Santa Prassede
Salambo had a free day. She was on her way to work when the metro suddenly closed, for an unknown reason (a regular occurrence in Rome). Instead of getting out of her way to get back home to her work using three different buses, she decided to take some time off just for herself. That took her to the basilica of Santa Prassede, behind Santa Maria Maggiore in the Termini-Esquilino area. Sta Prassede is known (not that well) for its splendid 9th century mosaics. From the outside, the church can be easily missed, it looks like an ordinary building and the way in is through a small side door. That’s what makes the beauty of that church, its simplicity amongst the arrogance of other Roman churches. That doesn’t mean it is bare….on the opposite, the inside is richly decorated with original mosaics in the apse and all the side chapels. Salambo was impressed, impressed by the quality of the work of course, but also by the silence and serenity of the place. She wanted to sit and think while admiring the mosaics of Jesus entering Jerusalem. She sat there, breathing the atmosphere of the place and contemplating it, happy to have a few unexpected moments just for herself, carried away by her own thoughts when suddenly, the ringtone of her phone took her back to her daily reality. It was just a stolen moment after all.
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