Chiesa di Gesú

The first time we (Franchesca, Steven, and I) attempted to get to the church of Gesù was after our visit to the Capitoline museum. We walked straight there after our visit to the museum, asked for some directions and finally arrived at the front of the building (we were originally on the back end and kept walking passed it because there were no signs). When we reached the front of the building all of the doors were closed, but we decided to ask two men siting on the steps what time the church would reopen. Someone in our broken Italian the men understood us and told us the church would open again at 4. As we stepped off of the steps of the church it began to pour; the rain was coming down really hard. We decided we wouldn’t wait until 4 because it was just 1 and we still had ample opportunity to return to this site. We walked in the rain to the next bus stop and rode the packed and muggy bus back to St. John’s.

            Franchesca and I returned to the church a few days later during its open hours. I must say that the church from the outside looks very old and not very impressive, but when I first stepped in I was taken by complete surprise by the beauty of the church. Like most of the other big churches, this one had massive ceilings with beautiful paintings around the church and on the ceiling. At the front of the church there are two small rooms that I really enjoyed. One room is dedicated to a statue of Jesus on the cross and the other is dedicated to prayer. I enjoyed the prayer room because although I do not attend religious ceremonies very often it was nice to take a moment to appreciate the place where I was and the time of my life that I was there in.