Discovering Romeo Catholicism

• C2- Second Transnational Meeting "Religious Buildings" - Morlupo (Italy) 1-7 December 2019

  "RELIGION AND ART HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON:  LOVE"
  
  
  This motto, created by the Italian team, opened the second transnational meeting of the Erasmus+ A.R.C.H. Project 2019-1-EL01-KA229-062454 took place in Morlupo (RM) from the 1st to 7th of December 2019.  And we may say that love moved every single action and event which took place during this meeting.
  On their arrival on 1st December from Fiumicino Airport, the 5 groups composed by 2 teachers and 6 students each, coming from Greece, Hungary, France, Czech Republic and Turkey, were taken by mini vans to Morlupo at Casa S.Gaetano, a residence hostel run by the religious order of the Teatini.
  On 2nd December we all met at the school IIS "Margherita Hack" at the Liceo Scientifico "G. Piazzi" in Morlupo.  After greetings and exchanging gifts, and gladly meeting again some teachers we had already met during the first transnational mobility in Budapest, the Headmistress Mrs Gaetana Iacobone welcomed the groups, who were then taken on a short tour of the school.  After that we proceeded to vote the transnational logo of the project in the school library, and the winner was:  Turkey!
  
  
  
                              
  
   All the groups were handed out the T-shirts and the folders with the Italian logo and after a coffee break Father Alessandro held the first seminar on the History of Catholicism.
  
  
   
  At the end of this seminar, whose aim was to inform students and teachers of the history of Catholicism and of some aspects related to Catholic life today,a lunch buffet was served at school.  After lunch the students and teachers went back to the library where the second seminar about the relationship between art and religion was held by professor Alessio Girasole.
  
  
  The seminar's aim was to give a more profound understanding of the works of art and buildings the students were going to see on the following days in Rome and surroundings.  The students were stimulated to participate actively to the seminar in order to be aware of what they would see during the cultural visits in presence.
  On Tuesday 3rd of December we all met at Morlupo Train Station opposite Casa S. Gaetano to catch the local train to Rome.  Everybody was able to experience the inefficiency of much of the local transport in Italy, but we finally got to Piazzale Flaminio in Rome where Mr. Ceccarelli, History teacher at Liceo "Piazzi" was waiting for us to catch the underground to the Vatican.
  
  
  
   We arrived at the Vatican Museums and after some waiting we were divided into two groups, each with a guide.  The Museums were awsome and we visited some of the most important sections such as the Tapestries, the Maps, the Sculptures and the Cappella Sistina.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  We then went to the great Basilica where we saw the magnificent plant of the Church and its Dome, the sumptuous baroque decorations and sculptures, the Tombs of the Popes in the cripte and the superb and moving Pietà by Michelangelo.
  
  
  We finally met outside the Basilica and took pictures in the great square in front of it.  Since the afternoon was free, some groups went to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, Piazza di Spagna, Fontana di Trevi,  and they returned for dinner in Morlupo with the 8 o'clock train.
  
  
  Wednesday 4th of December we all met at Liceo Scientifico "G.Piazzi" in Morlupo.  The Mayor of Morlupo sent school buses to pick the groups up and at 9:30 students began presenting their works for the workshop on Religious Buildings.  It was a challenging experience for all the Erasmus+ students, not only to create their presentations but also to present them in English to all the other groups.
  
  
  
   However they did an excellent job and many shy students learned a lot from this experience, building their self-confidence besides learning about the religious buildings of other Countries and of other religious creeds.
  
  Some of them were also great fun and cheered the audience with their irony.
  
  
  
  But all of them were very instructive and professional!
  
  
  And all did a great team work!
  
  
  At noon we had a lunch buffet at school and then we set out by coach to visit a Romanic church in the Park of Veio, our area.
  
  
  The Church of the Madonna del Sorbo is on the Via Francigena which is an ancient pilgrims' route which leads all the way up to Assisi in Umbria. We all walked for short distance on the Via Francigena to reach the Church on a hill.
  
  
  The Church dominates a valley and is in Romanic style.
  
  We visited the gardens and the interior.  Our student Eliseo Gagliardi was our guide,  and he was very good at illustrating the history and architecture of the church.
  
  
  
      The frescoes above the altar
  
  
  
  Making friends!
  On Thursday 5th December we departed at 8:40 a.m. by private coach from Morlupo to go to Rome and visit the Catacombs of S. Callisto and the ancient Roman Via Appia.
  We had learned about the Catacombs from the seminars held at school and were eager to see where the early Christians buried their dead and hid from persecutions.  The guide led us to a maze of tunnels set on different levels and we were amazed at how some graves have been preserved in thousands of years, with wall paintings still brightly coloured!  It was a very peculiar experience, and when we walked out we were eager to go for a walk in the fresh air.
  
  We set out for a walking tour on the Via Appia, the ancient Roman road.
  
  
  Unfortunately we had little time because the coach was waiting for us to take us to Rome for the afternoon visit to Baroque Rome.  The coach driver dropped us at the Roman Synagogue, which although it is nothing like the Budapest Synagogue, it is certainly a beautiful building and situated in a very typical Roman area, the Jewish Ghetto, full of Jewish restaurants and merged into some typical alleys and Roman ruins.
  The Synagogue
  
  
  
  
  Some of the partners decided to have lunch in the Jewish Ghetto - some had typical food like "Carciofo alla Giudia" which is a fried  artichoke.  All groups decided where and what to do for about an hour, then we all met in Piazza Navona with Professor Girasole who was our guide for our tour of Baroque Rome.
  
  The tour started in Piazza Navona, where Mr. Girasole illustrated the main monuments of the beautiful square, starting from the Fountain of the Rivers and ending with Borromini's Baroque Church S. Agnese in Agone.
   We could not miss the Pantheon, the great burial building, the Sancta Sanctorum" planned by Apollodoro di Damasco in Roman times.  Everybody was very impressed by this imposing building where we also find the tomb of Raffaello.
  
  Everybody was impressed by this imposing building where we can find the tombs of important people including the artist Raffaello.
  
                                                                 
  Outside the Pantheon, on one of its side walls, a historical light show delighted everybody.
  We then continued our Baroque Rome tour by visiting the Church of S. Luigi dei Francesi where we could admire some Caravaggio paintings in the Contarelli Chapel.
   Caravaggio's St. Mathew's Vocation
  
  
  Caravaggio's St. Mathew and the Angel
  We then proceeded towards the Square of S. Ignazio where we admired not only the suggestive symmetry of the beautiful rococò buildings planned by Filippo Raguzzini in 1727,  the  but also the Church of S. Ignazio da Loyola, founder of the Jesuit Order.
  
  
  The baroque church, planned by the Jesuit mathematician Orazio Grassi, was built between 1626 and the end of the century.
  
   The Jesuit artist Andrea Pozzo had the brilliant idea of covering the void of the dome, which was never built, with an illusionistic oil painting which represent the dome. Playing with perspective, we all moved around the church to realize how what looked like a dome was actually a flat painting.
  
  
  We also admired the beautiful sculpture of the Annunziata by Filippo della Valle.
  At around 6 p.m. everybody was happy but also tired, so we started walking towards Via delle Coppelle where we enjoyed a pizza dinner all together with a final Tiramisù dessert.
  
  
  
  The atmosphere was happy and all were glad to have some warm food and rest after a long day out.  We all returned by private coach to Morlupo.
  On day 6, Friday 6th of December, all the groups were picked up in Morlupo by the school bus and they arrived at school at 9:30.  The students started working on making the Nativity, while the teachers worked in the library to prepare assessment and the attendance certificates.
    Students work on setting up the Nativity
  At 11, after a coffee break, we started the award ceremony, handing out the Certificates of Attendance.  The students and teachers were given the certificates and took pictures.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   After the ceremony, we all went to Morlupo at Palazzetto Borghese, where the Mayor was waiting for us.  After a short farewell speech to all the A.R.C.H.participants, and after handing them some gifts like a copy of the Italian Constitution in Italian (an encouragement to learn the language?), we all enjoyed a wonderful lunch on the terrace of the ancient building.
  
  Mr. Borgiani,  our ChefThe Mayor, Padre Riccardo of Teatini Order, and our guide.
  Carol and Rabia, the French and Turkish coordinators, enjoying their lunch.
  After lunch we went on a walking tour to some ancient religious sites in Morlupo, like the Romanic Church of S. Maria Assunta (Santa Maria al Borgo)of the 14th century, originally called  "S. Maria extra portam" or "extra castrum" because situated outside the Castle Walls, and to the historical centre of Morlupo.
  
  At 4p.m we all had coffee in Morlupo and said goodbye.  The partners had a free afternoon and evening to make a further visit to Rome and pack for their flights the next day.
  On Saturday 7th December our partners were picked up at different times by mini vans and brought to Fiumicino Airport for departure.
  We all already miss them and look forward to meeting again in France!