Rome, Italy - Pyramid of Cestius

What a surprise to drive through Rome and see a Pyramid among all of the other grand examples of architecture.   

Here is a map of the overall drive for this post so that you can get an idea of the location of these sights.  We are on the southern side of Rome.  (All maps on this post are from googlemaps)  You can see from the map that this post does not cover a lot of distance, but what an exciting drive it was with a wide variety of sights to see.  This post takes your from a basilica through the city streets and to a (surprise) pyramid!

The bus was on Viale de San Paolo as we drove along the river.

We were able to catch a quick glimpse of Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls  (Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura).   It is commonly known as "St. Paul Outside the Walls".  This is one of Rome's four ancient major basilicas.  St. Paul is buried here.  When I looked at the online photographs of the interior, I put this basilica on my "must see" list for the future. No time on this tour!

These beautifully arched walls surround a courtyard.  (Pardon the head of a fellow passenger.)

 We were able to get a quick glimpse of the outside of the Basillica.  This is a beautiful building and you can see more about it on their website.

Here is a map view of the Basilica.  The green arrows show the movement of the bus. The red arrows show the photos.

We drove around the basilica, then turned north on Via Ostiense. In an earlier post we saw gas stations that were small "pull over" spots along the side of the road.  This station is larger and has enough room for multiple cars. I wonder if the corporations are buying up larger areas of property and putting in the larger style gas stations.  This looks fairly new.

This new modern looking building stood out from the older ones surrounding.  The stark white exterior is something that I didn't see a lot of.

 Via Ostiense was lined with apartment buildings, restaurants and small shops.

The street cleaner was running full force!

We drove through a small tunnel that ran under the railroad tracks. The road turns slightly to the right as it enters Piazzale Ostiense. I was busy taking photos of normal "street scenes" when out of nowhere a surprising sight appeared.  Wow! A gleaming white pyramid in Rome.  The guide said that it is the only pyramid built in Rome.  It is the Pyramid of Cestius (Italian Piramide di Caio Cestio or Piramide Cestia) and it was built around 18BC - 12BC.  It is one of the best preserved ancient buildings in Rome, primarily because it was built into the city walls.


The Pyramid was incorporated in to the Aurelian Walls (shown connected to the Pyramid below) when the wall was built to protect the city 271AD-275AD.   This wall remains well preserved as well as some of the gates (porte). If you look at the wikipedia information, scroll down to see the map that shows the first and second walls built around Rome.

 A closer look at the pyramid surface shows that it is polished and smooth.  This covering of white marble, intact through the years, shows you the intention of the beautiful design with the glistening marble covering.  (Later, when we are in Egypt, we will see pyramids where all of this white marble covering has been removed.)

Click here to learn more about this pyramid.

 This is an old etching of the Pyramid of Cestius found on wikipedia.  You can see the old columns and tiny statues that used to surround the building.

We quickly passed Porta San Paolo.  This gate was originally named Porta Ostiensis (its Latin name), since the road out of Rome through this gate lead to Ostia.  Later it was renamed Porta san Paolo, because it was the gate that led to the St Paul Basilica outside the walls. It looks like a castle to me.

Click here to see an etching of the Piramide di Caio Cestio and Porta San Paolo.  The etching is also shown below.  This will give you an idea on the connection of the two sites.

This picture of the layout on googlemaps will also give you some idea of this area.  #1 is the view of the Pyramid and #2 is the gate that looks like a castle.  #3 shows a remaining section of the Aurilean Walls.

And once again, I see another of my favorite things...news kiosks!  Very pretty and colorful.