Monday, August 30, 2010

Speak the truth or he will bite your hand… Bocca della Verita



Rome day 5
Today is our last full day in Rome and I want to see The Bocca della Verita (The Mouth of Truth). The legend is that if a witness whose truthfulness was doubted placed his hand in the mouth of the mask, it would bite him if he were guilty of telling a lie.
So after a little trip back to a clothing store to exchange a skirt I had purchased, we headed down along the river past 4 bridges, through the Island of Tiburina we found the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedian (a Greek Catholic church). The line up to see the Bocca della Verita was quite long but was moving along at a reasonable pace. The Bocca della Verita is just inside the church and you can take one photo per person and they like you to give a small donation (but not compulsory). After standing by the mask with your hand in its mouth you go through the doors of the church and see inside. There are some Roman ruins below the church that you can see for a small donation (50c), they are dated 200 BC (this is what the guide told us). It was quite impressive and no one else was down there, the boys even found it interesting.
We walked back along the other side of the river and enjoyed some cold drinks from a street vendor (these are found everywhere). After arriving back at the apartment we decided we had better get some rest now that we had seen all we had planned. We cooked dinner and watched a movie on the computer and went to bed early.

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