Welcome to Rome, Italy!
The Eternal City offers a concentration of history, legend and monuments. Modern-day Rome is a city of about four million residents and as the capital city of Italy, is the center of national government.
While the look of central Rome is most obviously definred by the Baroque style of the many fountains, churches and palaces, there are many ancient monuments as well as beautiful churches and buildings of the medieval, Gothic and Renaissance periods. Many of these buildings were architecturally embellished during the port-Risorgimento and Fascists eras.
Rome is a vast city, but the historical center is relatively small, defined by the twisting Tevere river to the west, the Villa Borghese to the north, the Foro Romano to the south and the central train station, Termini, to the east. Most of the major sites are within walking distance of the train station. For instance, it is possible to walk from the Colosseum through the Foro Romano, then towards Piazza Navona and Pantheon, then up to Piazza di Spagna and the Fontana di Trevi. The Vatican and its huge museums would be most enjoyed if you dedicate a full day to them, as the collections are vast and waiting lines are always quite long.
Legends
It is generally agreed that Rome's origins stem from a group of Etruscan, Latin and Sabine settlements on the Palatino, Esquilino and Quirinale hills. These and the surrounding hills make up the famous seven hills of the city. Ancient Romans put the founding of their city as 21 April 753 BC and archaeological discoveries have confirmed the existence of a settlement on the Palatino at that time.
The legend of Romulus and Remus, however, prevails to explain the origins of the city. According to the legend, the twin sons of Rhea Silva and the war god Mars were raised by a she-wolf after being abandoned on the banks of the Tevere river. The myth says Romulus killed his brother during a battle over who should govern and then established the city of Rome on the Palatino, with himself as the first king. Then one day, he disappeared in a cloud that was believed to have carried him back to the land of the gods.
Roma
Roma has always inspired wonder and awe in its visitors. Its ruined but still imposing monuments represent a point of reference for a city which, through the imperial, medieval, Renaissance and baroque periods and beyond, has undergone many transformations. From the time of the Roman Empire through the development of Christianity to the present day, a period of over 2500 years, Roma has built up an archaeological archive of Western culture.
The historical sites of Rome are merely the tip of the iceberg: about 4 meters underground exists another city with the traces of other settlements deeper still. The Basilica di San Pietro stands on the site of an earlier basilica built by the Emperor Constantine in the 4th century over the necropolis where Saint Peter was buried. Castel Sant'Angelo was the tomb of Emperor Hadrian before it was converted into a fortress. The form of Piazza Navona is suggestive of a hippodrome, and in fact, it was built on the ruins of Emperor Domitian's stadium. To know all this can help you interpret and understand this chaotic and often frustruating city.
Foro Romano
The Foro Romano was the ancient Roman commercial, political and religious center. It stands in a valley between the Capitoline and Palatine hills and was constructed over 900 years with later emperors erecting buildings next to those from the Republican era. Its importance declined along with the Roman Empire after the 4th century AD, and the temples, monuments and buildings contructed by successive emperors, consuls and senators fell into ruin, eventually leading to the site being used as pasture land in the Middle Ages when it was known as the Campo Vaccino (cow field).
During medieval times the area was extensively plundered for its stone and precious marbles. Many temples and building were converted to other uses, while other buildings lay half revealed. The physical destruction of Rome's ancient city cannot be blamed on invaders or natural disasters; the Romans themselves led to its destruction. Over the centuries, the Romans would dismantle the buildings brick by brick and used them to build their new palaces, churches and monuments.
During the Renaissance, with the renewed appreciation of all things classical, the Foro Romano inspired artists and architects, leading to excavations in the 18th and 19th centuries, which continue today.
Colosseo
Construction of the Colosseum was started by Emperor Vespasian in 72AD on the grounds of Nero's private Domus Aurea. Originally knows as the Anfiteatro Flavio, it was inaugurated by his son Titus in 80 AD. The massive structure could seat more than 80,000 during the bloody gladiator combat and wild beast shows held there. The games held to inaugurate the Colosseo lasted for 100 days and nights. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the Colosseo was abandoned and gradually became overgrwon.
In the Middle Ages the Colosseum became a fortress occupied by two of the city's warrior families, the Frangipanni and the Annibaldi. Several earthquakes damaged the colosseum; later, Romans beagn to take the marble and travertine material it was made of to build other palaces and monuments, such as Palazzo Venezia. Pollution and the vibrations caused by traffic and the Metro have also taken their toll.
The Pantheon
This is the best preserved building of ancient Rome. The original temple was built by Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law of Augustus, in 27 BC and dedicated to the planetary gods. Although the temple was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian around 120 AD, Agrippa's name remained inscribed over the entrance, leading historians to believe it was the original building until excavations in the early 19th century revealed traces of the earlier temple.
After being abandoned under the first Christian emperors, the temple was given to the Church by the Eastern emperor, Phocus, in 608 AD and dedicated to the Madonna and all martyrs. Over the centuries the temple was consistently plundered and damaged. The gilded bronze roof tiles were removed by an emperor of the Eastern empire and, in the 17th century, the Barberini pope, Urban VIII, had the bronze ceiling of the portico melted down to make the baldacchino (canopy) over the main altar in San Pietro and 80 cannons for Castel Sant'Angelo.
The height and diameter of the building's interior both measure 43.3 meters and the extraordinary dome is considered the most important achievement of ancient Roman architecture. The Italian kings Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I and the artist Raphael are buried here.
The Trevi Fountain
The Fontana di Trevi, or Trevi Fountain, may or may not be the most beautiful fountain in Rome but it certainly is the most famous. It is also the largest and most ambitious of the Baroque fountains in Rome. Known the world over as the fountain where Anita Ekberg cooled off at night in Federico Fellini's film La Dolce Vita, it is also known for the legend that holds that if you throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain, your return to Rome will be ensured.
Located in the heart of Rome's historical center, the Trevi Fountain derives its name from its position at the intersection of three streets (tre vie). From here, it is just a short walk away from the Spanish Steps and its designer shopping area down Via Condotti, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona.
The Trevi Fountain also marks the terminal point of the Aqua Vergine, one of the ancient aqueducts that supplied water to Rome and which now supplies the fountain's water. In 19 BC, Roman technicians located a source of pure water, or virgin water, only 14 miles (22 km) from the city. This Aqua Virgo was carried over Rome's shortest aqueduct directly to the Baths of Agrippa and served Rome for more than four hundred years, up until the Goth besiegers broke the aqueducts.
During the 15th century Renaissance, the Roman custom of building a fountain at the endpoint of an aqueduct that brought water to Rome was revived. In 1453, Pope Nicholas V Parentucelli finished mending the Aqua Vergine aqueduct and built a simple basin, designed by the humanist architect Leon Battista Alberti, to herald the water's arrival. In 1629, Pope Urban VIII Barberini found the earlier fountain insufficiently dramatic and asked Bernini to do some drawings for it.
Learn more about the Trevi Fountain »
Accommodation in Rome
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* Text liberally adapted from Lonely Planet's Italy travel guide, 4th edition. Photographs © Lourdes Flores