Roman ruins, Medieval gates and (not so) secret Orders

I looked through the trusty guidebook and found a couple of off the beaten path sites around the City area. The first was Guildhall- a quiet art museum (mainly 17th-19th century works) which happens to have been built above the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre. They discovered the ruins when they began excavation for the new building. Both were absolutely incredible! It was very cool to see the ruins (especially since there isn't a lot of ancient history present in London anymore) and the art was nice, too!

Guildhall

Adjacent church on the square at Guildhall

Close up view of part of the amphitheatre ruins

Extended view of the ruins. It was determined this is part of the entryway and wall.

Rush hour view of the City

Due to the tube strike, things were busier than usual.

On Friday, I decided to see more out of the way sites. This is a real Medieval gate over near Farringdon Road. It's called St John's Gate and functioned as such until the 1500s. Next to it is the St John Order museum. This order was created to basically serve as volunteer first aid to local citizens. They even went abroad to help in major crises. The Order still serves the people today, though I think it's more of a Red Cross type thing. The museum was very interesting and I learned a lot about St John's Order.

Medieval St John's Gate

Interior of the church used by the order. It's a private church
now and doesn't hold regular services anymore.

Flags representing different members of the order. Note that all of them
have St. George's cross somewhere prominently on them. It was made a
royal order by Queen Victoria in the 1800s.

Inside the crypt. This dates to the Norman times when
the original church was built. Most of the previous
church was bombed out during WWII, so there is not
much left.

Casket of "the" Castellano (from Spain). He was originally in the cathedral
at Valladolid, but apparently that church sold off many of its relics
all over the world. There are other pieces in the MET museum in New
York City and in LA.

Small altar in the Norman crypt area

View of the Rememberance gardens dedicated to members who
lost their lives in service.

Inside the great meeting hall, back at the museum building.

Typical display of the cross of St John. It's meant to be reminicent
of the flower of St. John's Wort. This flower is long known for its
healing power which is symbolic of the work that the Order does.

Very few women are members of the Order, but here is a plaque
showing Florence Nightingale's membership.

After visiting the museum, I walked over to the beautiful church called St. Bartholomew the Great. It turns out the church has been used in many films, most notably "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Shakespeare in Love". It's beautiful inside. Sadly, I arrived just before closing time and didn't have time to look around properly. I will definitely return here at some point to be able to appreciate it more.

Side door seen in Four Weddings and a Funeral

Side window inside the church

On the wall of the St. Bartholomew Hospital (apparently the oldest in Britain),
there is this plaque stating that William Wallace (Braveheart) was
killed near this spot. Random.

Just a nice old building façade along the square. You can see
St. Bartholomew the Great in the background through the archway.