Italy Trip Day 7: Underground Rome and Isola Tiberina

On our last full day in Rome, Candi and I had a tour planned in the morning to see the hidden/underground part of Rome. This tour would take us to three churches that were literally built on top of former churches, and in the case of one, on top of a former church that was on top of ancient Roman housing. It was a very interesting tour that unfortunately didn't allow photographs in 2 of the 3 places we visited. You could walk down stairs a level and go back in time to the remains of what was there before. One place even had a stone coffin, and another a pile of bones! Another had paintings from inside what would have been like the kitchen of a Roman home.  It was a very neat tour, and I am glad to have seen it.

We had another tour to the Borghese Gallery and Gardens that last afternoon, and we actually skipped it. I am sure it is fabulous, but we had been on walking tours all week (walking miles upon miles a day, no joke), and had not really had any time to just relax. We spent the afternoon instead napping (her) and reading (me), then we went souvenir shopping and had a blast, and then took a cab to Isola Tiberina for dinner. Isola Tiberina is simply translated to Tiber Island, and it is on the Tiber River and is connected by a bridge to the rest of Rome. I had wanted to see it, because it is supposed to be the birthplace of healing and it is said that the Romans had a statue, aesculapius, brought over from Greece. This statue has a man with a staff with a snake curled around it (sound familiar?). The staff with the snake is the caduceus and is the symbol of medicine (winged staff with snake). Though I did further learn that this symbol is actually a symbol of Hermes, the messenger god, and is mistakenly used as the medical symbol when  it should actually be the rod or  Staff of Asclepius (sometimes also spelled Asklepios or Aesculapius), so really see, this was the original medical symbol. Asclepius was the ancient Greek god of medicine, son of the god Apollo and Coronis. At some point, Asclepius healed a snake, which in return taught him secret knowledge - snakes were considered divine beings that were wise and could heal. This is how the symbol of Asclepius and later healing was a rod wreathed with a snake. Asclepius was so good at healing that he had managed to cheat death and bring people back from the underworld. As a result, Zeus killed him to maintain the balance and placed him on the night sky under the constellation of the Ophiuchus (the snake holder).
Stolen from: http://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Asclepius/asclepius.html
Sorry, I love my Greek mythology. 

Anyhow, the evening was a fine one with a rather interesting seafood dinner (Candi's lasagna had octopus in it!). I never did see the statue. For all I know it is inside the big church as you cross over the bridge or at the hospital there on the island, and I honestly was done exploring. But Isola Tiberina is full of cafes, restaurants and shops on the river with live music and street vendors. It is lovely place to visit, and was one of my favorites.