope Clement (VII) took refuge in this fort. The Pope's soldiers stood on the roofs of this fort and used to shoot at the enemy army. Leo (X) has a chapel built by Rafaello da Montelupo with the Madonna.
In AD 1536, Montelupo also made a marble statue of St. Michel with a sword in his hand. This idol was installed on top of the fort. Later Pope Paul (III) built a luxury palace in this fort so that if Rome is attacked again in future, the Pope can reside in this palace.
In AD 1753 the marble statue of St. Michel atop the fort was replaced by a new bronze statue built by the Flemish sculptor Peter Anton von Verschefelt. Now this idol is visible on the fort. The old statue is still standing in an open square inside the fort. The papal rulers of Rome also used this fort as a prison. Giordano Bruno was held captive in this fort for six years before being burnt alive. A craftsman named Benvenuto Cellini was also imprisoned in this fort. A court was set up in jail to prosecute him.
Now a museum has been established in this fort. About 12-13 lakh people from all over the world visit this fort every year. We also kept moving forward looking at the idols in the fort. The fort is grand and wonderful, but it is like a very small bird in front of the mysterious forts of India. Walking on the tunnel routes inside it is no less than revealing a mystery.
These tunnel passages rise to the same height on which Roman warriors would once have galloped on horses. On either side of these tunnel-shaped corridors are small chambers, which are frightening to see.
State captives, rebel philosophers and rival princes would have been kept captive in these cells. There are also palaces of royal residence in between. These palaces have some of the best frescos in the world, in which biblical stories and religious references related to various popes are engraved. It's like everything is sealed in a round magic box.
We reached the top floor where the Arms Museum is located today. There is also a restaurant on the way to reach here which was thronged by foreign tourists. There is a curved verandah outside the museum, in which there is a museum of old cannons on the roof of a part of the fort.
Many shells have also been kept decorated which may have been designed to be used in guns but never put in cannons. These cannons and shells are probably from the time when the Pope of Rome lived in the fort in the fifteenth century AD.
These guns are completely different from those Indian guns of the sixteenth century AD which were used in India during the time of the Mughals. The cannons of the fort of Rome are very similar to those mentioned in ancient Indian texts by the name of Charishnu. The technique of firing from them must have been a lot like the Indian sling.
While we were busy looking at these cannons, a bird of the Trevi river, which was flowing outside the fort, flew away and sat outside this verandah. Deepa was immediately attracted towards that bird. Both that bird and Deepa looked at each other for a long time. As if some silent dialogue was going on between the two. I captured this scene on my cell phone camera. Today it is one of the most memorable photos of Rome trip.
After visiting the museum we reached the roof of the fort. The entire Rome is visible from here. This vast city, built over centuries and millennia, looks as if someone has painted buildings, streets, rivers and high-rise churches on a huge canvas. St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica are very clearly visible from here.
About 10-12 imitations of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica are also visible all around as if someone had built so many huge churches to complete this grand paronoma!
We stared at the city of Rome for a long time. Someone rightly said - 'Rome was not built in a day!' As far as tourists are allowed to go, it also has a high wall with a statue of St. Angelo Michele. Due to this statue, this fort is now called St. Angelo's Castle. In front of the castle an Italian girl was playing the guitar and singing a song in Italian.
Cleanliness of the city of Rome
The crackling sound of the river flowing under the fort cannot be heard from here, but birds like white herons floating in the river keep the whole environment alive. Flocks of birds floating in the river are also clearly visible from here. The presence of these birds amazes the onlookers.
Not a single cow, bull, dog, cat, mouse, crow, monkey, squirrel, lizard, fly, mosquito etc. are to be seen in the whole city of Rome, but the Romans took compassion on these birds and allowed them to fly in the city sky. has been laid. These birds mark nature's non-biological presence in this city.
Some old ladies and Italian young women in long black overcoats are sometimes seen walking along the sidewalks of the city streets with pet dogs of various breeds, but they seem as disciplined as they were on the Great Rome. The great pride of the great history of the world has prevailed!
Apart from the birds of the River Trevi and the dogs of Italian maidens, possibly no non-human beings are allowed to enter the city to see humans. At least it seemed so to me. The whole city is clean, there is no trace of dirt and foul smell.
Plastic bags are hung on iron stands every 10-20 meters along the roadside. These bags are also installed in front of every shop in which garbage is put. About every half kilometer there are large plastic containers in which big waste can be dumped.
Trevi Fountain
After leaving St. Angelo's Castle, we reached the Trevi Fountain. It was very crowded, so much so that there was no place to even step on foot to reach the fountain. Rome, the capital of Italy, is a city consisting of several districts. One of these districts is called Trevi.
In this district there is a fountain named Fontana de Trevi which is 86 feet high and 161 feet wide. It is the only fountain built in the Baroque style in the city of Rome and is one of the most famous fountains in the world. This fountain has been depicted in many movies made in different decades. Perhaps this is the reason why the crowd of tourists from all over the world is the highest here.
This fountain is built at the place where three roads come and end. Therefore it is called trive in Latin language, which is similar to the Sanskrit word tri-vay. It's called 'Aqua Virgin' That is, it is also called holy water. The water supply for this fountain comes from an ancient canal that was built to supply holy water from the mountains to the bathhouse of the Roman Empress Agrippa. This canal was carved out of the mountains located 13 km from Rome.
The canal comes around a lot, so its total length becomes 22 km. When Queen Agrippa died, this canal supplied water to the city of Rome. In a later period a fountain was built over the canal on which beautiful and huge sculptures of Roman goddesses named Agrippa and Trivia were placed. Over time, this fountain started disintegrating and the idols of the goddesses were also broken.
In AD 1629, Pope Urban (VIII) of Rome asked an artist named Gian Lorenzo Bernini to design a new fountain. Bernini prepared the new design, but Pope Urban (VIII) died before it could be implemented. Nevertheless, Bernini made some changes to this fountain which is still present today. Later an impressive model was made by Piatro da Cortana, but the fountain could not be reconstructed.
ई.1730 में पोप क्लेमेंट बारहवें ने इस फव्वारे का नया डिजाइन तैयार करने के लिए आर्चीटैक्चर्स की एक प्रतियोगिता आयोजित करवाई जिसमें एलेसैण्ड्रो गैलिली ने निकोला साल्वी के डिजाइन को परास्त कर दिया किंतु इससे रोम में विद्रोह हो गया और अंत में फव्वारे के पुनर्निर्माण का काम निकोला सालवी को दिया गया।
ई.1732 में फव्वारे के पुनर्निर्माण का काम आरम्भ हुआ। ई.1751 में सालवी की मृत्यु हो गई तथा उसका काम अधूरा रह गया किंतु अपनी मृत्यु से पहले उसने अपने द्वारा बनाए गए डिजाइन को फव्वारे के पीछे एक फूलदान में छिपा दिया ताकि उस डिजाइन को सालवी के शत्रु नष्ट न कर दें। इस फूलदान को ‘एसो दी कोप्पे’ कहा जाता है जिसका अंग्रेजी में उच्चारण एस ऑफ कप्स किया जाता है।
फव्वारे की सजावट के लिए चार शिल्पी पिएत्रो ब्राक्की, फिलिप्पो डेल्ला वाल्ले, जियोवान्नी ग्रोस्सी तथा एण्ड्रिया बरगोण्डी की सेवाएं प्राप्त की गईं। ज्यूसेप्पे पानिनी को आर्चीटैक्चर नियुक्त किया गया। ई.1762 में पानिनी ने ट्रेवी फाउण्टेन को अंतिम रूप दिया। इस नए डिजाइन में, पुराने फव्वारे में लगी एग्रिप्पा तथा त्रिविया नामक रोमन देवियों की पुरानी मूर्तियों को हटा दिया गया तथा उनके स्थान पर समुद्रों एवं नदियों के देवता ओसेनस तथा समृद्धि एवं आरोग्य की देवियों की मूर्तियां लगाई गईं।
पोप क्लेमेंट अष्टम् ने 22 मई 1762 को इस फव्वारे का उद्घाटन किया। इस फव्वारे के निर्माण में ट्रावरटाइन नामक पत्थर का उपयोग किया गया है जो रोम से 35 किलोमीटर पूर्व में स्थित ट्रिवोली से लाया गया है। इसके बाद भी कई बार इस फव्वारे का जीर्णोद्धार किया गया किंतु मूल डिजाइन में परिवर्तन नहीं किया गया। इस फव्वारे में पलाज्जो पोली नामक दीवार नुमा संरचना बनाई गई है जो किसी स्टेज के पीछे लगे पर्दे की तरह दिखाई देती है। इस दीवार में दो मंजिलें बनी हुई प्रतीत होती हैं।
नीचे की मंजिल में तीन बड़े आले हैं जिनमें एक-एक प्रतिमा लगी हुई है। बीच का आला तथा बीच की प्रतिमा सबसे बड़ी है, यह ओसेनस देवता की है तथा इसे मूर्तिकार पिएत्रो ब्राक्की ने बनाया था। ओसेनस एक रथ पर खड़े हैं तथा दो सेवक उस रथ के वेगवान घोड़ों को नियंत्रित कर रहे हैं।
ओसेनस प्राचीन यूनानी एवं रोमन धर्मों में समुद्रों एवं नदियों के देवता के रूप में पूजे जाते थे। ओसनेस के पास के एक आले में समृद्धि की देवी है जो अपने कलश से जल गिरा रही है तथा दूसरी तरफ के आले में आरोग्य की देवी है जिसके हाथ में पकड़े हुए प्याले में से एक सांप कुछ पीता हुआ दिखाया गया है।
ऊपर वाली मंजिल के दो आलों में दो अलग-अलग दृश्य उत्कीर्ण हैं जिनमें रानी एग्रिप्पा के स्नानघर के लिए नहर निकालने का आदेश देने एवं नहर के पूरा होने पर रानी के चरणों में सूचना निवेदन करने के दृश्य दर्शाए गए हैं। शेष आले खिड़की के रूप में बनाए गए हैं। दीवार के ऊपर, मध्य भाग में एक मुकुट बनाया गया है जो रोम के अधिकांश भवनों में दिखाई देता है।
पलाज्जो पोली नामक दीवार के चरण भाग में प्राकृतिक चट्टान की आकृति में एक बड़ा प्लेटफार्म बनाया गया है। ओसोनस के रथ के नीचे से पानी बहकर चट्टान पर आता है और झरने की तरह सामने के कुण्डों में गिरता है। पूरा दृश्य कृत्रिम होते हुए भी प्राकृतिक लगता है। पर्यटक इन कुण्डों में दाएं हाथ से सिक्का उछालते हैं। सिक्के को बाएं कंधे के पीछे की ओर उछाला जाता है।
मान्यता है कि इससे उनकी मनोकामना पूर्ण होती है। प्रतिदिन औसतन 300 यूरो इस फव्वारे में उछाले जाते हैं। वर्ष 2016 में 15 लाख अमरीकी डॉलर अर्थात् 10.35 करोड़ भारतीय रुपए इन कुण्डों में डाले गए। हम प्रातः नौ बजे के घर से निकले थे और इस समय ढाई बजने को आए थे। हम घर के लिए लौट पड़े जो यहाँ से केवल चार-साढ़े चार किलोमीटर ही दूर था।
चिएसा सेंट एग्नेसे इन एगोने
सायं चार बजे हम पिताजी को साथ लेकर पियाजा नोवाना गए। यहाँ का परिवेश आज भी कल की तरह गीत-संगीत, नृत्य, वाइन, पिज्जा, पास्ता, कॉफी से सराबोर है। चौक में बने तीनों फव्वारों को देखते हुए हम एक चर्च गए। चर्च के बाहर पीतल की एक चमचमाती प्लेट लगी है जिस पर रोमन लिपि एवं इटैलियन भाषा में ‘चिएसा सेंट एग्नेसे इन एगोने’ लिखा हुआ है तथा चर्च के नाम के नीचे स्थान का नाम ‘पियाजा नोवाना’ अंकित है।
मैं अपने जीवन में इससे पहले चर्च एवं मस्जिद में एक-दो बार ही गया हूँ जबकि गुरुद्वारों और सूफी दरवेशों की मजारों पर बीसियों बार जाने का अवसर मिला है। निश्चित रूप से हिन्दू धर्म के वैष्णव मंदिरों के बाद, ईसाई धर्म के कैथोलिक चर्च अत्यधिक भव्य एवं आकर्षक होते हैं। यह भी एक भव्य चर्च है जिसके भीतर संसार के कीमती फ्रैस्को बने हुए हैं।
चर्च की चारों दीवारों एवं गुम्बद की भीतरी छत पर इन फ्रैस्को की सहायता से कैथोलिक धर्म की जानकारी देने वाला पैरोरोमा ही बना दिया गया है। पूरे चर्च में कॉलम्स के सहारे-सहारे पैडस्टल खड़े करके उन पर प्राचीन काल के संतों की प्राचीन मूर्तियां प्रदर्शित की गई हैं। बहुत से भित्तिचित्रों एवं मूर्तियों के निकट इंग्लिश, इटैलियन, स्पेनिश एवं फ्रैंच भाषाओं में ईसाई संतों के नाम एवं उनसे सम्बद्ध घटनाएं अंकित की गई हैं।
आज चर्च में कोई म्यूजिकल कंसर्ट होने वाली थी जिसकी तैयारियां चल रही थीं। चर्च के भीतर देश-विदेश से आए सैंकड़ों लोग मौजूद थे किंतु कोई भी पर्यटक न तो बात कर रहा था, न किसी का सैलफोन बज रहा था और न बच्चे इधर-उधर दौड़कर शांति भंग कर रहे थे। यहाँ तक कि पर्यटक चलने में भी इतनी सावधानी बरत रहे थे कि उनके पैरों की आहट भी सुनाई नहीं देती थी।
दुनिया के विभिन्न देशों से आए कुछ लोग लकड़ी की पॉलिशदार बैंचों पर बैठकर प्रार्थना कर रहे थे। चर्च में प्रवेश करते ही एक नोटिस बोर्ड दिखाई देता है जिस पर लिखा है- ‘फोटो खींचना मना है’ किंतु सभी पर्यटक अपने मोबाइल फोन और कैमरों से फोटो एवं वीडियो शूट कर रहे थे। मैंने कुछ देर तक तो नोटिस बोर्ड पर लिखी सूचना का पालन किया और उसके बाद उन सैंकड़ों पर्यटकों की तरह कुछ चित्र तो उतार ही लिए जो बड़ी उत्सुकता से वहाँ अंकित फ्रैस्को को अपने कैमरों में बंद कर रहे थे।
पिताजी ने संगमरमर से बने एक पैनल की ओर मेरा ध्यान खींचा जिसमें किसी सामंत पुत्र के ईसाई होने तथा भिखारी का जीवन जीने की इच्छा प्रकट करने की कहानी अंकित है। इसी पैनल में उस संत की मृत्यु का दृश्य भी अंकित है जिसके निकट तत्कालीन पोप, संत के सामंत पिता और कुछ देवदूत खड़े हुए उसे शांति के साथ शरीर छोड़ते हुए देख रहे हैं।
यहाँ कुछ पैनल प्लास्टर ऑफ पेरिस से बनाकर भी लगाए गए हैं। यहाँ से हमें पिताजी को पैंथियम दिखाने ले जाना था किंतु पिताजी थक चुके थे और उन्होंने घर लौटने की इच्छा व्यक्त की। हम उसी समय बस पकड़कर अपने सर्विस अपार्टमेंट लौट आए।