Keyhole

The dome of Saint Peter's Basilica is one of the most recognizable symbols of Roman culture. You can see the dome from any aerial view of the city and some unusual places throughout the city. I took some friends to probably the most unique way to see the dome of Saint Peter's Basilica: the keyhole.

Walk up the Aventine hill to a military square at the top filled with obelisks and military trophies. Carabinieri guard the Priory of the Knights of Malta with a wooden door with a small elaborate keyhole. Look through the keyhole. The first time I went to the keyhole I was scared to look through the keyhole. Was a joke going to be played on me? What was I going to see through this keyhole? My friends' exclamations of incredulity today was the same reaction I had the first time I saw it. Each person would walk up to keyhole, exclaim how awesome (and in Mike's case "magical") the view was, leaving our other friends wondering what the view was.


You can see the dome of Saint Peter's Basilica perfectly framed by the circular keyhole. Two hedges line the gravel path creating the frame around the dome. Unfortunately, my camera could not capture the dome of Saint Peter's Basilica (the picture above is borrowed from the internet).

Some cool facts I found on the internet:
- The piazza was designed by Piranesi in 1765.
- The sovereignty of the Knights of Malta, the last surviving order from the Crusades, is recognized by the Italian state.

After looking through the magical keyhole, we wandered into an orange grove that overlooks the city. We relaxed on the ledge before being overtaken by tourists. Matt climbed a tree and picked us all oranges. Unfortunately, these were not tasty oranges. They were more like orange-colored lemons- so sour. Everyone then decided the un-eaten oranges were the perfect baseball. We played catch until we grew hungry enough for our dinner at a Chinese restaurant.