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there's no place like Rome
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over a year ago
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It's called the eternal city for a reason,
But Italians are famous for fleecing tourists. After all it's prob the original tourist destination - the Grand Tour and all that.
Puts you off after a bit. Ok, put me off |
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"It's called the eternal city for a reason,
But Italians are famous for fleecing tourists. After all it's prob the original tourist destination - the Grand Tour and all that.
Puts you off after a bit. Ok, put me off "
Heresy!
Rome is one of the greatest repositories of art, history and culture.
The Sistine Chapel alone is arguably *the* masterwork of Western art.
That said, last time I was there some girls tried to pick-pocket me. They were quick but I was quicker. One got my wallet as the other distracted me but I felt it and grabbed the girl who was supposed to be distracting me and I threatened to frog march her to the police if they didn't give my wallet back.
Job done. |
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1) The Forum Romanum. Walk from the Victor Emmanuel monument, up the Capitoline Hill (the Capitoline Museums are v interesting [to me at least - check out the Hall of the Emperors, the colossal bits of the statue of Constantine and the Capitoline Wolf &c. &c.] and you can get joint tickets that give combined or reduced entrance to a number of other museums & historical sites that last 3 days, or something).
You'll know yr there are you will see the famous equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. Take in the view of the Forum, and walk down the hill through the Forum and up the Via Sacra, through the Arch of Titus, past the Palatine and off to the Colosseum. Look out for the Senate House, the arch of Septimius Severus and the shrine to Julius Caesar, which is still tended to. All free & will take 1/2 a day. Probably not worth going in to the Colosseum itself tho' – I think it's more impressive from the outside but I leave it up to you.
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2) Trevi fountain - beautiful, v romantic, of 'La Dolce Vita' fame. A good place for an ice cream. Be prepared for a tourist scrum at weekends. Throw a coin in to the fountain over yr left shoulder & they say you'll return to Rome.
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3) St Peter's/the Vatican - easily takes 2wks to explore properly. In the amount of time u have I would definitely go to St Peter's - highly impressive, free. Climb the Dome for free  or take the lift & pay.
The Vatican museum itself contains one of the great art collections of the world. Possibly not quite the kind of place u'd like to spend all yr time but an incredible collection none-the-less. U will have to decide whether or not to enter the Vatican and see the Sistine Chapel. Not cheap, and will take u 1/2 a day to do quickly but this is arguably THE masterwork of Western art. Also worth seeing but over looked are the Raphael Rooms (which u can see on the way in yr trip to the Sistine Chapel) in the Vatican on top of a staggering collection of ancient Greek & Roman art; the Laocoon, the Belvedere Apollo, the statue of Augustus from the Prima Porta, the Gallery of Maps and sundry loot from the ages &c. &c. &c. You might consider a walking tour to get the most out of the Vatican Museum/St Peter’s and will provide entertainment for the queue – about €50 pp, inc. entry to the Vatican.
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Go to St Peter's square on Sunday and get blessed by the Pope. Wash away those nasty sins. A little way back up the road is the Castel St Angelo, the fortress of the Popes, built on the remains of the Mausoleum of Hadrian. Definitely worth a look inside. |
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4) The Pantheon - the best preserved Roman building anywhere in the world. I always go there and am awestruck every time. It’s free. Built and & planned by the emperor Hadrian, the temple to all the gods is a perfect sphere is contained in the interior. Consecrated as a Christian church in the C. 7th which is why it survived. Good place to hang out & have a(n expensive) coffee. A short walk to the Piazza Navona, which once served as Domitian’s race track and you can still see its shape in the Piazza today. Plenty of nice restaurants nr both of these... go for a beer on the piazza but look if eating head slightly off the beaten track for a better price. |
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5) Piazza di Spagna & the Villa Borghese. The Spanish Steps & surrounding area are one of the liveliest areas of Rome - plenty of nice restaurants & boutiques. If open, go in to the Church of Trinitia die Monti at the top of the steps and climb the bell tower for one of the finest views in Rome.
The park & the Villa Borghese. The villa contains a magnificent collection of art and the large park contains museums, galleries, foreign academies, a zoo, an archaeological school, an amphitheatre, a lake, an aviary, summer houses, neo-Classical statuary and exotic follies. As I recall, we had great fun hiring tandem bike-things here and racing all over the place..
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6) If u can find it, the monastery of Santa Maria della Concezione off the Via Venito is a macabre gem. This was the friary of the Capuchin monks (inventors of the cappuccino). Their crypt under the monastery is decorated with the bones & skulls of over 4,000 skeletons. As it says in Latin by the exit: 'What you are, we used to be. What we are, you will be'. It's quite something. |
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7) Ostia antica - the ancient port of Rome. This is an excellent day trip, which you can combine with a visit to the seaside. Go to the Piramide metro station in Rome and change to an overland train (Rome-Lido line). Abandoned progressively from the 6th cent. AD the harbour silted up (it's now 3km from the sea) and shifting sands covered up the city. Now fully excavated it is much quieter and cheaper than Pompeii and contains all the usual features of Roman cities - an amphitheatre, forum, temples & houses - some of which survive up to the 3rd storey. Not much in the way of facilities, but an excellent place for a picnic and truly tranquil. |
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8) Churches - there are many, many churches in the city and they often house works of art by masters, artists whose names you know, and there’s often no fee to get in. Santa Maria del Popolo has two Caravaggio paintings, Santa Maria della Vittoria has Bernini’s “St. Teresa in Ecstasy,” San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane was designed by Borromini, San Pietro in Vincoli has a Michelangelo statue of Moses, Santa Maria in Trastevere is one of the city’s oldest churches, San Luigi dei Francesi has three Caravaggios, Santa Maria alla Minerva is the only Gothic church in Rome... The list goes on and on. At the very least, poke your head inside any church you see that looks even vaguely interesting - you might end up finding what is, to you, a hidden Roman treasure. |
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9) Largo di Torre Argentina - This square houses four Republican era temples. Not particularly impressive on their own but they also contain a cat sanctuary, which is a little odd/cute. In the surrounding area is the remains of the Theatre of Pompey and Campo dei Fiori (the field of flowers), which is an outdoors food market watched over by the stern, hooded statue of the heretic Bruno, is best experienced during the market hours. You'll eat cheap around the Campo dei Fiori, where there are take-out stands and delis everywhere. |
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10) Via Appia – so you want catacombs? OK, so start at the Baths of Caracalla (frankly massive ruins of an imperial bath complex where again, you can benefit from the combined ticket) and head south. The old Appian Way close to Rome is now a free tourist attraction. Romans had an interdict on burying their dead within city limits, so the custom was to place tombs along the roadside. As the Appian Way was one of the oldest and grandest of Roman roads, so too are the funerary monuments that line it (also, Wikipedia informs me that it remains the longest straight road in Europe). The first three miles are still heavily used by cars, buses and coaches but from then on traffic is light and the ruins can be explored on foot in relative safety. We walked it and those first 2 miles were a bit nerve-wracking in places because of the traffic and we had to wait a long time for a bus back, so you might want to think about a tour bus or some such.
The Church of Domine Quo Vadis (no, you are not greeted by Peter Ustinov)is in the second mile of the road. Along or close to the part of the road closest to Rome, there are three catacombs of Roman and early Christian origin. One thing worth thinking about is the temperature. If yr walking and it’s hot, take plenty of water but once you get to the catacombs (which are obviously underground) you’ll want a jumper.
Also down the Appian Way are:-
• Porta Appia (Porta San Sebastiano), the gate of the Aurelian Walls
• San Sebastiano fuori le mura
• catacombs of St Sebastian
• Circus of Maxentius
• tomb of Cecilia Metella
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