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The Church of Santa Maria and the Mouth of Truth
The Church was built on pagan ruins. Is a place where Roman architecture and history combine.
On one of the walls there is a cracked marble disk depicting the face of the river god, with an open mouth. According to the legend, if you put your hand into the mouth and tell a lie, the mouth will bite your hand. The legend tells that a man decided to test his wife's faithfulness, and in front of a crowd, he asked her to put her hand into the Mouth of Truth. Just as she was about to put her hand into the mouth, she was assaulted by a man who leaped out to kiss and embrace her. Everyone thought he was crazy, so she was let go.
Therefore, when the man asked his wife whether she had been faithful to him, the wife answered that no one but her husband and that crazy man had ever touched her. She told the truth... because the crazy man was actually her lover.
The Spanish Steps (Piazza di Spagna) are located at the end of Via Condotti and consist of 12 flights of stairs, which lead to Piazza Trinita dei Monti.
In front of the steps there is a fountain featuring "Barcaccia", a large boat that gushes water as it sinks. |
The Catacombs of Rome are the subterranean Christian cemeteries from the third to the fifth century. To bury their dead, whom Christians believed had to be buried in imitation of Christ's death, they were forced to look outside the city. Consequently, they dug subterranean passages with niches cut into the walls, where the dead were laid in their clothes and funeral linens, sprinkled with scented oils to mask the odor of decay. The bodies are gone, but you can still walk down the echoing passages and get a sense of the lingering spirits.
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The Colosseum is probably the best-known Roman building. It is an immense elliptical building and was the largest of its time, built between 72 AD and 80 AD.
Four levels erected above the ground seated the lower classes and women at the upper storey and prominent citizens at the lowest storey. Below the ground floor, there were rooms and cages storing wild animals and mechanical devices. The cages could be hoisted, enabling the animals to appear in the middle of the arena.
The games played here consisted of fights to the death with wild animals. It was the slaves who were usually forced to fight the animals. The games were a symbol of prestige and power, and often emperors use them to increase their popularity.
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Fontana di Trevi (The Trevi Fountain) is the largest and most ambitious of the Baroque fountains of Rome. The Fountain represents the Tritons that guide Neptune's shell chariot, while taming seahorses.Don’t forget to throw a coin in it! It will make you return to Rome
Giancolo Hill
For the best panorama of Rome, this is the perfect spot. At the top, visitors have different venues at disposal, such as: merry-go-round, pony rides, and a puppet show for kids.
Parco Savelo
This is one of the perfect places to take a break or just have lunch. The peaceful, walled garden is a lovely spot for resting while enjoying the vista of Rome.
Ostia Antica
Now that you've done all the major ruins of Rome, most of which involved rich people, or rich people's pastimes, get a taste of a different kind of life in ancient Rome.
Back then, Ostia was a port at the mouth of the Tiber, crowded with merchants and hopping with activity. As it used to be a commercial district, the ruins are more directly related to the "common" population.
Among the ruins to visit are baths, a theater, merchants' offices, temples and forums. There is an excellent on-site museum containing mosaics, wall paintings and statues.
Domus Aurea is the golden palace built by Nero after the great fire that had almost leveled Rome. The remains can be found beneath the ruins of Trajan's Baths.
The ruins have been available to the public since 1999. For visits at the ruins of the palace, advanced reservation is needed.
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St. Peter's Basilica is one of four major basilicas of Rome and the most prominent building inside the Vatican City. There are over 100 tombs located within St. Peter's Basilica, many of which are placed beneath the Basilica. On top are the statues of Christ, John the Baptist, and eleven of the Apostles.
Inside, there are many important works of art. The first is Michelangelo's 'Pietà', located immediately to the right of the entrance. Up the aisle is the monument of Queen Christina of Sweden, who abdicated in 1654 in order to convert to Catholicism. Further up are the monuments of Popes Pius XI and Pius XII, as well as the altar of St. Sebastian, the monuments of Popes Gregory XIII and Gregory XIV. . The right transept contains three altars, of St. Wenceslas, St. Processus and St. Martinian, and St. Erasmus. The left transept also contains three altars, that of St. Peter's Crucifixion, St. Joseph and St. Thomas. A skeleton holding an hourglass lifts a fold of red marble drapery. The "molten marble," symbolizing divinity, covers the skeletons head, which signals God's victory over death. |
Forum Romanum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. The Forum is one of the most well preserved areas from Roman times. The Roman Forum includes a modern statue of Julius Caesar and the following major monuments, buildings and ancient ruins: the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the Temple of Romulus, the Temple of Saturn, the Temple of Vesta, the Temple of Venus and Roma, the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, the Temple of Caesar, the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, the Temple of Concord, the Shrine of Venus Cloacina, Basilica Aemilia, Basilica Julia, Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine, the Arch of Septimius Severus, the Arch of Titus, the Arch of Tiberius and the Arch of Augustus.
The Baths of Caracalla were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between 212 and 216 AD, during the reign of Emperor Caracalla and are a popular tourist attraction. The ruins stand as the backdrop for Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in the summer opera season. It has also become a venue for modern cultural events, such as the gymnastics competition during the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the concert of the Three Tenors at the end of the 1990 FIFA World Cup.