Transcript Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti

Located in west central Portugal, in the
region of Leiria and approximately 110
kilometers north of Lisbon, the small
town of Fatima is one of the most visited
Marian shrines in the world today. But
unlike many of Europe's great Marian
pilgrimage sites, the sanctity of Fatima
dates not from the Middle Ages but only
from early in the 20th century. Fatima
was then a small rural village in a rocky
region whose main product was olive oil.
There are no historical or legendary
accounts of the village or surrounding
area having any religious importance in
earlier times. In the years 1916 and
1917 a series of apparitions were seen
by three young children that were to
profoundly alter both their own lives and
the atmosphere of the peasant village.
Visit World Heritage monuments,
fairy tale palaces and sandy
beaches... Lisbon was the first true
world city, the
capital of "the Portuguese
discoveries" spreading over all
continents. Offering breathtaking
panoramas,
from age of Discovery buildings to
colorful streets and squares, a
medieval maze of alleys, grandiose
monuments,
museums, stunning architecture... It
was from Lisbon that the Portuguese
open new worlds to the world!
Boasting
springtime temperatures during the
winter and cool summers freshened
by a breeze from the Atlantic, the
capital of
Portugal on the southwestern coast,
offers a rich and impressively
integrated diversity.
The most visited pilgrimage
shrine in the Christian world,
Lourdes is not an ancient site
but
of
more
recent
development. Lourdes is the
site of a Marian apparition in
1858.
The pilgrimage season at
Lourdes
lasts
from
April
through October, with the main
day being August 15, the
Marian Feast of Assumption.
Four to six million pilgrims visit
the shrine each year, from
around the world, and it is
estimated that more than 200
million pilgrims have come to
Lourdes since 1860
Iron structure in Paris, France, just
over 300 m/984 ft high. It was
designed by Gustave Eiffel to
demonstrate French engineering
skills
for
the
exhibition
commemorating the centennial of the
1789 revolution, and was erected
from 1887 to 1889 in the Champ-deMars, on the south bank of the River
Seine. The tower is used for radio and
television
transmission,
as
a
meteorological recording station, and
has a restaurant. When first built, it
was the tallest structure in Paris. It
consists of three storeys or platforms,
and lifts take visitors to the top.
Lucerne, the gateway to central
Switzerland, sited on Lake
Lucerne, is embedded within an
impressive
mountainous
panorama.
Thanks
to
its
attractions, its souvenir and
watch shops, the beautiful
lakeside setting and the nearby
excursion mountains of the Rigi,
Pilatus and Stanserhorn, the town
is a destination for many travel
groups and individuals on their
journey
through
central
Switzerland.
This picture perfect
glacier is conveniently
located just a short
distance from Lucerne,
an international cultural
venue in Switzerland. A
paradise at 10,000
feet, it offers a snow
and ice experience on
the highest viewpoint in
Central Switzerland
The Holy House of Loreto
is one of the most
revered Marian shrines
in the world. Since
medieval times, the Holy
House has been believed
to be the very home in
which the Virgin Mary
lived, conceived and
raised the young Jesus.
A large basilica has been
built around the small
shrine, and the sacred
site attracts as many as
4
million
Catholic
pilgrims and visitors
each year.
Padua's biggest tourist attraction
is the Scrovegni Chapel (Cappella
degli Scrovegni), with its priceless
frescoes by Giotto. Despite the
town's many other interesting
sights, this is the only place in
Padua where tourism has taken
over. The Basilica of St. Anthony
of Padua (known simply as Il
Santo)
is
also
on
some
tourism/pilgrimage circuits but
through the rest of town you're
more likely to encounter students
and
smartly-dressed
businesspeople than tourists.
Approximately 90 miles north of Rome, in the
rolling hills of Umbria, stands the exceptionally
well-preserved medieval town of Assisi.
Known primarily as the birthplace of St. Francis
(1182-1226 AD), the town has been a sacred
place since long before the Franciscan era.
Little is known regarding the original founding
of the town. One legend tells that the ancient
town, called Assisium, came into existence
around a holy spring that was later venerated
by the Etruscans (9th – 5th centuries BC) and,
following them, by the Romans.
Another legend tells that the town was begun
by Dardanus 865 years before the founding of
Rome (April 21, 753 BC).
Sometime in the 1st century BC a temple of
Minerva, the Roman goddess of art, handicrafts
and the professions, was constructed at the
sacred spring. During the early Christian era
the sanctuary of Minerva was destroyed, a
series of churches were erected at the site, and
the sacred spring stopped flowing.
In 238 AD Assisi was converted to Christianity
by bishop Rufino, who was martyred at
Costano. According to tradition, his remains
rest in the Cathedral Church of San Rufino in
Assisi.
SAINT SEBASTIAN
CATACOMBS - CATACOMBE
DI SAN SEBASTIANO
St Sebastian who
was martyred
under Diocletian in
288, was buried
here. From the 3C
to the 9C this was
the most
venerated area of
subterranean
Rome.
COLOSSEUM
The Colosseum of Rome was built in
bricks and clad of travertine in a valley
among the Palatino, Esquilino and Celio
hills after having dried a small lake that
Nerone was using for the Domus Aurea.
The edifice of four floors, with a total
height of 52 metres and an extension
covering and elliptical area of about
19000 square metres, is with no doubt
the most reknown symbol of Rome all
over the world.For the enjoyment of Rom
e people, here were organized fights
between gladiators or against wild
animals and fabulous spectacles as
"naumachie", real navy battlements in
the arena filled with water. Under the
arena of the Colosseum there were
numerous corridors and rooms aimed at
welcoming the gladiators and the
ferocious beasts that could be brought at
the centre of the arena thanks to
elevator carriages and access ramps.
VATICAN MUSEUM
The Vatican Museums is one of the
most important Museum complexes in
the world housing very important
masterpieces from the Egyptian Age to
late Renaissance.
The museums are composed of
several sections:
- the Gregorian Etruscan Museum
- the Pinacoteca
- the Missionary-Ethnological Museum
- the Raphael Stanze
- the Sistine Chapel.
TREVI FOUNTAIN
In 1732, Pope Clement XII commissioned
Nicola Salvi to create a large fountain at the
Trevi Square. A previous undertaking to
build the fountain after a design by Bernini
was halted a century earlier after the death
of Pope Urban VIII. Construction of the
monumental baroque fountain was finally
completed in 1762.
The central figure of the fountain, in front of
a large niche, is Neptune, god of the sea. He
is riding a chariot in the shape of a shell,
pulled by two sea horses. Each sea horse is
guided by a Triton. One of the horses is calm
and obedient, the other one restive. They
symbolize the fluctuating moods of the sea.
The water at the bottom of the fountain
represents the sea. Legend has it you will
return to Rome if you throw a coin into the
water. You should toss it over your shoulder
with your back to the fountain.
The
Spanish
Steps
(Italian:
Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti) are
a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing
a steep slope between the Piazza di
Spagna at the base and Piazza
Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the
church of Trinità dei Monti. The
Scalinata is the longest and widest
staircase in Europe.
The monumental stairway of 138
steps was built with French diplomat
Étienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds
of 20,000 scudi, in 1723–1725,
linking the Bourbon Spanish Embassy
to the Holy See, today still located in
Palazzo Monaldeschi in the piazza
below, with the Trinità dei Montim the
church that was under the patronage
of the Bourbon kings of France.
Castel Gandolfo (Papal Residence)
The Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo
comprise about 55 hectares (11 more
than Vatican City) of which 30 make up a
garden while 25 are used for farming. The
latter is carried out with full regard for the
aesthetics
proper
to
countryside
gardening. The entire papal residence
enjoys
all
the
privileges
of
extraterritoriality. The properties which
make up the villas include the Papal
Palace (comprising also the Vatican
Observatory),
the
Barberini
Palace,
apartment housing for 21 employees, an
electrical plant, offices, farm buildings and
animal stables. Also contained in the villas
are buildings in the Villa Cybo set aside for
the religious community of the Maestre Pie
Filippini and their school, and two
cloistered convents housing the Poor Clare
and Basilian Nuns. In the piazza in front of
the Papal Palace, the parish house
assigned to the Salesians stands alongside
the Pontifical Church of St Thomas of
Villanova.
SAINT PAUL
At the beginning of the 4th
century, with the end of the
persecutions
and
the
promulgation of the Edicts of
Tolerance in favour of Christianity,
Emperor Constantine ordered the
excavation of the cella memoriae,
the
place
where
Christians
venerated the memory of Saint
Paul the Apostle, beheaded under
Nero around 65-67 A.D. Above
his grave, located along the
Ostiense
Way,
about
two
kilometers outside the Aurelian
Walls
surrounding
Rome,
Constantine built a Basilica which
was
consecrated
by
Pope
Sylvester in 324.
PAPAL AUDIENCE
Witness the audience at Vatican
City. Experience the awe and
wonder which occurs at the Papal
Audience as Cardinals read in
various languages reaching out to
pilgrims and visitors from the far
corners of the world. Then hear
the Pope's weekly message as he
enters the central stage. Feel free
to sing along with the spiritual
leaders of the Church and pray
with the Pope, the head of State
of Vatican City or just sit back
and observe this amazing
tradition taking place.
The church of the Eucharistic Miracle is
located in the center of the town. But what is
the center of the town today was the
outskirts of the town back in the Eighth
Century, when the Eucharistic Miracle
occured. At the time, it was called the Church
of St. Legontian and St. Domitian, and was
under the custody of the Basilian Monks of
the Greek Orthodox Rite.This was prior to the
Great Schism of 1054.
•Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is Hatred, let me sow Love.
Where
there
is
Injury,
Pardon.
Where
there
is
Doubt,
Faith.
Where
there
is
Despair,
Hope.
Where there is Darkness, Light, and
Where there is Sadness, Joy.
O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much
Seek to be consoled as to console,
To be understood, as to understand,
To
be
loved,
as
to
love,
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life