Rome day 6--Underground Rome

C and M in the sea nymph's (Nyad's) room,  a room in a 1st Century Roman
 aristocrat's home where they had running water--a rarity even among aristocrats

N and C in front of a 5th Century bell tower

N and C in an ancient Roman villa (now a park), with the remains of an aqueduct in the background

C and M in front of the Gate of Janus, which was closed only in times of peace in times of Republican and Imperial Rome.
This one was rebuilt, probably during Constantine's reign.
 

C and M at the Circus Maximus, where chariot races were held.  It's the largest stadium in the world,
capacity-wise, holding 250,000 people at a time.

N and C in front of the Church of Santa Cecilia

The alter of the Church of Santa Cecilia, with a statue of her (as her remains were found
upon exhumation a few hundred years ago) below.  She was martyred for her Christian faith
in 230 AD, and her remains were buried in the underground crypt beneath the altar.

Mosaics decorating the rooms holding martyrs' remains

 Today was a relaxed day in the morning. We just read a couple of books and exercised. Later, we went on a tour of some underground churches. One of the churches had a 12th century church built on top of a 4th centutry church which was built on a 1st century house which was used for a house church. We were the only ones on the tour, so the tour was AWESOME!!! We had had our tour guide before, so we were able to talk with him more. He told us all about his life, his favorite bottled water(in Rome, when people ask for bottled water in restaurants, they all have a favorite type of water), and about his wife. In the middle of the tour we had a break to go to the toilet. The toilet was in a pastry bar, so we got some great pastries. (from Christian)