Customer Reviews

Pilgrimage: A Chronicle of Christianity Through the Churches of Rome

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All of you, whether you can get to Rome for the Giubileo next year or not, should have this book. Everyone who can come to Rome in 2000 should get a copy now and start studying it.

I read through "Pilgrimage" immediately on its delivery and started my second reading, after a short night's sleep, a few hours later. Walking, book in hand, I revisited Il Gesu and S. Maria Sopra Minerva near the Pantheon with new understanding and seeing with new eyes. Those of us who are lucky enough to live in Rome have visited many churches, but most of us have seen only their surfaces. What a pleasure it was (and will continue to be) to visit them again and really know what we are seeing.

There are not enough superlatives for this book. It is definitely not another grim guide that tells which statue is where and who's in every sarcophagus. Here we get clear and careful analysis -- how and why the churches were built and then restored and redecorated, what they meant to their Catholic communities, and some clues about what they can mean to us. The text is accurate and insightful and to say that the photos are sumptuous would be a vast understatement.

We've been waiting for years for this book. There is no other with which to compare it, but how wonderful that the first of its kind is a masterpiece.

Well-written; I agree with the other enthusiastic reviewers. I want to stress that the photographs are a great contribution since they are new, beautiful, and very very often from a viewpoint that departs from the usual photographs of Roman art and architecture. Many of the photographs show mosaics and art that have not appeared in guide books, even art books, et al.-- the pilgrim, the art student, may have been able to find a slide or postcard here and there but not a lush photograph and certainly not a recent one nor one with a good accompanying text.

One strange flaw: the map that shows the location of the churches is numbered incorrectly for most of the churches; for instance, St. Peter's is marked as San Pietro in Vittorio. The map was a wonderful idea -- it's really too bad and the editors must be wincing.

Thanks for a wonderful, truly new addition, to the literature on Rome.

"Pilgrimage; A Chronicle of Christianity Through the Churches of Rome" is one of those rare works the traveler treasures as he ponders the complexities of the historic levels of art and architecture in the monuments of Rome. This book makes the artistic evidence clear - from the significance of the catacomb drawings to the intent of the painter Carravagio in his exquisite night paintings in the Church of San Luigi Francesi. Not only is this work valuable for the traveler but it is an insightful angle on Roman history as well as a must for every person with a library where art and architecture are primary concerns.

I bought this book a week before we left for Rome, on the recomendation of a friend.
Boy am I glad I did. Its hard to find good information, at this level of detail, in one place. Individule churches will provide you with short bios at their entrances,and carry along guidebooks with short blurbs. But this book allows you to read up, in detail, ahead of time on many of Romes churches and make selections of wich to visit and what to look for while you are there. I also used this book as a companion and guide to completing the traditional "Seven Churches" pilgrimage of some of Romes oldest major & minor basilicas that has been undertaken by pilgrims for centurys. Ms Hager's interesting spiritual & historic commentary added depth and insite to my travels and changed what could have been another tour of breathtaking old buildings and beautifull art into a true pilgrimage.