Because of its rich artistic and historical legacy, Rome is one of the world’s most enticing and inspiring capitals. Romans have called it the “Eternal City” for more than 3,000 years. The city has produced some of the world’s greatest artists. Even those who have no connection to the arts are familiar with the names of Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bernini. With its ornate churches and magnificent monuments, Rome’s streets look like something out of a movie set. It serves as the centre of one of the world’s most affluent countries’ political, economic, and cultural affairs. Roman piazzas, which were once bustling places for locals and tourists alike, are now bustling places for both. Visits to Rome’s well-known historical palaces and piazzas are only a small part of what awaits visitors. With a leisurely stroll through sprawling squares, sipping coffee and tucking into aperitivo as the sun sets, it is all about experiencing Italian life in its purest form.
Table of Contents
The Colosseum
The Flavian Amphitheatre, like the Eiffel Tower, is a symbol of Rome. Today’s football stadiums are clearly inspired by the oval Roman plan of the Colosseum, Roman antiquity’s largest surviving structure.
As Titus expanded the structure, it was inaugurated in AD 80 with a series of lavish games. Imperial Court and high officials watched from the lowest level of the Colosseum, while aristocratic Roman families sat on level two, and the populace sat on level three and four.
A triumphal arch erected by the Senate to honour the emperor as “liberator of the city and bringer of peace” after his victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 stands next to the Colosseum in Rome’s Pantheon.
Vatican City
Most of the Vatican is protected by its own walls, making it one of the smallest independent states in the world at less than a half-square-mile. A large portion of Vatican City is governed by the Pope, who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican Palace, St. Peter’s Basilica, and St. Peter’s Square are all located inside. Between its museums and the great basilica, this compact area has a lot to offer visitors.
Michelangelo’s masterpiece, Pieta, can be found in St. Peter’s Basilica, along with Bernini’s statues and altars. The Sistine Chapel, home to Michelangelo’s most famous frescoed ceiling, is unquestionably the highlight of the Vatican museums.
Raphael’s Rooms, the Borgia Apartments, and the Vatican Library, as well as a number of museums, are all located within the Vatican Palace. These include everything from papal coaches to religious art of the twentieth century.
The Vatican’s most popular attractions have long lines, and visitors can expect to spend several hours in line. Buy in advance a Vatican Museums with St. Peter’s, Sistine Chapel and Small-Group Upgrade tour to avoid long lines.
The Pantheon
The Pantheon, the best-preserved Roman monument, has remained remarkably intact over the course of its nearly two millennia. According to tradition, it was removed by Pope Gregory III, and Pope Urban VIII ordered it to be melted down to cast the altar canopy at St. Peter’s and cannons at Castel Sant’Angelo, despite the fact that it had bronze roof tiles.
A fire damaged the Pantheon in AD 80, and the brickwork shows the extraordinary technical skill of Roman builders. There are no visible supports for its 43-meter dome, which is the pinnacle of Roman interior architecture, and only a nine-meter central opening provides the building’s only light source.
Due to its dimensions, the interior has a harmonious feel. Since Pope Boniface IV dedicated it to the Virgin and all Christian martyrs in 609, this pagan temple has become the burial place of Italian kings and other famous Italians, including the painter, Raphael.
Roman Forum
It’s as if you’ve stepped back in time two millennia when you walk through the forum in the middle of a bustling modern city. While only a small portion of the original splendour of the Forum remains, the standing and fallen columns, its triumphal arches, and the remains of its walls still impress, especially when you consider that the history of the Roman Empire and the Western world was intertwined with that of the Forum for centuries.
In addition to the courts, markets, and meeting places, Roman political and religious life was centred here. Churches and fortresses were built on top of the ruins after the seventh century, when the buildings began to fall apart. Archaeological excavations began in the 18th and 19th centuries, but it wasn’t until that time that the ancient buildings were uncovered from a 10-meter layer of earth and rubble.
Some must-sees include the Antoninus Pius Temple, the Castor-and-Pollux Temple, the Saturn Temple, the Arch of Septimius Severus, the Curia, and the Temple of Vesta.
Trevi Fountain
As one of the city’s best-known landmarks, this 17th-century masterpiece has been featured in numerous movies, making a visit nearly mandatory. In order to ensure your return to Rome, it is customary to throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain.
When Agrippa the great art patron of the first century BC built an aqueduct for his baths, he also built one for Rome’s largest fountain, Fontana di Trevi. Between 1732 and 1751, Nicola Salvi crafted the fountain for Pope Clement XII in the courtyard of the Palace of the Dukes of Poli.
Horses, tritons, and shells are all part of the depiction of the sea god Oceanus. A large basin, always stocked with coins, collects the water that sloshes around the figures and fake rocks.
Vittorio Emanuele II Monument
It’s ironic that this national symbol of Italy, which Romans liken to a wedding cake or a gigantic typewriter, is rarely admired by the city’s residents. This massive neoclassical structure, whether you like it or not, is the crowning glory of Rome’s historic Capitoline Hill and offers stunning views of the modern city that lies across Piazza Venezia’s central piazza.
It was constructed between 1885 and 1935 as a memorial to King Vittorio Emanuele II, the first unified Italian king. Here, Italy’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a museum dedicated to the unification of Italy can be found. You can get a bird’s eye view of Rome from the highest terrace, which you can access via a lift.
Santa Maria Maggiore
Since Pope Liberius had a vision of the Virgin directing him to build a church where snow fell the following day, Santa Maria Maggiore has been one of Rome’s most majestic churches. After a snowstorm in late summer atop the Esquiline hill, the great basilica was erected.
Since the fifth century, daily Mass has been said here. The apse, which was added in the 13th century, is lined with mosaics depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments, masterpieces of Rome’s famous mosaic artists. The 86-meter interior is divided into three aisles by 40 marble and four granite columns.
Upper walls are decorated with Roman mosaics dating back to the fourth century, and the floor is inlaid with coloured stone in the style of Lake Como region artisans from the 12th century. The coffered ceiling of this room is adorned with the first gold to arrive in Italy from the Americas. It is one of Rome’s four papal basilicas and a popular destination for tourists.
Piazza Navona
Navona, one of Rome’s best-known baroque squares, still retains the outline of Emperor Domitian’s Roman stadium. Borromini, who also designed the magnificent series of palaces and the church of Sant’Agnese, on its west side, rebuilt it in the Baroque style during the Middle Ages.
The building’s concave and convex surfaces, gables, windows, columns, and piers all work together to create a seamless facade, campanile, and dome. The Miracle of St. Agnes by Alessandro Algardi and the remnants of a Roman mosaic floor can be found in the crypt of Sant’Agnese. As a result, many other Baroque and Rococo churches around the world took inspiration from Sant’Agnese.
This beautiful Baroque fountain, Fontana dei Fiumi, is the centrepiece of the square, designed by Borromini but built by Bernini’s archrival. With figures representing the Nile, Ganges, Danube, and Rio de la Plata circling the large basin, the spirited fountain depicts the four rivers then thought to be largest on every continent known. Each figure is accompanied by plants and animals from their respective regions.
A 16th-century Fontana del Moro sits in front of the Palazzo Pamphili, while a 19th-century Fontana del Nettuno features a statue of Neptune in the middle. Today, the square is crowded with locals, tourists, street artists, souvenir kiosks, cafes, and Rome’s best Christmas market in December.
Palatine Hill
The Palatine Hill, strategically located 50 metres above the Tiber, contains evidence of Roman settlement dating back to the ninth century BC, including rock-cuttings found in front of the Temple of Cybele. Later, Emperors and great aristocratic families chose this location for their palaces.
The 16th-century Cardinal Alessandro Farnese had the hillside transformed into a pleasure park with terraces, pavilions, lawns, flowerbeds, trees, and fountains for his use.
Palatine Hill highlights include the House of Livia (Augustus’ wife), the Cryptoporticus, Domus Flavia, Domus Augustana, and the Baths of Septimius Severus, which are the most impressive of them all. Palatine Hill is a wonderful place to visit, combining ancient Rome’s magnificent ruins with a beautiful park.
Castel Sant’Angelo National Museum
Castel Sant’Angelo, a massive drum-shaped structure overlooking the Tiber near the Vatican, was started in AD 135 as a mausoleum for Emperor Hadrian and his family. Castel Sant’Angelo has been used as a papal residence, a fortress, and most recently as a National Museum over the millennia it has existed.
As a result, in AD 271, Emperor Aurelian made use of its strategic location and incorporated it into his new system of walls surrounding the city. By the Middle Ages, it had become a substantial fortress, protecting the city from barbarian invasions. This castle’s treasury served as a safe haven for papal exiles who fled to it via the Passetto di Borgo, an elevated secret passageway.
The castle can be reached via a pedestrian bridge lined with Bernini’s angel statues, which leads to a spiral ramp that leads to the castle’s five floors. In addition to a large collection of weapons and Renaissance-themed papal apartments, the complex has several prison cells. An observation deck provides stunning views of the city from the top of the building.
Capitoline Museum
The oldest public art collection in Europe, founded in 1471, is housed in two palaces on Piazza del Campidoglio. Among the museum’s treasures are the Hellenistic bronze Boy with a Thorn, an original Praxiteles work from the 4th century BC, the Capitoline Venus, a 4.24-meter-tall Roman equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, an Etruscan work from the 6th century BC, and the Dying Gaul from the Roman era.
Medusa’s head by the Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini is among the more recent works. In spite of the Capitoline Museum’s famous collection of classical sculpture, the Capitoline Picture Gallery features paintings by Titian and Veronese, as well as Caravaggio’s compelling John the Baptist.
Church of San Clemente
San Clemente, Rome’s oldest church, has one of the city’s most exquisitely decorated apses, covered in mosaics depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments. But there’s more to San Clemente than just its beautiful apse.
In a 4th-century basilica with Romanesque frescoes depicting scenes from the New Testament, you can descend from the current 12th-century church. An ancient Roman temple dedicated to the sun god Mithra with an altar adorned with a carved relief can be found beneath those foundations. You can walk the ancient streets of the neighbourhood from the house’s foundations.
The upper church, however, is worth exploring for its mosaics, inlaid marble floors, and the St. Catherine’s Chapel’s early Renaissance frescoes by Masolino.