il giorno corso di orientazione un

Today was our first day of classes. We walked from our apartment to studio this morning. It was a beautiful morning, cool and cloudy, but comfortable. The walk took about 25 minutes which is nice. We plan to walk everyday, except for those days that it is raining. On those days we will ride the tram into the city center.

This being our first day, we had a full day of orientation. We first met at the Rome Center (studio), then went on a walking tour of the surrounding area. The tour consisted of the Piazza Navona, Sant'Agnese Church, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (The Four Rivers Fountain), Church of Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza, The Pantheon, Church of Sant' Ignatius.

Piazza Navona, is a very large piazza that has been built upon the foundation ruins of a stadium that once stood there. The stadium was used for charratte games and other athletic events during the Roman Antiquity. Also, located in this piazza is Sant' Agnese Church and The Four Rivers Fountian.

Sant' Agnese Church is a church built by Borromini during the Baroque period. Inside you will find very eleborate marble and decorations. The Four Rivers Fountain was built by Bernini, who is a rival of Borromini. The foutain depicts the four great rivers know to the world at this time and the county in which they are located. The Nile River represent Africa, the Danube represents Europe, the Plata represents South America, and the Ganges represents Asia.

The Church of Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza is where the first university in Rome was located. It has since moved to another part of the city, but remains the largest univeristy in Rome. This is an unusual building because of the experimentation with convex and concave curves. This church was also built by Borromini, and the exterior and interior designs do not relate at all.

The Pantheon was fantastic to see, since we had been studying it in Auburn. The scale of the entire building is just unbelieveable, please look closely in the pictures to the size of the building in comparison to people. This was rebuilt by Hadrian, and incorporates the use of concrete. The oculus at the top acts as a natural sundial, and projects light around the building at different times of the day.

Lastly we looked at the Church of Sant' Ignatius and the piazza in front of it. This church is absolutely crazy. There is a rediculus perspectival painting on the barrel vault, and the dome of the church is another perspectival painting, and instead of an actual dome is a flat ceiling.

We ate lunch at a place close to the Pantheon, I had pizza and it was great. After lunch we met back at the Rome Center. At this point we were given keys to the studio places along with a tour. After our first day of classes came to a close, we found ourselves asking many questions before returning to our apartments.

















Pictures: a) Piazza Navona and Sant' Agnese b) The Four Rivers Foutain (Danube River) c) Sant' Ivo d) Looking back at the entrance to Sant' Ivo e) Pediment of The Pantheon f) The Pantheon g) Oculus Sundial h) Scale Figure i) Amy, Katie, Ashley, Me inside The Pantheon j) Sant' Ignatius k) Interior Altar l) Interior Barrel Vault with Perspectival Painting m) Painted Dome n) This last one is for my Grandmas, because if they live in Roma this is whats I imagine they would look like.