Thursday, November 19, 2009

A Cannon Blast in Rome?

Yes, there is a cannon blast in Rome every day at noon! It used to be that the church bells would ring at noon to tell the citizens the time. However, there are hundreds of churches in Rome and they were all ringing at different times. They needed a better system.

In 1847, Pope Julius IX started shooting a cannon from Castel Sant'Angelo to mark the noon hour. However, he was shooting real cannonballs over the rooftops of Rome! Fortunately, they have now moved the cannon to the Janiculum Hill and they only shoot blanks from it.

I must warn you that the cannon blast in this video is loud. First you can see the guard with the rope in her hand and you can hear my voice reassuring Grace. You should be able to hear another guard count down. Quatro (4), Tre (3), Due (2), (and me repeating it for Grace) and then BOOM!!! I apologize that I shook the camera so much but it was really loud!
Enjoy! -Terri

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