Walk this way, the Sequel
As part of our touring the less toured sites, we planned a bit of a hike to the Broken Pot Mountain; the Pyramid and the Baths of Caracalla. Bet you’ve never heard of these ancient sites! The walk is about 5 miles round trip and the temp is supposed to be in the low 80’s so shouldn’t be really hard. The biggest problem with hiking Rome’s streets is the streets themselves. Most cars and motorcycles try to avoid hitting you so they’re a secondary worry. The main worry is the uneven, broken and sometimes missing cobble that makes up almost all side streets. We’ve already learned that if you want to look at a building or site, stop first then look. Trying to look while walking can be really hazardous.
We laid out our trip using Google maps which has had a few problems here in Italy. While driving to Montepulciano, Goggle got into a loop that went nowhere. In Poggibonsi, Goggle always wanted us to turn right at the intersection of the main drag, we did that once and found out it leads to the tennis courts, nowhere else. I forgot to change the settings to “no tennis clubs”, my bad. Here in Rome, Google gets confused because the roads run parallel to each other. Best we can do so stopyourbitchin, besides, today’s walk shouldn’t be too complicated.
We start by making our way down to the edge of the Tiber, main river that runs through Rome, that now has bike lanes and walking paths. It also has a lot of what the city coughs up, bottles, trash, paper, things you don’t see in the guide books. It’s a nice walk, quiet and we don’t have to worry about cars, still need to watch where you’re walking for the reasons listed earlier.
Path along the Tiber river
Ruins of an ancient Roman bridge
Clean part of the path along the Tiber
First stop, Broken Pot mountain, or Monte Testaccio (pronounced, “tess-tah-choe”). Between the 2nd and 3rd century BC, Testaccio was a major port for Rome’s trade. The area was comprised mostly of warehouses and shops that dealt with supplying Rome with all their goodies.
Monte Tesaccio is an artificial hill created over 200+ years of discarding amphorae, the vessels used to transport olive oil. The amphorae would absorb some of the olive oil during shipment making their reuse impossible. So, what do you do with the worlds first disposable container? The Romans decided to break them up into small pieces and then discard them in a central area. Discard is a bit of a misnomer, they were actually stacked neatly on top of each other with lime sprinkled between the layers to cover up the rancid smell of decomposing oil. The lime also acted as a sort of binding agent thus causing the pottery shards to become one solid mountain.
There are thousands upon thousands of amphorae here. It is estimated that there are ~53,000,000 amphora buried at this site. From the outside (it was closed at the time we visited) you can see solid walls of pottery pieces neatly laid on top of each other reaching 100+ feet in the air.
one of the amphorae terraces
We walked around the neighborhood to see if there was another entrance but unfortunately there wasn’t, but there were some interesting sites. Anyway, on to our next site, the Pyramid.
Home-build complete with crime tape
Guess not all Romans are master builders.
The Pyramid of Cestius was built around 18-12BC for a wealthy Roman, Caius Cestius, of which there is little known about this man except from the inscriptions carved on the exterior wall that state he was a “tribune of the plebs”. Even the date when the pyramid was built is questioned but most agree it was around 18-12BC. The pyramid stands ~120ft tall and 98ft wide and is constructed of brick and mortar and covered in Carrara marble. It is said to be the remaining one of two pyramids of Rome, the second having been disassembled and used to build the stairs of St. Peter’s Basilica. The pyramid was incorporated into the Aurelian wall during the wall’s construction between 271-275AD.
Pyramid of Cestius
Inscription
The pyramid today
Tower on the Aurelian wall.
Enough of that Egyptian stuff, we’re here to see Roman stuff so get a move on to the next stop, the Baths of Caracalla. Easy walk to the baths from the pyramid, but it’s starting to warm up so the pace got a little slower. Once we arrive, one thing is obvious, the bath complex is quite large! It appears to cover more than a city block. This place is massive!
Building began in 206 AD by order of Emperor Septimius Severus and was completed by his son, the Emperor Caracalla in 216AD. 9,000 workers were employed, full time, for 10 years to build the baths. Once completed, the baths consisted of a central area measuring 750ft by 380ft with vaulted chambers for exercising, reading or socializing. There were 3 main bath chambers, a great hall and an open-air swimming pool surrounded by gardens. The entire complex was heated by a hypocaust system, below floor burning of wood to heat water and the floor itself. Water was supplied by a dedicated aqueduct. Big selling point, there was no cost to any of the 1,600 simultaneous users of the baths. It is estimated that between 6,000 and 8,000 people used these baths every day.
Layout of the baths
Original mosaics over 2,000 years old
Mosaic detail
Central area with chambers
Garden area
Detail of mosaic. Each piece is approx. 1/2 inch square
Walls show the vast size of the complex
Massive archway
Hallway to one of the chambers
Chamber
Done for the day now a simple walk back to the apartment past some of Rome’s better-known sites, Circus Massimo, Palatine Hill, Denny’s, Pizza Hut, etc. Tomorrow we’re thinking of doing a tour of McDonalds or RFC (Roman Fried Chicken), not sure which.
Cheers