On Friday my Art history class had a filed trip to Orvieto, which means "small town", and there we went to an old beautiful gothic Cathedral. The Cathedral has a relic in it of a linen cloth with a blood stain from the year 1241. Apparently, when they broke the bread for communion, the blood of Christ came out, and the blood stain on the floor dried in the shape of Jesus' face. The theme of the Cathedral on the outside and inside displays the stories of Revelations and Genesis. The frescos inside the church were made to frighten the people about death and to warn them of Hell. It was very interesting and beautiful.
Also in Orvieto, we did an underground tour of 2 manpmade caves from the Etruscan times. There are over 1200 all over the city, underground caves with pigeon coups, wine cellars, olive oil grinding stones etc.
Yesterday my roomates and I went to St. Peters for Mass, and stayed after to be blessed by the Pope! We had to go an hour before mass just to get in line to get in. People from every country imaginable were there to go to mass. They only have a certain number of seats inside and luckily we got in! I almost died when I inside because of all the amazing famous sculptures and statues I have studied for so long were there. Bernini's bronze alter was RIGHT in the center, and to the right was Michelangelo's "Pieta". Everything was so beautiful! The priests all did readings in 4 different languages; German, French, Italian and English.
After mass we went outside where the entire piazza was full of people waiting to see the Pope. He came out of a window near his apartment overlooking St. Peters square, and he blessed the whole crowd. It was amazing to be around so many people from all over the world. He does that every Wednesday and Sunday afternoon. Its crazy to think that this all happening just 6 blocks from my own apartment!
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