Rome is a city full of icons of antiquity and the Christian faith, it is difficult to know where to go first. Of course, your choices will govern your own interests, but there are some sites that are almost compulsory landmarks for Italy and all of Europe, such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon.
Kiev. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – April 04, 2021 – Tourism and Travel
A word of caution: try to diversify your experiences as you explore Rome so that you don’t visit too many ancient sites or churches in a row. These more serious monuments are peppered with a few tourist icons: the Spanish Stairs and this is a place all tourists should go to throw their currency, the Trevi Fountain.
Rome is so large that it can overwhelm it, so even the most devoted sights should take some time to relax and enjoy la dolce vita in a park or sidewalk cafe. You will be able to choose the best places to visit with this handy list of the top attractions in Rome.
The Colosseum and Arch of Constantine
Since the Eiffel Tower is in Paris, the silhouette of the Flavian Coliseum in Rome. The largest structure left by ancient Roman times, the Colosseum still provides a model for the sports arenas – the design of the current football stadium is clearly based on this Roman oval plan.
The building was begun by Vespasian in AD 72, and after his son, Titus expanded it by adding a fourth floor, it was opened with a series of remarkable games. The Colosseum was large enough for theatrical performances, festivals, circuses, or games, watched by the imperial court and high officials of the lower level, aristocratic Roman families at the second level, and the commoners in the third and fourth.
Next to the Colosseum stands the almost equally familiar Constantine Arch, a triumphal arch erected by the Senate to honor the emperor as “liberator of the city and bring peace” after his victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. The lines are long and go slowly, so you can save time by joining the Skip the Line: Ancient Rome and Colosseum Half-Day Walking Tour (Half-Day Walking Tour of Rome and the Colosseum) and getting an extensive guide.
Vatican City
The Vatican is the smallest independent country in the world, with an area of less than half a square kilometer, and most of it is surrounded by the walls of the Vatican. Inside are the Vatican Palace and Gardens, Saint Peter’s Basilica, and Saint Peter’s Square, an area ruled by the Pope, the supreme head of the Roman Catholic Church. This compact space offers plenty of things to see, among its museums and the great church itself.
Inside St. Peter’s Basilica is Michelangelo’s masterpiece, the Pietà, along with statues and altars by Bernini and others. The highlight of the Vatican Museums is the Sistine Chapel, whose impressive ceiling of frescoes is Michelangelo’s most famous work.
In the Vatican Palace, there are Raphael’s rooms. In the Borgia apartment. In the Vatican Library, and a number of museums that include the Picture Gallery, the Museum of Secular Art, the Etruscan Museum, and others. The groups you can see in these cover everything from papal coaches to twentieth-century art mirroring religious themes.
Ticket lines to the most important Vatican attractions are incredibly long, and you can spend several hours waiting in line. To save time, buy the Skip the Line: Vatican Museums with St. Peter’s, Sistine Chapel, and Small-Group Upgrade in advance. This three-hour tour lets you skip the long lines and walk straight to the museums with a knowledgeable guide. Headphones are provided, and you can choose from several different departure times or upgrade to an evening excursion or small group tour.
Pantheon
The Pantheon – the best-preserved monument from ancient Roman times – has been intact for 2,000 years. Despite the fact that Pope Gregory III removed the gilded bronze roof tiles, Pope Urban VIII ordered to strip its bronze roof and son-in-law to cast the canopy over the altar in St.Peter and the cannons of Castel Sant’Angelo.
The Pantheon was rebuilt after fire damage in AD 80, and the resulting brick masonry demonstrates the extraordinarily high technical mastery of Roman builders. The 43-meter-high dome, the supreme achievement of Roman interior architecture, hangs without visible buttresses – these are well hidden inside the walls – and its nine-meter central opening is the building’s only source of light.
The harmonious effect of the interior is due to its proportions: the height is the same diameter. Although the early Christian emperors prohibited the use of this pagan temple for worship, Pope Boniface IV dedicated it to the Virgin and all Christian martyrs, and since then it has become the burial place of other famous Italian and Italian kings, including the painter Raphael.
Roman Forum
Walking through the Forum, now located in the center of a vibrant modern city, is like returning two thousand years back to the heart of ancient Rome. Although what remains of this center of Roman life and government shows only a small fraction of its original splendor, the steady and tumbling columns, triumphal arches, and remnants of their walls are still impressive, especially when you think about it for centuries, the history of the forum was the history of the empire Roman and Western World.
Roman political and religious life was centered here, along with courts, markets, and meeting places. After the 7th century, buildings fell into ruin, and churches and forts were built amid ancient ruins. Its stones were extracted for other buildings and it was not until the 18th and 19th centuries that systematic excavations illuminated ancient buildings from under a layer of earth and rubble 10 meters high.
Highlights not to miss are the Temple of Antonius Pius, the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the Temple of Saturn, the Arch of Septimius Severus, the Curia, the Temple of Vesta, and the Arch of Titus.
Trevi Fountain
One of the city’s most popular tourist attractions, this 17th-century masterpiece has been immortalized in movies until it has become an almost sought-after visit. Throwing a coin (not three) into the Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi) is a tradition that should guarantee your return to Rome.
The largest fountain in Rome, Fontana di Trevi Fountain is supplied through an aqueduct originally built by Agrippa, the great patron of art in the 1st century BC, to bring water to its baths. The fountain was created for Pope Clement XII by Niccol Salvi and is built against the rear wall of the Palace of the Dukes of Poli.
It depicts the ocean god of the sea (Neptune), with horses, tritons, and shells. The water revolves around artificial shapes and rocks, and collects in a large basin, always filled with coins.
Spanish steps
Take a look at the Rome tourist map, and you’ll see one area full of things to do that it’s hard to read street names. This is the Centro Storico, the historic center of Rome, with its many art-filled churches, glittering palaces, and vibrant squares that you can spend your entire vacation strolling through its ancient streets and lanes.
Spend some time just to absorb the vibe of the neighborhood rather than moving from one must-see attraction to the next. Along with Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain, and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, a stop at the lesser-known churches, such as Santa Maria del Popolo, is where you’ll find works by Bernini and Caravaggio.
Stop at the Spanish Steps, and drop the irregular stairs that lead to the French Church at Trinita de Monte. The stairs take their name from Piazza di Spagna, the square is at its base and one of the most typical squares in Rome. Stairs have been a favorite spot for tourists, where they can sit and enjoy gelato in the summer or warm their hands around hot roasted chestnut cones in the winter.
The fountain in the shape of a boat at the foot of the Spanish Stairs is known as Barcaccia and was created by Pietro Bernini, father of the great Baroque architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Via Condotti, which leads southwest of Piazza di Spagna, is Rome’s most popular shopping street, with Caffè Greco famous for the artists, writers, and musicians who frequent it.
Santa Maria Maggiore
One of the most impressive churches in Rome, Santa Maria Maggiore has stood here since the fourth century Pope Liberius has a vision of the Virgin directing him to build a church where it will snow the next day. Although it was August, it snowed on Esquiline Hill the next morning, so the great cathedral was built here.
The mass has been celebrated here every day since the 5th century. The three aisles from the inside are 86 meters long, separated by 40 columns of marble and four granite, and the apse added in the thirteenth century is lined with mosaics of Old and New Testament themes, masterpieces of the famous mosaic artists in Rome.
The oldest mosaics in Rome, dating back to the 4th century, adorn the upper walls, and the floor is inlaid with colored stone in the style of 12th-century expert craftsmen in the Lake Como region. The first gold to reach Italy from the Americas shines on the ceiling of the recesses. Two popes are buried here. It is one of the four papal basilicas in Rome, and it is an important place of pilgrimage.
Piazza Navona
One of the most distinctive Baroque squares in Rome, Piazza Navona still contains the layout of the Roman stadium built here by Emperor Domitian. It was still in use for festivals and horse races during the Middle Ages and was rebuilt in the Baroque style by Borromini, who also designed the impressive series of palaces and the Church of Saint Agnes, on its west side.
Its façade, house, and dome accentuate the way in which Baroque architecture weaves convex and concave surfaces, gables, windows, columns, and piers into a unified design. In the crypt of Sant’Agnese, there is Alessandro Algardi 1653 The Miracle of Saint Agnes and the remains of a Roman mosaic floor. Sant’Agnese provided a model for the Baroque and Rococo churches in Italy and elsewhere.
Although Borromini designed the square and the surrounding façades, Bernini is his arch-rival, who created its centerpiece, the beautiful Baroque fountain, Fontana dei Fiumi. The lively fountain represents the four rivers that were then thought to be the largest on each of the known continents, with figures personifying the Nile, the Ganges, the Danube, and the Río de la Plata around the Great Basin, each accompanied by the flora and fauna of their respective regions.
The other two fountains in the square are the 16th-century Fontana del Moro in front of Palazzo Pamphili, built by Giacomo Della Porta, and the 19th-century Fontana del Nettuno with the Neptune figure. Today, the square is filled with Romans, tourists, street artists, souvenir stalls, and cafes, and during December, it was one of the best Christmas markets in Rome.
Nearby, between Piazza and the Pantheon, the San Luigi dei Francesi Church contains three major Caravaggio paintings from the late 16th century.
Domitian Stadium on Palatine Hill
Strategically located 50 meters above the Tiber, Palatine Hill shows evidence of the earliest settlement in Rome: rock cuttings found in front of the Temple of Cybele show human activity since the 9th century BC. Later, this was the site chosen by the great emperors and aristocratic families for their palaces.
The gardens of France had been placed on a hill in the 16th century for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, a delightful garden of terraces, arbors, lawns, flowers, trees, and fountains designed as a kind of setting stages for social gatherings.
The highlights of the Palatine Hill are the House of Livia (Augustus’ wife), the semi-subterranean Cryptoporticus, the Domus Flavia, the Domus Augustana, and, most of all, the Baths of Septimius Severus. Palatine Hill is a great place to explore, combining the park with the impressive and impressive ruins of ancient Rome.
Borghese Gallery and Gardens
Borghese Gardens is one of the largest in Rome and contains a number of attractions that include two museums, the most prominent of which is Villa Borghese. A party villa was also built as a house for the Borghese art collection, and a gallery containing paintings, sculptures, mosaics, and reliefs, most from the 15th to the 18th century, and includes works by Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, and Rubens.
Elsewhere in the park, Villa Giulia was built as the summer residence of the 16th century Pope Julius III and houses the Etruscan Museum. More villas from the World Expo held in Rome.
The park is an English-style landscaped park, with hiking trails and ponds where you can rent paddleboats. You can also rent bicycles or a sari to explore the park. There is a good zoo, Bioparco di Roma, with naturalized enclosures and a miniature track connecting its various sections. Children will love a number of attractions, including playgrounds, weekend pony rides, and the occasional puppet show.
Castel Sant’Angelo National Museum
Sant’Angelo Castle began in AD 135 as a mausoleum for Emperor Hadrian and his family and is a huge, cylinder-shaped structure that overlooks the Tiber River near the Vatican. Over the millennia of its existence, Castel Sant’Angelo was used as a papal residence and castle, and more recently as a national museum.
In AD 271, Emperor Aurelian took advantage of his position guarding the northern roads of the city and incorporated it into his new system of walls surrounding the city. As a stronghold, it protected the city from barbarian attacks, and by the Middle Ages, it had become a large fortress. In times of danger, the popes fled here via a secret highway, the Passetto di Borgo, and stored their most valuable fortunes in the castle’s treasury.
Visitors reach the castle via a footbridge lined with statues of angels (next to Bernini), and climb up to its five floors on a spiral ramp. On their various levels are prison cells, a large collection of weapons, and papal apartments exquisitely decorated and covered with Renaissance frescoes. At the top, there is a balcony with spectacular views of the city.
Baths of Caracalla
These bathrooms were only completed years ago, and they were more than just public baths. It was a complete gymnasium, with hot and cold baths, a swimming pool, dry and steam saunas, gymnastics and sports facilities, social rooms, gardens, libraries, hairdressers, and shops.
The colossal and majestic structure covers an area of 300 square meters and is a complex of gigantic halls whose domes and domes were supported by colossal columns and columns. It can accommodate 1500 people at one time. The floors and walls were covered in marble, mosaics, and frescoes. Even in ruins, their splendor is still there.
San Giovanni in Laterano (Church of Saint John Lateran)
As you might expect for the Pope’s Episcopal Church, the Basilica of Saint John Lateran is one of the most impressive churches in Rome. After centuries of alterations, it still retains its original form from the era of Constantine, when it was built.
On the contrary, its façade is a purely Baroque decoration and a fine example of that period. Besides the mosaics in the apse, be sure to note the beautiful 16th-century wooden ceiling. If the octagonal baptism, San Giovanni in Fonte, sounds a little familiar, it is because it provided a model for later baptisms throughout Europe.
Built by Constantine, it is the oldest Christian baptistery in the world. Across the square, in the Scala Santa Church, is the sacred staircase, 28 steps that Saint Helen is believed to have brought to Rome in the fourth century from Pilate’s palace in Jerusalem.
Catacombs and Via Appian Antica | Steve Collis
In the catacombs of San Callisto (Saint Calixtus) and San Sebastiano, both are underground burial places in the Via Antica, massive – San Callista fills an area of 300 by 400 meters – with intricate multi-layered networks of corridors and chambers carved into soft tuff. In addition to the tombs, Saint Calixtus has six sacramental chapels, constructed between 290 and 310, with pagan and early Christian frescoes.
In the papal vault are the tombs of most of the martyr popes of the third century, which are identified by Greek inscriptions. San Sebastiano, one of Rome’s seven pilgrimage churches, was built in the fourth century on the site of ancient tombs and catacombs that could be explored, along with the foundations of the Basilica of Constantinople.
The tomb rooms are located on several levels with beautiful paintings, stucco decorations, and engravings dating back to the first century AD. Although it is believed that the venerable remains were brought here for safekeeping during the persecution, they were graves rather than hiding places for Christians.
Slightly west of Via Appia Antica, not far from the Catacombs of San Callisto, the Domitilla Catacombs are the largest and most impressive in Rome, with 15 kilometers of rooms, underground corridors, and an entire underground cathedral.
Dedicated to the martyr saints buried there, Nereus and Achilles, the cathedral was a major pilgrimage destination until the Middle Ages.
There are more than 80 painted tombs and a 2nd-century fresco of The Last Supper in galleries.
Just outside Porta San Sebastiano, Drusus’ Arch lies near the start of Via Appia Antica, one of the oldest and most important Roman highways, built around 300 BC and spanning the port of Brindisi around 190 BC.
Parallel to the road are the ruins of some of the canals that supplied the city with water, and among the cypress trees on either side are the remains of graves belonging to aristocratic Roman families. Most notable is the tomb of Caecilia Mytila and her husband from the 1st century.
Baths of the National Diocletian Museum
The Baths of Diocletian were so huge that today they contain two churches, large parts of the Monastery of Carthus, and a large museum. Michelangelo used the spacious warm bath (hot baths) as a shell for his Church of Santa Maria Degli Angeli, and the Museo Nazionale Romano, the National Museum of Rome, fills another section with treasures of antiquity: Greek and Roman sculptures, pre-Christian and later coffins. Beautiful mosaics and frescoes.
The late 16th-century church of San Bernardo Alli Terme was built in a rotunda at the corner of the baths; Dome like the Pantheon, but only half its size.
Although the main tourist attractions in Rome don’t quite clump together, most of the main sights are within a 20-30 minute walk of each other, so many of the areas are suitable for sightseeing. The Monty neighborhood is perhaps the most central of the Forum, the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, and even the Spanish Steps and Borghese Gardens.
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Source: Ukrgate