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The City of
Cities
Rome
– Provinces of Viterbo,
Rieti,
Frosinone and
Latina -
Tivoli
 We could write volumes on the history,
art,
atmosphere,
cultural
life, exhibitions and
festivals, and irresistible fascination of
Rome, TOP
with its grandiose and
solemn architectural wonders. The cradle and epitome
of our civilization. You need at least, a week to
become acquainted with the city. We would like to
propose a tour for each day of the week, on foot, by
taxi or public transport. We will leave the car
behind, because of the problem of parking and
driving in the
Rome
traffic.
First Day: we begin in Piazza
Venezia, in
the centre of Rome, with the 15th c. Palazzo
Venezia
(museum) and the monument to
Victor Emanuel. After visiting the Basilica of S.
Marco, we walk up the long flight of steps to the
Church of S. Maria
d'Aracoeli. Inside are works
by
Donatello, Gozzoli
and Pinturicchio.
Adjacent to it is Michelangelo's Piazza del
Campidoglio
with
Palazzo Senatorio,
the
Museo Capitolino
(classical sculptures) and Palazzo
dei Conservatori
(sculptures,
Pinacoteca Capitolina
gallery with paintings by Titian,
 Rubens,
Velasquez,
Caravaggio,
etc.). The majestic Via
dei Fori Imperiali
links Piazza
Venezia
to the Colosseum, built between
72
arid
80
AD for
animal
and gladiatorial contests, and public
entertainments. We will see the Basilica of
Masentius, the Arch of Constantine, and Trajan's
column to celebrate Trajan's victory over the Dacians. Our archaeological tour will end with a
visit to the Roman
forum
which for centuries was
the centre of Rome's public life (the Curia,
Basilica Emilia, Arch of Septimus Severus and the
Arch of Titus, the temples of
Saturno,
the Dioscuri,
Antonino
and Faustina, the House of the Vestal Virgins, the
palaeo-Christian basilica of S. Maria
Antiqua)
and the Palatine Hill
(Orti
Farnesiani
gardens, the House of
Livia,
Palazzo
dei Flavi,
Domus Agustana, Domitian's
Stadium, and Severus' baths). From the top of the
Palatine, amid the ruins of the Imperial
palaces, we have a magnificent view of the Circus
Maximus Roman race-track, the Baths of Caracalla,
and the Aurelian city walls.
 Second Day:
Once again we start from Piazza
Venezia,
and walk along Via del
Corso,
lined with 16th to 18th c. palaces and churches. The
“Corso”
was used as a race course
(hence its name) between the 15th to the 19th
centuries. Visit Galleria Doria Pamphili in the
Renaissance Palazzo Pamphili (Caravaggio,
Tintoretto, Raphael, Titian, Velazquez, Bernini,
Carracci, etc.), the Church
of S. Ignazio
(1626-50) in its pretty 18th c. square and Piazza
Colonna, with the column of Mark Aurelius. Here are
some of
Rome's most famous boutiques
(in Via
dei Condotti, Via Frattina,
Via Borgognona, etc.) which take us to the foot of
the Baroque Spanish Steps. In Via
Condotti,
we can have a drink at the old
Caffè
Greco, the haunt of artists and
writers since the 18th century.
In Piazza
di Spagna are
two of Borromini's masterpieces: the Palazzo
di
Propaganda Fide (on which
Bernini also worked) and the
Church of S. Andrea
delle Fratte,
with its strange bell-tower. At the bottom of the
Spanish steps is the Shelley and Keats Memorial
house. We can either go along Via del Babuino, with
its antique shops, or the picturesque artists'
street of Via Margutta to reach
Piazza del Popolo,
with the Egyptian obelisk dating from the 13th
century BC, and the “twin” Baroque Churches of S.
Maria
dei Miracoli
and S. Maria in Montesanto.
S. Maria del Popolo has works by Bernini,
Pinturicchio, Bramante, Caravaggio and Raphael.
Walking up
Viale G. D'Annunzio
and
Viale Trinità dei
Monti, we pass the gates of
Villa Medici, the
French
Academy,
and the Baroque Church of
Trinità dei
Monti from where we can survey the city from above.
The aristocratic 16th c. Via Sistina takes us to
Piazza Barberini, adorned by Bernini's Triton
Fountain (1637), the huge Palazzo Barberini with the
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica (Fra Angelico,
Lotto, Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, Holbein,
Caravaggio).
Third
Day:
again we start in Piazza
Venezia,
to discover the heart of
Renaissance and Baroque Rome. We shall visit the
Jesuit
Church
of the
'Gesù',
begun in
1568
by Vignola and completed in
1575
by
Giacomo della
Porta. A few minutes away,
along Corso Vittorio Emanuele,
is
Largo di Torre
Argentina,
with die excavations of
4
temples from the Republican
Age. A little further on is the magnificent
Church of
S. Andrea
della Valle
(1591-1665), whose dome
is second in size only to S. Peter's. Then comes
Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, Peruzzi's masterpiece
(1532-36), with its strange curved facade, and
Palazzo della Piccola Farnesina (1523)
in which there is the Museo Barracco; opposite is
the 18th c.
 Palazzo Braschi (Museo di Roma), and
Palazzo della Cancelleria, a masterpiece of early
Roman Renaissance architecture, with its superb
courtyard by Bramante. Which brings us to the
picturesque animated marketplace of
Campo de' Fiori.
Behind it is the harmonious Piazza
Farnese
and arguably the most
beautiful Renaissance palace in Italy, Palazzo
Farnese,
on which Antonio da Sangallo the Younger,
Michelangelo,
Giacomo della
Porta and the Car-racci brothers worked. Nearby is
Palazzo
Spada (1540)
where we can visit
Galleria Spada
and Borromini's architectural illusion, “the
Gallery”, which is only a few meters in length, but
appears to be a long grandiose gallery. Now we come
to Via
Giulia,
named after Pope Julius II who had it built in the
early 16th c., lined with noble places, churches
(visit the tiny S.
Eligio degli Orefici,
designed by Raphael, and the Renaissance Church of
S. Giovanni
dei Fiorentini)
and some fine antique shops. We are now back on
Corso Vittorio Emanuele
standing before Borromini's Oratory of S. Philip
Neri (1637-50)
and the adjacent
“Chiesa
Nuova” (1575-1605).
Behind the Church we stroll along the narrow
streets, including the beautiful Via
dei Coronari,
to the Church of S. Maria
della
Pace (cloister by
Bramante,
 frescoes by Raphael and
Peruzzi) and
finally the most theatrical square of Baroque Rome,
Piazza Navona, where the aristocracy rubbed
shoulders with the populace at the games and
celebrations that used to be held here, on the site
of the Roman Domitian's Stadium. In the centre is
Bernini's huge Fountain of the Rivers and on the
west side, Borromini's masterpiece, the
Church of
S.
Agnese
in Agone. Near Piazza
Navona are several other interesting churches: S.
Maria
dell'Anima
(16th c.) which belongs to the German Catholics; S.
Agostino
(15th c.) with Raphael's “Prophet Isaiah” and
Caravaggio's wonderful
“Madonna dei Pellegrini”;
the French national
Church of
S.
Luigi dei Francesi
(16th c.) with three
more superb works by
Caravaggio
(the stories of S. Matthew). Crossing Piazza S.
Eustachio,
past fine Renaissance and Baroque buildings
overshadowed by Borromini's highly original dome on
the ancient
“Sapienza”
University building, we come face to face with the
world's most perfectly preserved Roman monument
—
the Pantheon
—
built by
Agrippa in 27
BC, rebuilt under Hadrian, and finally consecrated
for Christian worship in the year
609.
Nearby is the only Gothic
church in Rome, S. Maria
sopra
Minerva; in front of the church is the Egyptian
obelisk on the back of a marble elephant designed by
Bernini
(1667).
Fourth Day: we begin our tour at
Castel S. Angelo,
originally built by the Emperor Hadrian
(135-139)
as his mausoleum. Across the
centuries, it has been transformed into a mediaeval
fortress, a papal residence and a prison. Today, it
is a
National
Museum.
From the top, under the bronze statue of S. Michael
the Archangel, we
can enjoy a superb view of the city. S. Peter's
Square, girt by the arms of Bernini's colonnade,
with its
25
meters high Egyptian obelisk,
and two fine 17th c. fountains now awaits us. What
can words express when talking about S. Peter's! Let
us just say that it is the largest and the most
important Basilica in Christendom, the heart of
Catholicism, standing on the site of S. Peter's
tomb and first built by Constantine shortly after the year
320.
Rossellino, G. de Sangallo, Raphael, Peruzzi, A. de
Sangallo the Younger, Michelangelo, Vignola, della
Porta, Domenico Fontana, Maderno, Bernini, Filarete
all worked on the building.
Inside are some of the world's
greatest masterpieces, of which the best
known is probably Michelangelo's early
Pietà;
then there is S. Peter Enthroned, attributed to
Arnolfo di Cambio, a
wooden Crucifix by
Cavallini,
monuments to the Popes by
Canova, Pollaiolo
and Bernini, who also built the superb
baldacchino in 1633.
The
“Tesoro”
is a collection of priceless
objects, while the Vatican
Museums and
Art
Galleries
cover practically the whole history of art
throughout the ages. The Sistine Chapel (access
through the Vatican Museums) is frescoed by
Pinturicchio,
Perugino,
Botticelli, Signorelli,
Ghirlandaio
and Michelangelo (who painted the ceiling from
1508
to
1512,
and the Last Judgement from
1535
to
1541).
.
The
Raphael
Rooms
are unparalleled in beauty; the Chapel of Nicholas V
was frescoed by
Fra Angelico,
and the Borgia apartments were decorated by
Pinturicchio. The
“Pinacoteca”
contains one major masterpiece after another.
Fifth Day:
We are going to visit
Rome's most important
churches and basilicas. We will meet at the
Colosseum, and then see two magnificent mediaeval
churches: the palaeo-Christian S.
4 Coronati,
with its splendid 13th c. cloister, and S.
Clemente,
with its mosaics
and
frescoes (by Masolino da Panicale), and an
interesting crypt. Along Via Labicana we come to
S.John Lateran's,
Rome's
Cathedral, originally built in ancient times,
although the present church is Baroque. If we have
time we can walk to the nearby basilica of S.
Croce
in
Gerusalemme
and
 San Lorenzo
fuori le Mura;
if not, we can stroll along Via Merulana to S. Mary
Major whose majestic interior has preserved its
original palaeo-Christian structure, richly
decorated with mosaics, pictures and sculptures,
while the 14th c. campanile tower is flanked by a
Baroque portico and loggia. We can also visit the
Basilica of S. Prassede with the Byzantine Chapel of
S.
Zenone,
decorated with priceless
mosaics (11th c), and S. Peter in Chains (S.
Pietro
in Vincoli)
to see Michelangelo's statue
of Moses. Otherwise we will head
for S. Maria
degli Angeli
built by Michelangelo in the
ancient
tepidarium
chamber of the Roman baths of
Diocletian, and then see the adjacent Roman
Museum,
with its valuable collection of archaeological
finds. We can take a bus or taxi from here to the
Via Nomentana to see two other very interesting
churches: S.
Agnese
and S.
Costanza
(4th century, with magnificent mosaics).
Sixth Day:
We will meet on the highest of Rome's seven hills
—
the Quirinal
—
outside the Quirinal Palace, formerly the Pope's
summer residence, then
the Royal Palace of the Kings of Italy,
(16th
c.).
It is now the palace of the President of the
Republic. Along Via XX
Settembre
we can see the tiny cloister
in Borromini's Church
of
S.
Carlino,
and Bernini's Ecstasy
of S. Teresa in the
Church
of
S. Maria
della Vittoria.
And so to Via
Veneto,
the cosmopolitan street of with
Rome's
elegant coffee houses and restaurants. Through the
Aurelian Walls at
the Pinciana gate, we are in the Villa
Borghese park,
where we will visit the beautiful 17 th
c. Galleria Borghese
(ancient sculptures,
groups
of masterpieces by Bernini, Canova's
“Paolina
Borghese”,
paintings by Raphael,
Caravaggio, Cranach,
Rubens, Bassano,
Correggio,
Titian, Veronese, Bellini, A. da Messina and
Carpaccio).
At the other side of Villa
Borghese
park is the National Gallery of Modern Art and the
“Museo
Nazionale di
Villa
Giulia” in
the villa of Pope Julius III, built by Vignola in
1551.
The museum has some fine
exhibits from southern Etruria and the non-Etruscan Lands in Latium and
Umbria.
Seventh Day:
Once again we start in Piazza
Venezia,
and this time we walk towards the
Aventino
along the
Teatro Marcello,
around the picturesque Jewish ghetto with its
Portico
d'Ottavia. In
Piazza
Bocca della Verità
there are two Roman temples, popularly known as
'Manly Fortune' and “Vesta”, with the 4th c. Arch of
Janus, the Church of S. Giorgio in Velabro and the
mediaeval Church of S. Maria in Cosmedin where the
enormous circular carving of a human face with the
“mouth of truth” stands in the front porch: popular
belief has it that it bites the hands of liars. Up
the
Aventino
hill is the palaeo-Christian Church of S.
Sabina
and Piranesi's amazing Piazza
dei Cavalieri di
Malta (18th c);
through the keyhole in the gate of the Knights of
Malta's property you can get an unusual view of the
dome of S. Peter's. Down below we can walk under S.
Paolo's Gate to the Pyramid of Caius Cestius, and
then go to the Basilica of S. Paul's outside the
Walls, first built in the year
314,
subsequently completed and decorated with mosaics,
burned down in
1823
and immediately rebuilt. The impressive interior has
a huge central nave and four aisles; the cloisters
are by Vassalletto
(1214).
We can also walk down the Aventine to the heart of
the picturesque district over the Tiber—
“Trastevere” —,
the most genuinely Roman part
of Rome where the “ordinary Romans” have always
lived. We can visit the splendid Churches of S.
Cecilia and S. Maria in
Trastevere,
the National Gallery in Palazzo
Corsini,
and the Renaissance Palazzo
della Farnesina
with frescoes by Raphael. Then we will go up the
Janiculum hill to survey the city below from the
tree-covered belvedere, and before leaving see
another Renaissance jewel
—
Bramante's
“tempietto”
in
the courtyard of the Church of S.
Pietro
in Montorio
(1502).
We have only mentioned a tiny
fraction of the infinity of sights to be seen in Rome: palaces, fountains,
curiosities and museums which deserve at least a
passing mention. But before we leave
Rome, we must find time for a
step back into the past, strolling along the Roman
Appian Way,
 or to the “Pincio” above Piazza del
Popolo in
the early evening, to see dusk settling on the city
below. And of course, we have to make the customary
“pilgrimage” to the Fountain of
Trevi
to toss in a coin, to guarantee that we shall be
back one day.
There is only enough space to
make a very brief mention of the many excursions and
trips outside Rome and in Latium: in the province of
Viterbo,
TOP
there are the Etruscan necropolises described in
Excursion X; Caprarola, Bagnaia, Bomarzo, Nepi
—
with their mediaeval fortresses and renaissance
villas (especially the 16th c. Palazzo
Farnese
of Caprarola, attributed to the genius of Vignola),
Civita Castellana
(12th c. cathedral, renaissance fortress and
2
museums, Roman remains). In
the province
of
Rieti:
TOP
Fara in Sabina
with the nearby Farfa Abbey,
one of the leading cultural centers in the Middle
Ages, and
Mount
Terminillo.
In the province of
Frosinone:
TOP
Alatri
(acropolis, mediaeval walls, houses and churches
including the magnificent S. Maria
Maggiore); Anagni
(Romanesque-Gothic cathedral with crypt, rich
flooring, and Chapel of S. Thomas
à Becket,
Palace of Boniface VIII, and Palazzo
Comunale);
Veroli (Cistercian Casamari Abbey);
Cassino (Montecassino
Abbey, founded in
529
completely destroyed in
1944,
and faithfully reconstructed);
Ferentino
(acropolis, cathedral, walls);
Fiuggi
(spa resort); Sora (with nearby Arpino and
Isola del
Liri). In the
province of
Latina:
TOP
Cori
(Temple
of
Hercules, walls);
Fondi
(castle, Prince's Palace, 14th
c. Church
of S.
Pietro);
the seaside resorts of
Formia,
Gaeta,
Minturiio
(Roman ruins nearby), Sperlonga and
Terracina;
Sezze (Italy's “Oberammergau”,
where the Passion is
acted
out).
Norma (with the ruins of
Ninfa), Sermoneta
(castle, and Valvisciolo Abbey
3
kms further on); Priverno
(the Benedictine and Cistercian 11th- 13th c.
Fossanova Abbey) and the
Circeo
National Park.
Finally, in the province of Rome, there are
Ostia,
the ancient Roman port of Rome, where the
excavations make up one of the most monumental
archaeological zones anywhere in the world:
Bracciano
on Lake
Bracciano
(the 15th c. superbly decorated Castle); Palestrina
(cathedral, Palazzo
Barberini, Museo Archeologico
Prenestino);
Tivoli
TOP
(16th
c.
Villa d'Este, with its fountain-filled gardens;
Villa
Gregoriana,
whose grounds are built around
the famous 160m waterfall; a few kilometres further
on is the archaeological complex of Hadrian's
Villa); Subiaco, famous for its monasteries and
finally Velletri,
Albano, Nemi,
Marino, Genzano,
Ariccia, Rocca di Papa.
Castel-gandolfo, Frascati in the Alban
Hills, populated by an incredible number of
Renaissance and Baroque villas, churches and abbeys
(S.
Nilo
at Grottaferrata
is particularly noteworthy) built over the
centuries. And there are even more typical
restaurants where the visitor can be assured of fine
fare and excellent local wines.
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