Terme di Caracalla and the Knights of Malta

What a wacky weather day. It was bleak and rainy this morning as Charlotte set off to join the RIS Middle School at the Stadio delle Terme di Caracalla for Sports Day. In fact, I was wondering if she should be going at all; I expected she'd be spending half the day sitting under an umbrella. Yet, off she went -- in shorts, no less!

This morning, the younger children at RIS hosted a coffee in honor of Mother's Day. Avery gave me a flower made of tissue paper. We enjoyed an apple torte together. It was very sweet.

Once at home, the weather began to clear up; in fact, it even became sunny. Josh and I were concurrently on our laptops in our "office" catching up on stuff, before doing a brief yoga session in the living room.

Then we set off for the Terme di Caracalla which are located in Aventino. I had wanted to go anyway to check out the area and watch Charlotte and her schoolmates compete in their mini-Olympics, but the trip became essential when Charlotte left her lunch at home. When we arrived, Charlotte met us to grab her lunch, and informed us that she had won practically every event: the 100, 200, and 400 meters (later her P.E. coach would tell us that she was "untouchable" on the track!), and the discus. She took second in the javelin and the shot put.

Since we'd arrived during the lunch break there was nothing going on besides school-girls gossiping, so we decided to take a drive around, and return for the relays. By the time we were walking out of the stadium, the clouds were rolling in and it was so dark in the distance, I thought there was a good chance there would be no relays.

On our way to visit Charlotte's orthodontist (where Josh needed to pick up the jacket he left there yesterday) we stopped at a garden shop and picked up all kinds of potted flowers and herbs for our garden -- at least we'll enjoy them for the next two months before we give up our lease in Rome. Then, after visiting with the orthodontist, we walked up the hill and found ourselves in the Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta; home of the order of the Knights of Malta and the infamous keyhole. The Piazza, bordered by a high wall and decorated with neoclassical obelisks and military trophies, has a large wooden door on one side. Look through the small keyhole in this wooden door, and you see the Cupola of St. Peter's Basilica, perfectly framed by the trees in garden just beyond the doorway. It was really much cooler than I ever expected. Josh returned to the car to grab the camera. Considering the Order of Malta is sovereign state, you are then looking through three countries: Malta, Italy and the Vatican.

The full name of the Order is The Sovereign Military Hospitalier Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta. The Knights of Malta (for short) are a Roman Catholic order based in Rome as a sovereign. The origins come from the Knights Hospitalier, an organization founded in Jerusalem in 1050 that provided care for poor and sick pilgrims to the "Holy Land." Subsequent to the loss of Christian-held territories in Palestine to the Muslims, the Order operated from Rhodes from 1310 to 1523, and later from Malta (1530 - 1798). Although the sovereign state came to an end when Napoleon arrived in Malta, the Order survived and retained its claim of sovereignty under international law. The Knights of Malta have "permanent observer" status at the U.N., and today have 12,500 members in addition to tens of thousands of volunteers and medical personnel. Their headquarters, here in Piazza dei Cavaliere di Malta, were once a Benedictine monastery. By 1470, Pope Paul II had granted the monastery to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

Much to my surprise, the dark clouds passed by and the sun came out again. We returned to the Terme di Caracalla Stadium in time for the relays. Charlotte was anchoring both the 4 x 100 and he 4 x 400 meter events. Her grade 8 team won the latter. It was a lot of fun to watch. What an unbelievable setting for an athletic competition with the ancient terme for a backdrop! These "baths" were built during Emperor Caracalla's reign from 212 to 216AD and were the largest to date -- covering 13 hectars and allowing for up to 1600 bathers. The complex included a cold room (frigidarium), a medium room (tempidarium), a hot room (caldarium), swimming pools, two gymnasiums and even two libraries! The swimming area was roofless and had bronze mirrors mounted overhead to direct sunlight into the pool. Imagine that? Alternative energy in 200AD!!

All around this area of the Terme and the leafy neighborhood of Aventino, the vegetation is beautiful and varied. Trees are clustered together creating a sculpture-like setting and defining the skyline.

We raced (pun intended) out of the Stadium after Charlotte's events concluded in order to get back to RIS in time for pick-up. By now, it had actually become hot outside. We brought Charlotte's friend home from Sports Day. I made dinner for the girls before they left for AquAniene. Later, I made dinner for Josh, Olivia and I. Avery never woke up from his nap. It must have been an exhausting week for him!

We'd been pressing the swim coach to give us an idea of the schedule of swim meets for May and June. Finally, tonight he gave Josh the tentative schedule. Now that we have a clearer picture, we have precious few weekends left to schedule all the things remaining on our "to see" list.