Italy is timelessly historic. A standing religious memorial, its rock-paved roads bring visitors back to when Peter walked the streets of Rome. Back to when art wasn’t just a way of making a living, but evidence that God is the ultimate creator and inspiration.
One day among the cracked walls and aged paint of the monuments, leaves visitors speechless yet disappointed.
Their photos will never express the same peace they felt while dawn approached the fields of Tuscany. Nor the magnitude and weight of questions on their mind when, wandering out of the metro station, they were first faced with the ravishing giant Colosseo.
The fresh taste of gelato al limone lingers with tourists during the hot summers, as well as the memory of what pizza margherita should taste like—spread with crushed tomatoes and basil leaves, scattered with juicy, bold mozzarella, and baked in a fire-stone oven.
While these newly-heightened senses and sights will be kept close to tourists’ hearts, the spirit felt at the Mormon Rome temple may soon be the greatest souvenir visitors take with them.
Keep reading to learn more about the history of the Church in Rome, the history of the Rome Italy temple, and exclusive stories (like the one below) you won’t get anywhere else.
The day President Monson announced the temple, there was a subtle gasp and hush of voices in the Conference center. The stake centers and homes in Italy were filled with much more than a rush of talking.
“I can tell you, in our stake center,” Vincenzo said with bursting enthusiasm, “everybody was jumping, and crying, smiling, hugging…we saw our stake president (currently Elder Massimo De Feo, of the Seventy) jumping and smiling and crying because of the announcement of the temple.”
Vincenzo Modugno settled back into his casual stance on his living room couch, and then with passion starting to surface in his words, he said: “It was a big, big emotion. A great emotion that I remember well.”
