Rome, Italy — Where to Go
Rome Sightseeing Overview
Rome's embarrassment of riches means that visitors have to pick and choose or end up footsore and frazzled. Bear in mind that the Vatican City alone can easily swallow up an entire weekend. The most relaxing and rewarding approach is to linger over a few monuments and museums rather than attempting to see it all, punctuating cultural trips with ice creams, coffees and serene walks in the city's parks (the Villa Borghese is one of the loveliest). For most holy sites, clothing that covers up midriffs, shoulders and legs is essential.
The Palatine Hill is the obvious starting point. Rome was founded here and it soon became the seat of political and religious power. During the Renaissance it was beautified and crowned with the Michelangelo-designed Piazza Campidoglio. To its right stands the stark-white monstrous yet marvelous Vittoriano monument celebrating the first king of united Italy, behind it lies the Roman Forum and Imperial Fora.
A short walk takes you to the centro storico (historic center), which boasts the greatest concentration of classical and Christian sites enclosed in a relatively small space. Stumbling upon ancient frescoes, Renaissance fountains and beautiful piazzas are part of the pleasures of wandering around Rome's streets.
Rome has over 400 churches, and the Vatican is home to St Peter's, Christendom's most important basilica. Other major Rome churches include San Giovanni, St Mary in Maggiore and San Paolo. However, it is San Clemente (on Via San Giovanni in Laterano), which most perfectly encapsulates Rome's multi-layered history. At street level, there is a 12th-century basilica with beautiful mosaics. Down one level is a well-preserved Roman basilica. Deeper still are more ancient Roman remains, until finally, at the deepest level, is the temple to the oriental cult of Mithras, and from where you can hear the distant rushing sound of an underground river.
Rome Tourist Information
Azienda di Promozione Turistica di Roma (APT)
Via Parigi 5
Tel: 06 0608.
Website: www.romaturismo.com
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1900.
There's another APT branch at Fiumicino Airport (Terminal B Arrivals, open daily 0800-1900). Commune di Roma runs an information office at Termini Station (opposite platform 4, open daily 0800-2100), plus other green tourist information kiosks dotted around the city near major tourist sights (open daily 0930-1930), including off Piazza Navona (in Piazza Cinque Lune), near the Imperial Fora (in Piazza del Tempio della Pace) and in Trastevere.
Another useful source of information is the Anglo-centric Enjoy Rome, Via Marghera 8A (tel: 06 445 1843; www.enjoyrome.com), near Termini Station. You can contact the Ente Nazionale per il Turismo (ENIT) (tel: 06 49711; www.enit.it), for information on Italian areas outside of Rome and the Lazio region; their offices are not open to the public however.
Rome Sightseeing
The Rome tourist board offers the Roma Pass (www.romapass.it), which includes free access to the first two museums and/or archaeological sites visits, and discounts thereafter, and free travel on public transport. It's valid for three days. The similar Roma e Piu pass covers Rome and the surrounding province. Buy them from any tourist information point, participating museum or site. There are also two interesting museum passes available, the Museo Nazionale Romano combined ticket and the Roma Archeologia Card (www.pierreci.it). The first allows entrance to the National Roman Museum's four sites - Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Palazzo Altemps, Baths of Diocletian and Crypta Balbi; the second allows entrance to those sites plus the Colosseum, the Palatine, the Baths of Caracalla, the tomb of Cecilia Metella and Villa dei Quintili. The passes are valid for three and seven days respectively from the first day of use. They can be purchased at any of the participating monuments or museums.
Rome Sightseeing
The Rome tourist board offers the Roma Pass (www.romapass.it), which includes free access to the first two museums and/or archaeological sites visits, and discounts thereafter, and free travel on public transport. It's valid for three days. The similar Roma e Piu pass covers Rome and the surrounding province. Buy them from any tourist information point, participating museum or site. There are also two interesting museum passes available, the Museo Nazionale Romano combined ticket and the Roma Archeologia Card (www.pierreci.it). The first allows entrance to the National Roman Museum's four sites - Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Palazzo Altemps, Baths of Diocletian and Crypta Balbi; the second allows entrance to those sites plus the Colosseum, the Palatine, the Baths of Caracalla, the tomb of Cecilia Metella and Villa dei Quintili. The passes are valid for three and seven days respectively from the first day of use. They can be purchased at any of the participating monuments or museums.
Key Attractions in Rome, Italy
Foro Romano (Roman Forum) and Palatino (Palatine)
The Roman Forum is today a confusing expanse littered by marble fragments, columns and floor layouts. But with a little imagination, you can begin to envisage what was the political, commercial and social heart of ancient Rome, the symbolic center of an Empire stretching to Greece, Sicily and Carthage. Fire, barbarians and pillaging builders in medieval and Renaissance times contributed to the Forum's present state of disrepair. The site was only fully revealed during the excavation work of the 19th century. A bird's-eye view is gained from behind Piazza del Campidoglio. Grab an audio guide to help make some sense of it all while you have a closer look. Among the best preserved monuments are the AD203 triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus (built to celebrate victory over the Parthinians) and the remains of Caesar's rostra, from where his great speeches were declaimed. Also impressive are the former atrium of the House of the Vestal Virgins and the adjacent Temple of Vesta, a circular building where the vestal virgins were entrusted in keeping the eternal flame alight. Just up from the Arch of Titus in the Forum is the Palatine hill from where once the spectacular palaces of the Roman emperors overlooked the administrative center and the racecourse Circus Maximus: today their hulking ruins remain.
Piazza di Santa Maria Nova 53 (off Via dei Fori Imperiali)
Tel: 06 3996 7700.
Website: www.pierreci.it
Opening hours: Daily 0830-1915 (Apr-Aug); 0830-1900 (Sep); 0830-1830 (Oct); 0830-1630 (Nov-Mar), last entry one hour before closing time.
Free admission for Foro Romano. There's a charge for the Palatine and Palatine Museum, but this includes entry to the Colosseum (go here first to avoid long queues).
Colosseo (Colosseum)
Near to Via Sacra and the fourth-century Arco di Costantino (Arch of Constantine) lies the gigantic oval of the Colosseum - 186m (620ft) long, 153m (510ft) wide and about 47m (157ft) high. Emperor Vespasian began construction in AD72 and work was completed eight years later by his son Titus. It was the scene for entertainment that one can hardly comprehend - gladiatorial conquests between men, lions and wild beasts, with death guaranteed. The ‘games' were finally outlawed in the fifth century. The stadium has been pillaged over the centuries and rocked by earthquakes. Today, only its skeletal framework remains, with the winding passages used to force animals up to the battlefield of the arena, formerly underground, now exposed.
Piazza del Colosseo
Tel: 06 3996 7700.
Website: www.pierreci.it
Opening hours: Daily 0830-1915 (Apr-Aug); 0830-1900 (Sep), 0830-1830 (Oct), 0830-1630 (Nov-Mar), last entry one hour before closing time.
Admission charge (ticket includes entry to the Palatine).
Pantheon
The awe-inspiring Pantheon is the best-preserved and most beautifully proportioned of Rome's ancient monuments. Thought to have been built by Hadrian between AD119 and AD128, this was once a Roman temple. It was converted to a Christian church in AD608 - the key to its miraculous survival. The radius of the dome is exactly equivalent to the height and a 9m (30ft) hole, known as the oculus, in the dome's center allows light (and rain) into the building. Once the interior would have been decorated by statues of deities - now it houses the tombs of kings Vittorio Emmanuele II and Umberto I, and the painter Raphael. The incredible, vast brass doors belonged to the original Roman building.
Piazza della Rotonda
Tel: 06 6830 0230.
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1930, Sun 0900-1730.
Free admission
Cappella Sistina & Musei Vaticani (Sistine Chapel & Vatican Museums)
The merest glimpse of Michelangelo's depiction of The Creation is worth the queues and crowds you have to negotiate to visit the Vatican Museums. Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel - built as a private chapel of the popes between 1475 and 1480. Work began in May 1508, the frescoes were unveiled in August 1511, and completed in October 1512. Twenty-two years later, Pope Clement VII asked Michelangelo to decorate the wall behind the altar, with the subject of the Last Judgement chosen by Clement's successor Paul III. Michelangelo surpassed his amazing earlier work with this muscular explosion. Pope Pius IV was scandalised by the display of nudity and the offending genitalia had to be concealed by hastily painted loincloths - most have been removed during restoration work. Look out for the artist's own aged face below the figure of Christ. Although eclipsed by Michelangelo's artistry, the Renaissance paintings that line the walls are also wonderful works, created by the masters - including Michelangelo's own teacher, Ghirlandaio, and Botticelli.
The Vatican Museums alone could easily eat up a day or two of a trip to Rome. Highlights include the Stanze di Raffaello (Raphael's Rooms), the Etruscan Museum (depicting Italy before the Romans) and the Pio-Clementino Museum, which includes the classical masterpieces Laocoön and the Apollo Belvedere.
Viale Vaticano 100
Tel: 06 6988 3333.
Website: www.vatican.va
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1800 with last entry at 1600, Sat 0845-1400 with last entry at 1200.
Admission charge, free last Sun of the month.
Basilica di San Pietro (St Peter's Basilica)
St Peter's Basilica lies above a former shrine, which is said to mark the burial ground of the saint. Pope Julius II and his architect Bramante pulled down the original 1000-year-old structure in 1506, in order to build a shiny new basilica. Construction lasted 120 years, during which time a team of architects and artists (including Alberti, Bramante, Raphael, Peruzzi, Sangallo the Younger and Michelangelo) struggled over this enormous edifice. Michelangelo was responsible for the huge dome and supporting drum but died in 1564, before work was completed in 1590.
The basilica's interior is an unashamed display of the power of the Church. Amid the grandeur (in the first chapel on the right) lies Michelangelo's tender Pietà (1498/9). Arnolfo da Cambio's bronze statue of St Peter (1296), in the central aisle, is famed for its foot worn to a nub by pilgrims' kisses. Bernini's extravagant Throne of St Peter (1665), above the papal altar (made with bronze purloined from the Pantheon) dominates the far end of the nave. Optional extras include a trip (via lift or stairs) into the dome, the Vatican Gardens (pre-booked guided tours only), and the Vatican Grottoes, containing papal tombs (opening hours are the same as those for the basilica, and admission is free). Access to the Necropolis below the grottoes (the legendary site of St Peter's remains) is allowed with written permission only.
Every Sunday at noon, when he's in town, the Pope addresses his flock from a window overlooking the colonnaded, keyhole-shaped Piazza San Pietro, which fronts the basilica.
Piazza San Pietro
Tel: 06 6988 1662.
Website: www.stpetersbasilica.org
Opening hours: Daily 0700-1900 (Apr-Sep); daily 0700-1800 (Oct-Mar).
Free admission.
St Peter's Dome
Opening hours: Daily 0800-1800 (Apr-Sep); daily 0800-1645 (Oct-Mar).
Admission charge.
Necropolis
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1700. Only pre-arranged groups of less than 15 people may enter. For details, see the Vatican website (www.vatican.va). You should email the Ufficio Scavi, Fabbrica di San Pietro (scavi@fsp.va) in advance, with the number of visitors, names, language and contact info, giving a selection of dates and times for possible visits.
Admission charge.
Vatican Gardens/Vatican Guided Tours Office
Fax: 06 6988 4019.
Organized tours take place on Tue, Thur and Sat at 1100 from Mar-Oct and Sat at 1100 from Nov-Feb and should be booked several days in advance via fax.
Admission charge.
Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museums)
The oldest public collection in the world, the Capitoline Museums are made up of two separate buildings: the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Palazzo Nuovo. They house ancient and baroque sculptures, from the 5th-century BC wolf suckling Romus and Romulus to Gian Lorenzo Bernini's wild head of Medusa. There's the original of the 2nd-century AD equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, a copy of which stands in the middle of the Piazza del Campidoglio, and a fine array of Renaissance and baroque art by Titian, Tintoretto and Caravaggio, as well as the country's most important collection of Roman sculpture. Entry is through the Palazzo dei Conservatori.
Piazza del Campidoglio 1
Tel: 06 8205 9127.
Website: www.museicapitolini.org
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0900-2000, last entry at 1900.
Admission charge.
Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain)
The Trevi Fountain almost fills an entire piazza amidst a tangle of streets off Via del Tritone. It is said that a virgin discovered a three-way (tre-vie) spring here, causing the fountain to be built. The baroque extravaganza was designed by Nicolò Salvi for Pope Clement XII and completed in 1762. It's pure melodrama, with statues (representing Abundance, Agrippa, Salubrity, the Virgin and Neptune guiding a chariot drawn by sea horses) with a Renaissance palace for their backdrop and craggy rocks in the foreground. Later the extraordinary, foaming fountain achieved iconic status when Anita Ekberg frolicked here in Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1959). Try and come here early in the morning or late at night to avoid the ubiquitous throngs tossing coins over their shoulders - it's said that a coin cast in these waters will ensure a return visit to Rome.
Piazza di Trevi
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Free admission.
Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps) and Keats-Shelley Memorial House
The Piazza di Spagna district is little changed from 18th-century prints depicting the area - and is still dominated by the elegant sweeping staircase known as the Spanish Steps. These were designed in 1723-26 by Francesco de Sanctis to link Via del Babuino with Via Felice - the first great street planned by Sixtus V (1585-90). Reminiscent of the grand ascent to the Sacré Coeur in Paris, the steps lead up to the 16th-century Trinità dei Monti. From here, spectacular views over the city rooftops more than warrant the steep climb. The Spanish Steps acquired their name from the neighboring Spanish embassy but the area is more intimately associated with England - even becoming known to the rather provincial Romans as er ghetto de l'Inglesi (English Ghetto, in Roman dialect). The tourists on the Grand Tour of the 18th and 19th centuries (including Keats, Shelley, Byron and the Brownings) helped establish the district's reputation as a cosmopolitan artistic quarter. At the foot of the steps lies the boat-shaped Barcaccia Fountain, designed in 1627 by Pietro Bernini, father of the more famous Gian Lorenzo. To the right stands the modest Keats-Shelley Memorial House, in the building where 25-year-old John Keats died of tuberculosis in 1821. Exhibits include pictures and prints, private letters, an urn bearing Shelley's ashes and a lock of Keats' tawny red hair.
Keats-Shelley Memorial House
Piazza di Spagna 26
Tel: 06 678 4235.
Website: www.keats-shelley-house.org
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1300 and 1400-1800, Sat 1100-1400 and 1500-1800.
Admission charge.
Piazza Navona
This dramatic piazza, lined with cafes and restaurants, lies at the heart of the centro storico (historic center). Its oval shape follows the form of the former stadium, built in AD86 by Emperor Domitian. During the Renaissance, the site was flooded to stage mock naval battles. The piazza gained its current form in the mid-17th century, when Pope Innocent X commissioned Borromini to design the Church of Sant'Agnese. In front of the church, Bernini built the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers), adorned with powerful figures representing the four great rivers (the Nile, the Danube, the Ganges and the Rio de la Plata, or River Plate) which in turn represented the four areas of the world known in Borromini's time (Africa, Europe, Asia and America respectively).
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Free admission.
Villa & Galleria Borghese
Just to the east of the Spanish Steps lies an unexpected expanse of bucolic tranquility - the sculpture-scattered parklands landscaped in the 17th century for Cardinal Scipione Borghese (nephew of Pope Paul V). Villa Borghese (www.villaborghese.it) includes the city zoo (www.bioparco.it), Piazza di Siena horse-jumping arena, mock ancient temples, and an artificial lake. The park also harbors Rome's most glorious gallery, the Casino Borghese, a treasure trove of sculpture and antiquities, with breathtaking Roman mosaics and masterpieces by Caravaggio, Titian and more, all housed in rococo splendor. If you manage to do one cultural thing while wandering the park, make it this (reserve your ticket in advance online or by phone; they're allotted according to two-hour time slots). Nearby is the Museo Nazionale Etrusco (National Etruscan Museum) in Villa Giulia, with its remarkable sarcophagus of the reclining Bride and Bridegroom from Cerveteri, and the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna (National Gallery of Modern Art), featuring Italian art of the 19th and 20th centuries housed in a massive neo-classical palazzo built in 1912. Lesser-known venues include the modern art museum Carlo Bilotti (www.museocarlobilotti.it); a delightful small scale children's cinema Cinema dei Piccoli (www.cinemadeipiccoli.it); the Casa del Cinema (www.casadelcinema.it); the Silvano Toti Globe Theater (www.globetheaterroma.com), which puts on plays in summer and features some original-language productions; Teatro dei Burattini San Carlino - a puppet theater; and games center Ludoteca. The Villa Borghese Card offers reductions and free entry to special events.
Galleria Borghese
Piazzale del Museo Borghese 5
Tel: 06 841 3979.
Website: www.galleriaborghese.it
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0830-1930, last entry at 1700.
Admission charge.
Villa Giulia
Piazzale di Villa Giulia 9
Tel: 06 8205 9127.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0830-1930, last entry at 1830.
Admission charge.
Further Distractions
Galleria Doria Pamphilj
One of Rome's hidden splendors, Galleria Doria Pamphilj harbors some of the extraordinary wealth of the powerful Doria Pamphilj family, a pillar of Rome's papal aristocracy. Think gold, mirrors, red velvet and gilt, and walls smothered in art, including paintings by Correggio, Caravaggio, Titian, Velázquez, Brueghel, Massys, and Dürer. The free audio guide features the cut-glass British tones of Jonathan Doria Pamphilj, the half-British sibling and heir, along with his sister. This modern-day prince brings the palace alive, recalling childhood memories of roller skating along the parquet floor of the 18th-century ballroom - tiny indentations prove the truth of his tale. The rambling palace is still occupied, though the private apartments are closed to the public.
Piazza del Collegio Romano 2
Tel: 06 679 7323.
Website: www.doriapamphilj.it
Admission charge.
Campo de' Fiori
From Monday to Saturday, each day at dawn, stall holders at Rome's best-known and most picturesque fruit and vegetable market set up their wares at Campo de' Fiori. This down-to-earth square is surrounded by tumbledown orange-ochre facades, and is the only major piazza in Rome that is not overlooked by a church. It's a very different proposition to the more grandiose piazzas in other parts of the centro storico (historic center), and is one of Rome's liveliest nightlife haunts (avoid after big football games). Come sunset, some of the city's liveliest wine bars and trattorie spill their tables out onto the cobbles, as locals and visitors alike flock here to eat and drink beneath the stars.
Campo de' Fiori
Free admission.
Mercati e Foro di Traiano (Trajan's Forum and Trajan's Markets)
Inaugurated in AD112-113, Trajan's Forum was the last built and most impressive of the Fora. The complex contained a main square, a basilica and two libraries, and was completed by the markets of the same name, a sort of Roman, and remarkably well-preserved, equivalent of a shopping mall. The markets contained about 150 small shops spread over six storys. The building now houses the impressive new Museum of the Imperial Fora, containing ancient artifacts discovered in the surrounding forums. Trajan's column (which stands 38m/125ft high) is a remarkable example of Roman art, and was probably set between the two libraries on a base containing the burial urns of the Emperor and his wife. Its beautifully carved reliefs tell the tale of Trajan's war campaigns in Dacia (now Romania). On the top of the column stood a statue of the emperor. This was removed by Pope Sixtus V in 1585 and replaced with a statue of St Peter that faced in the direction of the basilica dedicated to the saint that was being built at the time. The Imperial Fora (the forums of Caesar, August, Nerva and Vespasian) can be seen from the Via dei Fori Imperiali for free.
Via IV Novembre 94
Tel: 06 8205 9127.
Website: www.mercatiditraiano.it
Admission charge.
Centrale Montemartini (Montemartini Art Center)
One of Rome's most intriguing and memorable museums, the Montematini Art Center, displays 400 pieces of Roman sculpture from the Capitoline collection of ancient sculpture among the gleaming machinery and furnaces of a former electricity power plant. Initially intended as a stop-gap solution during renovations on the Capitoline Museums, its popularity has seen it become an essential part of the Roman museum scene.
Via Ostiense 106
Tel: 06 0608.
Website: www.centralemontemartini.org
Admission charge.
MACRO (Museo d'Arte Contemporanea di Roma)
Rome's municipal museum of modern and contemporary art is located not far from Piazza Fiume north of the city center in a converted former Peroni brewery. The venue has recently had an extension of 10,000 sq m (107,639 sq ft) designed by French architect Odile Decq, with the courtyard between the brewery buildings topped by a graceful modernist glass pagoda. The venue pulls in big international names as well as young and local artists. Some shows are also displayed at another venue in the former slaughterhouse in Testaccio, MACRO Futura.
Via Reggio Emilia 54
Tel: 06 6710 70400.
Website: www.macro.roma.museum
Admission charge.
