HUM 325 Week 7

This week, we went with our small groups of three people on walking tours that another small group prepared. These walking tours were our finals for SOC 325. My small group consisted of Dayna, Clint, and me, and the one and only Prof. Mustafaga, aka Lar, accompanied us. The walking tour we went on was of San Paolo, which is the second largest Basilica after St. Peters. Our classmates Carol, Eric, and Pamela created this tour.

After a delicious and much needed café/espresso at Momento, our group headed to the metro to begin our journey. When we got off at our stop, Basilica San Paolo, we got lunch at this little, delicious pizza place. We “posted up,” as Dayna would say, and ate looking at the side of the Basilica, where I accidently killed a, what seemed to be injured, fly (may that fly rest in peace.)

After lunch we walked down a walkway where we were told to look for some metal poles. In the walking tour, we were told that these are called La Foresta D’Acciaio, which literally means “The Steel Forest.” These poles represent, and honor, Italians that were killed in a terrorist attack in Nassiriyah, Iraq. The “forest” was actually pretty cool, and we got to walk through it!

Following our walk through the forest, we went on another little walk toward the Basilica, which lead us past a little park and playground. Naturally, Dayna and I could not pass a playground without trying it out! We went on the seesaw, which was a bit painful, but extremely fun! Then, of course, we tried out the swings, and the slide.

After our trip back to childhood, we continued walking until we got to the Basilica. I was in awe when I saw it. The front of the Basilica was a stunning courtyard. It was just so beautiful and peaceful. There were a couple statues in the courtyard, one of St. Paul, and another of St. Paul’s closest follower, St. Luke.

The inside of the Basilica was incredible. It was HUGE. Around the inside was pictures of all of the Pope’s, with Pope Benedictine’s lit up. On the left were some scooters, like the ones you played with in gym class in like, middle school. We so wanted to scoot around in them, but figured we would be shot if we did. The tomb of St. Paul was in the center of the church. The sarcophagus of St. Paul was just recently (2006) found, as it has been covered by a lot of material during the reconstructing of the Basilica that has taken place over the years. Not only was the sarcophagus really cool, but also so were the chains that were above the sarcophagus. The chains are said to be the chains that bound him to a Roman soldier that was guarding him while he was on house arrest in Roma.

Another aspect of the Basilica that I really enjoyed was the mosaic behind the altar and sarcophagus. The mosaic is way too detailed to describe here, but it was absolutely incredible. One thing that I really enjoyed about this mosaic was having a description of it in the walking tour. It pointed out a lot about the mosaic that I would not have noticed on my own. Such as how Christ’s eyes are not similar in shape and size, just like his mouth is asymmetrical.

All in all, I think this was a wonderful walking tour. It was a beautiful day, and we got to just relax, walk around a park, and admire an astonishing Basilica. I learned a lot, and enjoyed the day much more than I expected! Great walking tour Carol, Eric, and Pam!