Buon Natale and Feast of St Stephen's / Giorno di San Stefano
Christmas morning (weather fair, warm and sunny), with Tristan found and safely return to the rehabilitation treatment centre, still feeling emotionally battered, bruised and exhausted from a night of no-sleep, we took one of the limited buses up to Janiculum Hill. It is an amazing place with incredible views of Rome (the bus service stopped at 12h00; to be resumed at 16h00). There were a lot of people on Janiculum Hill – families enjoying the area, entertaining their children on the jumping castles and carousel, buying them balloons, other people were buying food and drinks from the various food carts whilst others, like us, enjoyed the vistas of Rome and looking at the numerous statues and busts of prominent Italians, which are dotted around Janiculum Hill.
The Janiculum (Gianicolo Hill) is one of the best locations in Rome for a scenic view of central Rome with its domes and bell towers. It is one of the second tallest hills in Rome.
The Janiculum is the site of a famous battle in 1849, between the forces of Garibaldi, defending the revolutionary Roman Republic, against the French forces, who were fighting to restore the temporal power of the Pope over Rome. There are several monuments to Garibaldi and to the fallen in the wars of Italian independence on the Janiculum.
Daily at noon, a cannon fires once from the Janiculum in the direction of the Tiber. This tradition dates back to December 1847, when the cannon of the Castel Sant'Angelo gave the sign to the surrounding belltowers to start ringing at midday. The ritual was transferred to the Janiculum in 1904 and continued until 1939. The tradition was resumed on 21 April 1959 due to popular appeal which convinced the Commune of Rome to resume the tradition after a twenty-year interruption; and the tradition stands today.
The dome shape of the pantheon is clearer in the photo below
The statue of Anita Garibaldi, Guiseppe Garibaldi’s wife.
This statue pays tribute to the important role she played in 1894 battle; it is also her grave as she later died in campaign.
She famously rode into battle with her new born baby brandishing a pistol – the statue is of her on her horse with her new born baby clutched to her breast brandishing her pistol.
This statue is incredibly emotive.
Painting on Christmas Day was an option for this artist!
We walked down Gianicolo Hill / Janiculum Hill and found a bench along the Tiber River to enjoy our picnic lunch before walking home to Domus Getsemani via St Peter’s Square …. We ended up getting a little lost and doing a circular walk finding ourselves back where we had our picnic lunch; second attempt at walking home was successful!
A Swiss Guard at St Peter’s Square – the photo is a bit blurred as it was taken at a fair distance
As the sun starts to set in Rome, the palm trees situated in Vatican City are quite spectacular
