I admit, I'm no expert on Rome but I never expected to find a huge obelisk full of hieroglyphs, and I even less expected to find several of them spread over the city. This, apparently, is the obelisk of Ramses the second. It is the second oldest and the largest of the ones found in Rome. The obelisk was brought to Rome in 10 BC by order of Augustus and it was originally set up at Circus
Maximus. The obelisk
was lost at some point, but it was rediscovered in 1587. They then broke it into three pieces and re-erected it at Piazza del Popolo as part of the urban
plan of pope Sixtus V.
I shot the obelisk from the sunny side at first - it was the viewpoint from where I came towards it - but immediately realized it would look much greater with a shadowy side visible to contrast a sunny one. I always love how the sun enhances outdoors shots. It brings out depth and colors so nicely. Some gloomy shots can be really nice though, but I've never really gotten comfortable taking them myself. I always find myself wishing for the sun to come out.
Cool shot! Did you also go back to see it at night (to see if that thing on top lit up)?
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm sad to say I didn't. In hindsight, I should have, but I didn't have the thought when I was there.
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