Rome: the eternal city
Visiting Roma is like getting into a time machine and covering the past centuries in brief steps, sometimes walking just few meters. The city is really beautiful: a mixture of art, history and architecture that for the last three centuries had no rivals in the preferred destinations of international tourism. A metropolis of cosmopolitan spirit, capable of efficiently managing events of a million visitors while remaining genuinely Italian with its
working-class neighbourhoods, the sound of church bells at midday, and the mornings flooded by sunlight.
The long history of this city, founded according to tradition on April 21st 573 b. C. , which became the cultural and political centre of the ancient world, earning the title of Caput Mundi (world capital), has left traces of every age.
Undoubtedly, Roma is a tourist resort which offers everything: it is a very widespread city about 20 km from the seaside; but the old town, where the main sites to be visited are concentrated, is easily seen on foot or by public transport which can be taken at the central railway station, called Stazione Termini. There are two underground lines: line A
which goes through the city centre and line B; a thick network of buses link the major tourist attractions even with night services.
The most important place of the city is the Colle del Campidoglio which has always represented the city political centre; at the top of the hill one can admire the Piazza del Campidoglio (designed by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1536) where are situated Palazzo Nuovo and the buildings of the Senatorio and Conservatori. The square has a peculiar plan since Michelangelo built the buildings with a particular perspective, making the square turn not towards the Foro Romano but towards San Pietro basilica.
At Campidoglio square one con find also the Musei Capitolini which contain a collection of classic sculptures gathered together since the Renaissance, constituting the most ancient public collection in the world. Nearby, one can visit the Pinacoteca Capitolina which hosts an enviable collection of paintings from the Middle Ages till the 18th century. In addition to the painting collections of Sacchetti and Pio di Savoia, one can admire the masterpieces of Caravaggio, Guercino, Tintoretto, Annibale Carracci, Tiziano, Rubens, Antonio van Dyck together with findings of Hellenic and Roman art.
From Campidoglio one can admire the Fori Imperiali: a whole of columns, walls, isolated arches which reveal the past existence of superb palaces leading to the Flavio amphitheatre, better known as the Colosseo. It is the major ancient monument still in good conditions in the third millennium: committed by Vespasiano, it has been the first place where non-travelling performances took place and it was open for the first time on 70 a. C.
In Piazza Venezia, which belongs to ancient Roma too, one can admire the monument dedicated to Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoia, also known as Vittoriano or Altare della Patria. It is a huge building in white marble and bronze where the Milite Ignoto is buried.
Opposite the Altare della Patria, begins Via del Corso which ends in Piazza del Popolo.
This street leads to Piazza del Collegio Romano, which is the entrance to the Galleria Doria Pamphili, another beauty of the artistic Roma.
A compulsory stop for the tourists is Piazza della Rotonda, situated in the old town where the Pantheon, whose origins date back to 27 b. C., is found. Inside the temple, the ashes of the Italian kings and the painter Raffaello are preserved.
Near Pantheon, one can find a masterpiece of the Baroque art: Piazza Navona together with Piazza di Spagna (with its Trinità dei Monti steps) and Fontana di Trevi attract visitors from all over the world.
Strolling alongside the river Tevere , which splits the city in half, it is worthwhile visiting the working-class neighbourhood of Trastevere . It is a set of medieval streets full of cheap small restaurants, refined trendy places and jazz bars, where one can taste the typical Roman cuisine. Here, too, one can find marvellous works of art such as the basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, the first church of Roma open to the worship of Christian art.
Alongside the river Tevere, bordering the Gianicolo, once can reach the small Vaticano state and facing the square designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini one can appreciate the huge basilica of San Pietro. Millions of tourists every year visit the Cappella Sistina to admire the vault frescoed by Michelangelo which is situated within the Musei Vaticani, where the cardinals gather to elect the Pope. In the Pinacoteca Vaticana works of Giotto, Raffaello, Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio are preserved.
Other places noteworthy are Castel Sant’Angelo with its Museo Nazionale not far from the Vatican state, on the right bank of river Tevere and the basilica of San Giovanni Laterano, today Pope’s residence.
But Roma is not just a city of art but also the city of shopping. At the Porta Portese market one can find not only a universe of cheap second-hand items but also expensive designer suits and dresses, and vintage accessories. Moreover, there is the elegant and refined Roma as well, that of Via Condotti.
Roma: beautiful city during the day, full of charm during the night!!