e-travel-to Rome

Fast Facts

• Area 150 sq km / 58 sq miles
• Population 3,800,000 (2005)
• Time Zone GMT/UTC +1 (+2 in summer) (Central European Time)
• Languages Italian (official) - French - German - Slovenian - Albanian
• Currency Euro (Euro)
• Electricity 220V 50Hz
• Electric Plug Details European plug with two circular metal pins

Travel News Rome

Roma: The name inverts neatly to form amor[e]. No wonder that a natural occurrence is to fall in love with Rome, the fabled Eternal City, the city that exerts the most fascination in the mind of the traveler, and can reward as no other city can. Do not expect her playful, exuberant fountains to cease from casting their liquid diamonds into the sky, even during the quiet hours of the night, for there is no stopping the water-flow of her hundreds of miles of aqueducts, which will also be serving your hotel room. Yet, as no other city has been the focal point of the world for such a long period of time, few have such a long and turbulent history as has Roma. Lavished with architectural jewelry from republican to imperial to early Christian to medieval to renaissance to baroque to modern times by history's greatest artists, the queen of cities has also experienced sieges, raids, fires, and earthquakes that left their scars; but each time the Eternal City recovered from her injuries in glorious form.

Roma’s history is tightly connected to the history of Europe as a whole. Not just the Roman emperors but also medieval emperors and kings, such as Charlemagne and Otto I, regarded Rome as the true seat of power; only here could their authority, through benediction by the popes, could be sanctified.

"Un basta una vita," it is said: One does not have to be one of the countless academics residing in her many foreign institutes to declare that one life is not enough to get to know Roma. Maybe you’ll need about nine, as many as have the stray cats that also populate the city. At each corner of each street there is a multitude of stories to tell, with layer upon layer of history beneath the feet. A modern school occupying a renaissance palace built on the foundations of an imperial bath complex whose mosaics and aqueduct conduits can still be seen, and a baroque church incorporating the structure of a medieval basilica built on the foundations of a republican temple are a couple of the thousands of stories, which together hardly even begin to reveal the history of this three-thousand-year-old city.

Be certain not to miss The Eternal City's Trevi Fountain (remember Anita Ekberg in the classic scene in La Dolce Vita) the Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, Piazza del Popolo, some of the Roman heritage sights, such as the Pantheon, the Colosseum and the Forum Romanum, a few of her world-famous churches, such as Il Gesu, S. Giovanni in Laterano and Sta. Maria Maggiore, and the Vatican with the incredibly huge St. Peter's Basilica and the unrivalled Vatican Museums. Sunrise on the Gianicolo and sunset on the Pincio, with vistas of a sea of golden domes and bell-towers, are sure to record images on the mind never to be forgotten.

Not far from Roma you can find the wonderful Ancient Ostia, the ancient port of Rome, where you can enjoy a great day walking among bath complexes, squares, temples, and lots of well-preserved stores, like the Tabernae, an ancient take-away/pub restaurant.

Walking Tour of the Vatican - St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museums, and the Sistine Chapel

More Sightseeing Tours Rome

Rome Tourist Attractions

Forum

The commercial, political and religious centre of ancient Rome, the Forum spreads along the valley floor between the Capitoline and Palatine hills. It was constructed over about 900 years, with Republican buildings sitting in juxtaposition with temples from the Imperial era. The site's disrepair and disintegration into pastureland mirrored the fall of the Roman Empire, and excavations have been underway since the 18th century.

The Forum is entered from the piazza leading from the Colosseum - that house of horrors cum marble quarry, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre. You immediately enter another world: the past. Columns rise from grassy hillocks, and repositioned pediments and columns aid the work of the imagination. Just some of the many must-sees include the Arch of Septimus Severus, the Temple of Saturn, the House of the Vestals, the Temple of Antoninus & Faustina and the Arch of Titus.

From the Forum, you can climb the Palatino - where the wealthy and powerful built their palaces and personal temples. A layer of medieval churches and Renaissance gardens and villas transformed the hilltop ruins into a magical, ivy- and agapanthus-covered land of grottos and secret vistas. Look out for the House of Livia, the Domus Augustana, the Palace of the Flavians and the ruins of the Baths of Septimus Severus. You can look down on ruins of the Circus Maximus, though not much remains of what was once a chariot racetrack that held more than 200,000 spectators.

Random Roman Relics

Marcus Agrippa's Pantheon is one of the world's most sublime architectural creations: a perfectly proportioned floating dome resting on an elegant drum of columns and pediments. It was built in 27 BC, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in 120 AD. The temple has been consistently plundered and damaged over the years; it lost its beautiful gilded bronze roof tiles in Pope Gregory III's time. Look for the tombs of Raphael and Victor Emmanuel I. The Baths of Caracalla are the best-preserved imperial baths in the city. Covering 10 hectares, the baths could hold up to 1600 people and featured shops, gardens, libraries and gym facilities.

The Appian Way, the more than two-millennia-old road that runs all the way from Rome to Brindisi, is littered with monuments, in particular the Circus of Maxentius, and Roman tombs, such as the Tomb of Cecilia Metella. The route is also known for its catacombs - tunnels carved into the volcanic rock that were the meeting and burial places of Rome's persecuted early Christians. The atmospheric tunnels are not for the claustrophobic, overweight or chronically unfit.

The obvious starting point for a trip around Catholic or Christian Rome. The beautiful piazza lined in elegant columns faces the massive cathedral watched over by giant stone apostles. Inside it is an awe-inspiring sight to behold and for a small price you can climb to the top of the dome.

Holy See

Not many religions actually own a country, but Catholicism isn't just any religion, and the Holy See - or Vatican City - isn't any ordinary country. Headed up by his holiness, the tiny enclave in the heart of Rome is the administrative and spiritual capital of Roman Catholicism, and the world's smallest independent state. During the working week, the population increases fivefold as residents of Rome cross the 'border' to do the Lord's work.

Despite its importance to the devout - there are an estimated one billion Catholics worldwide - it's not all bells and smells at the pope's house. Scandal and intrigue have accompanied the office of the papacy for almost two millennia, and plenty of that scandal occurred within the Vatican buildings. But even without a dubious relationship with the Nazis, corruption and rumors of Mafia murders, the Vatican would remain a spectacular destination for history buffs, religious types and art-lovers alike. The Vatican is probably per square foot the richest country in the world, making up for their total lack of natural resources with an astonishing collection of priceless art treasures.

Castel Sant' Angelo

Reached by one of the world's most beautiful bridges - Bernini's billowing, angel-clad Pont Sant' Angelo - this strange, circular tank of a building was originally constructed as the mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian. It was converted into a papal fortress in the 6th century, and is linked by underground passages to the Vatican palaces. Several popes have felt the need to take advantage of the secret routes in times of threat. The mausoleum is now an interesting museum, and its evocative atmosphere is heightened by the knowledge that it was from here that Puccini's Tosca plunged to her death.