ITALY: When in Rome, Do as Romans Do - Day Seven

Rome

Take advantage of a traffic-free Sunday to visit Via Antica. This ancient road once stretched all the way to Brindisi in the south. You can hire bikes from the park information office on the road and cycle out into the emerald-green, ruin-dotted countryside.  Leave time to visit the ancient Christian catacombs, and the nearby hulking Terme di Caracalla, vast Roman baths. Alternatively, have a relaxing day trip out to Ostia Antica, Rome’s astonishingly well-preserved, but often overlooked, Roman port to the south of the city. 

Tour ends, find your way back soon!

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ITALY: When in Rome, Do as Romans Do - Day Six

Rome

First, pick up a picnic at one of Rome's divine delis. Then start at Piazza del Popolo and gaze at the Caravaggios in Santa Maria del Popolo. Meander uphill to Villa Borghese for your picnic and then hire bikes to whiz along evocative umbrella pine-lined paths. Visit the Museo Galleria Borghese, one of Rome's finest galleries, a baroque palace packed with ancient artistry.

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ITALY: When in Rome, Do as Romans Do - Day Five

Rome

Spend the morning discovering the fuss about Trastevere, the "other side of the Tiber."  The major churches are Santa Maria in Trastevere, with its glinting exterior mosaics, and Santa Cecilia. Lunch in a local backstreet restaurant and then wander through Orto Botanico. Storm the steep hill of Giancolo for awesome city views.

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ITALY: When in Rome, Do as Romans Do - Day Four

Rome

Start the day by throwing a coin in the Trevi Fountain — according to tradition, this means you’ll return to Rome, so if you miss out on anything this trip, save it for the next.  Explore in and around the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. Another nearby must-see is the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, with its dramatic Caravaggios. Browse in Via del Governo Vecchio's vintage shops, and finish up with an aperitivo (drink and nibbles) on the Campo de' Fiori — don't miss the adjoining Piazza Farnese.

The Pantheon is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.

It is one of the best-preserved of all Roman buildings. It has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Roman Catholic church. The square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda.

The Church of St. Louis of the French is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and titular church.  The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to St. Denis the Areopagite and St. Louis IX, king of France. The church was designed by Giacomo della Porta and built by Domenico Fontana between 1518 and 1589, and completed through the personal intervention of Catherine de' Medici, who donated to it some property in the area.

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ITALY: When in Rome, Do as Romans Do - Day Three

Rome

Start by the Tiber, with a quick peek at the Mouth of Truth, before walking to the top of Aventine Hill via the nearby cobbled path, Clivo di Rocca Savelli, to see Piranesi's mysterious Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta and peer though the hole-with-a-surprise in the Knights of Malta Priory door. Then visit the graceful church of Santa Sabina and neighboring Parco Savello, a walled orange grove. Later head for the Spagna district to window shop or punish the plastic.

The Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing 252 miles through Umbria and Lazio to the Tyrrhenian Sea.  The river has achieved lasting fame as the main watercourse of the city of Rome, founded on its eastern banks.

La Bocca della Verità, or the Mouth of Truth, is an image carved from Pavonazzo marble, of a man-like face, located in the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. The sculpture is thought to be part of a first century ancient Roman fountain, or perhaps a manhole cover, portraying one of several possible pagan gods, probably Oceanus. Most Romans believe that the Bocca represents the ancient god of the river Tiber.

Villa del Priorato di Malta, on the Aventine Hill is home to the Grand Priory in Rome of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, an order of chivalry, which remains a sovereign entity. It also hosts the embassy of the Order of Malta to Italy.  The estate is one of two Roman properties belonging to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta granted extraterritorial status, the other being Palazzo Malta.

Santa Sabina is the oldest extant Roman basilica in the eternal city that preserves its original colonnaded rectangular plan and architectural style. Its decorations have been restored to their original restrained design. Together with the light pouring in from the windows, this makes the Santa Sabina an airy and roomy place.  Because of its simplicity, the Santa Sabina represents the crossover from a roofed Roman forum to the churches of Christendom.

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ITALY: When in Rome, Do as Romans Do - Day Two

Rome

Start at Capitoline Hill, visit its museums, followed by the Colosseum. Spend the afternoon picnicking and relaxing surrounded by the romantic ruins of the Palatine.

The Capitoline Hill, located between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome. It was the citadel equivalent of the ancient Greek acropolis of the earliest Romans. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, with the alternative Campidoglio stemming from Capitolium.  The Capitoline contains few ancient ground-level ruins, as they are almost entirely covered up by Medieval and Renaissance palaces that surround a piazza, a significant urban plan designed by Michelangelo.

The Roman Forum is a rectangular plaza surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum.

It was for centuries the center of Roman public life: the site of triumphal processions and elections; the venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches; and the nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city's great men.

The Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheater, is an elliptical amphitheater in the center of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of concrete and stone, it was largest amphitheater of the Roman Empire, and is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering. It is the largest amphitheater in the world.

It is situated just east of the Roman Forum.  The Colosseum seated 50,000 spectators and was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era.

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ITALY: When in Rome, Do as Romans Do - Day One

Rome

Start at St Peter's and climb its dome for your first view over the Eternal City. Then visit the incredible wealth of the Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel.  You can book tickets online for the museums, which saves on queuing.

St. Peter's Basilica is a Late Renaissance church located within Vatican City.  Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and remains one of the largest churches in the world.

While it is neither the mother church of the Roman Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic sites.  St. Peter's is famous as a place of pilgrimage, for its liturgical functions.

  

The Vatican Museums, located inside the Vatican City State, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world.

Pope Julius II founded the museums in the early 16th century. The Sistine Chapel with its ceiling decorated by Michelangelo and the Stanze della Segnatura decorated by Raphael are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums.

The Vatican Museums trace their origin to one marble sculpture, purchased 500 years ago: The sculpture of Laocoön and his Sons was discovered 14 January 1506, in a vineyard near the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Pope Julius II sent Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo Buonarroti, who were working at the Vatican, to examine the discovery. On their recommendation, the pope immediately purchased the sculpture from the vineyard owner. The pope put the sculpture of Laocoön and his sons on public display at the Vatican exactly one month after its discovery.

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