My classes are in full swing now. I am learning all about Italian unification, the benefits of international trade, the international balance of payments, and the early Renaissance artists Cimabue and Giotto. All the classes are more interesting than I thought they would be, especially art history.

Professor Dabell, my art history teacher, is a great guide as my class continues its trips to the best known works in Rome. Yesterday we went to Trastevere. Translated as across the river, it is Rome's bohemian enclave, a fact in which its residents are very proud of. Be sure to bring a map if you go there because the tiny side streets get very confusing.

Even in ancient days Trastevere was a place where people chose to think differently. Some of the earliest Christians in Rome found a Christian community there despite the persecution of the Roman Empire. The Church of Santa Maria, the most well know church in Trastevere, is one of the oldest Christian churches in the world. It is believed to have been founded in the third century. The current structure was built sometime in the 13th century and contains much of the neighborhood's greatest art. It is located at the center of community life, the aptly named Piazza of Santa Maria. This Piazza is known to be quite lively but on my particular morning there, it was rather quiet. A rare cold front was bringing unusual temperatures to the region and keeping all the Romans indoors.

The entrance to Santa Maria is covered in funerary markers many bearing the "chi rho" of the early Christians that founded the church. Inside there are huge mosaics and frescoes. Also be sure to notice the rare purple porphyry stone that the floor contains and the numerous columns which were believed to have been taken from the ancient Bathes of Carracalla. What is most amazing about these columns is that they are all different yet have been cut or lengthened in such a way as to make them all the same height. This architectural genius has allowed the church to maintain structural integrity for nearly 800 years.

Other churches we visited in Trastevere were Santa Cecilia and Santa Agatha. Both are very old churches dedicated to martyrs. This fact is evident from a grisly fresco depicting the torture of Saint Agatha in one church and a statue of Saint Cecilia bearing an ax wound to the neck in the other. One other interesting attribute of Santa Cecilia is the upper loft opposite the altar. It is a fully enclosed room containing several wooden benches. This room was where a cloistered convent once watched services through tiny holes in the front, so as to maintain their isolation at all times.

The trip to Trastevere made me think a lot about the early Christian community that existed there. Their humble beginning across the Tiber would grow into a global community. The risks they took and the persecution they faced failed to hinder their beliefs. Their faith enabled them to stand up to an empire and win.