We started the day today with class with Julie and Stephanie. We looked ahead to the week's schedule which is full of excursions! We are so excited for the rest of the week. Next we did a little debriefing of Naples and our thoughts on how the weekend was structured. Overall there were positive feelings about it and the consensus was that a future group should return with a little modifications. After our discussion of Naples we delve into border identities concerning politics, religion, and the family. This tied into our excursion this afternoon which was to the Arch of Constantine, the first emperor who accepted Christianity, and San Clemente Church. We met up with Lila Yawn, an art historian who teaches at John Cabot, who was giving us our tour. She explained us the significance of being a Christian back in antiquity and Constantine's affect on them, allowing them to have their first official church in Rome.
Next we headed to San Clemente Church which is a building with three different layers where the other layers are still visible, or a palimpsest. The first or bottom layer was a the imperial mint, a house and a place of worship for the Mithras religion. In the early 5th century a Christian church was built on top of the factory and some of the frescoes are still visible today. Later in the 11th century the church visible from the street was built. It is a gorgeous church and it was amazing to be there with Lila. Her clear passion for art and history enhanced our experience so much. She possessed so much knowledge and pointed out things that we, as bystanders, would have never noticed. It was truly an amazing experience and I am so glad that we were able to be there.
Tomorrow's agenda: service learning and the Vatican tour!
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