Pantheon by Om

 Pantheon

by Om

To start off the day, we visited one the most geometrically synchronous historical sites thus far in the trip: The pantheon. This site had several unique metaphysical and scaling features that truly made it my favorite visit of the trip. The floor was curved with an open circular roof plan to serve as a drainage system, while decorated by materials from Tunisia, the Middle East, and Rome. This site additionally has unique symbols of light that appear on auspicious days of gods Diana and Apollo.

Capitoline Museum and Trevi Fountain by Marc

Capitoline Museum and Trevi Fountain

by Marc

The Capitoline museum was one of the trip highlights for me. It was super fun because we were able to see all sorts of cool ancient statues, including one of an ancient emperor on a horse that I thought was very interesting. My favorite part was posing with the statue of the mother wolf with Romulus and Remus because it felt like a very powerful statue and it also depicted the founders of Rome, so I liked to stand next to it, it made me feel cool. 

Visiting the Trevi fountain was also super sick. It was so cool because the fountain was huge and the intricate details of Oceanus were awesome. Of the 2, I liked the capitoline museum more because we spent more time and saw more things, but they were both great.

Largo Argentarium by Aarna

Largo Argentarium 

by Aarna

Our morning visit to the Largo Argentarium took us through archaeological fundamentals through a site rich with cultural significance. We explored how the ground level is useful for dating different archaeological sites, the deeper down, the older— applying it to chronicle the order of the four temples on the site. These spoke to Roman customs surrounding victory and religion, one called the Temple of the Fortune of Today, which was constructed in wake of a fortunate battle victory. It also was home to the area in the Curia of Pompey where Julius Caesar, famously, was assassinated. 

Today, however, it is overgrown with life. Caesar's place of death is marked by the growth of a tree, the whole site is overgrown with grasses and poppies, and it is part cat sanctuary. We enjoyed seeing the animals resting, curled up on the ancient ruins. The visit made tangible and visible the fundamentals of how we track time across historical sites and areas where some of the most legendary historical facts we've studied had occurred. 

Hadrian’s Villa By Nidhir

Hadrian’s Villa

By Nidhir

When Emperor Hadrian needed a retreat from ancient Rome, he built a private city. Sprawling across roughly 300 acres in the hills of Tivoli, Hadrian’s Villa is so massive that his private estate would encompass nearly half of the University of Washington’s entire Seattle campus.

1:500 scale model of the villa

Wandering the ruins in the sunlight today, the sheer size is awe inspiring. The estate features over 30 monumental buildings, including the Maritime Theater. Despite the magnitude of the villa, this was Hadrian's ultimate private sanctuary. The theater is a circular island surrounded by a moat where he could pull up the wooden drawbridges and completely isolate himself from the demands of the empire.

Nearby lies the iconic Canopus, an elegant reflecting pool lined with statues and Corinthian columns. Hadrian used the villa as a scrapbook, recreating his favorite places from his extensive travels across Greece and Egypt. This also functioned as his grand party hall.

Farewell to the Villa Vergiliana!

We have said "Arrivederci" to our home at the Villa and are on our way to Rome. Two of the traditions at the Villa are signing the guestbook and taking a group photo in front of the Villa. The guestbooks go back decades, so it's fun for students to see what previous Overlakers have added! 

Our evening last night ended with photos in the warm light of the most beautiful sunset, a birthday celebration, and a reflection time that involved charades and lots of laughter and joy.

Sorrento By Clementine

Sorrento 

By Clementine  

On Friday afternoon, we visited the seaside city of Sorrento, located near the southern tip of the Bay of Naples. After enjoying gelato as a group, we were given free rein to explore Sorrento’s charming shops, delicious cuisine, and breathtaking architecture. My group and I began by eating lunch at a pizza restaurant overlooking the sea, before exploring small shops nearby. Sorrento was a unique taste of modern Italian culture and luxury, allowing us to celebrate our last full day in the Naples area.

Pausylipon By Alexandra

Pausylipon

By Alexandra

With cute outfits in preparation for Sorrento and bittersweetness for our last day in the Naples area, the group headed to Pausilypon, a short drive away from our villa. To enter Augustus’ villa, we had to go through a tunnel stretching 770 meters long.

This tunnel was an important connector of the city to the port. After learning about the special stones that made the tunnel so strongly reinforced, we emerged to the seaside villa. The seaside view left us speechless, and with the need for a mini photoshoot.

Also included in the grass area with the villa was a small theater, where our tour guide explained how it was engineered to produce good acoustics. We didn’t stay for long until we had to go back through the tunnel and emerge ready for Sorrento!