Capitoline Hill
The Capitoline Hill, now the seat of the city's municipal authorities,
was the centre of government of ancient Rome, and is the geographical
centre of the modern city. It is especially beautiful at night,
when it is usually deserted.
The piazza were designed by Michelangelo in 1538. It is bordered
by three buildings (also by Michelangelo): the Palazzo Nuovo and
the Palazzo dei Conservatori, which together house the Capitoline
Museums, and the Palazzo Senatorio at the rear.
The bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in the centre of
the piazza is a copy made from a mould created through computer-generated
photographs. The original, which dates from the 2nd century AD,
was badly damaged by pollution and pigeon dung and was removed in
1981. It has been restored and is now housed behind glass inside
the Palazzo Nuovo.
For the greatest visual impact, approach the Capitoline Hill from
Piazza d'Aracoeli and ascend the cordonata, a stepped ramp also
designed by Michelangelo. It is guarded at the bottom by two ancient
Egyptian granite lions and at the top by two mammoth statues of
Castor and Pollux, which were excavated from the nearby ghetto area
in the 16th century.
Castel Sant' Angelo
Reached by one of the world's most beautiful bridges - Bernini's
billowing, angel-clad Pont Sant' Angelo - this strange, circular
tank of a building was originally constructed as the mausoleum of
Emperor Hadrian.
It was converted into a papal fortress in the 6th century, and
is linked by underground passages to the Vatican palaces. Several
popes have felt the need to take advantage of the secret routes
in times of threat.
The mausoleum is now an interesting museum, and its evocative atmosphere
is heightened by the knowledge that it was from here that Puccini's
Tosca plunged to her death.
Forum
Built over 900 years, the Roman Forum (Foro Romano) was the commercial,
political and religious centre of ancient Rome from the Republican
era until the 4th century AD.
The importance of the Forum declined along with the Roman Empire.
During medieval times the area was used to graze cattle and extensively
plundered for its precious marbles. During the Renaissance, with
the renewed appreciation of all things classical, the Forum provided
inspiration for artists and architects.
The area was systematically excavated in the 18th and 19th centuries,
and you can see archaeological teams at work in ongoing digs.
The Forum is entered from the piazza leading from the Colosseum.
You immediately enter another world: the past. Columns rise from
grassy hillocks, and repositioned pediments and columns aid the
work of the imagination.
Galleria Borghese
This 'queen of all private collections' was formed by Cardinal Scipione
Borghese, the most passionate and knowledgeable connoisseur of his
day. The collection and the mansion were acquired by the Italian
state in 1902; a lengthy restoration took place in the 1990s.
The ground floor contains some important classical statuary and
intricate Roman floor mosaics. But Bernini's spectacular carvings
- flamboyant depictions of pagan myths - are the stars. His precocious
talent is evident in works such as Pluto and Proserpine, where Pluto's
hand presses into Proserpine's solid marble thigh, and in the swirling
Apollo and Daphne, which depicts the exact moment at which the nymph
is transformed into a laurel tree, her fingers becoming leaves,
her toes turning into tree roots, while Apollo watches helplessly.
There are six Caravaggios, including the wonderfully naturalistic
Madonna dei Palafrenieri (Madonna with the Serpent), whose uninhibited
realism led to its rejection by its ecclesiastical commissioners,
allowing Scipione to snap it up.
The paintings on the first floor are testimony to Scipione's connoisseur's
eye, and include masterworks by Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Veronese,
Botticelli, Guercino, Domenichino and Rubens, among others. It's
advisable to book.
Holy See
Not many religions actually own a country, but Catholicism isn't
just any religion. The Vatican is probably per square foot the richest
country in the world, making up for its total lack of natural resources
with an astonishing collection of priceless art treasures.
No-one passed on that stuff about the camel and the needle's eye
to the Vatican: it's probably the most hysterically, hyperbolically
lavish display of wealth you'll ever see. For art lovers it's the
mecca of meccas, with iconic treasures ranging from the Sistine
Chapel to Bernini's imposing piazza.
Pantheon
Marcus Agrippa's Pantheon is one of the world's most sublime architectural
creations: a perfectly proportioned floating dome resting on an
elegant drum of columns and pediments. It was built in 27 BC, and
rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in 120 AD.
The temple has been consistently plundered and damaged over the
years; it lost its beautiful gilded bronze roof tiles in Pope Gregory
III's time. Its extraordinary dome -is the largest masonry vault
ever built.
After being abandoned under the first Christian emperors, the Pantheon
was converted into a church in 609 and dedicated to the Madonna
and all the martyrs.
The Italian kings Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I and the artist
Raphael are buried here.
Via Appia Antica
Known to ancient Romans as the 'regina viarum' (queen of roads),
the Via Appia Antica extends from the Porta di San Sebastiano to
Brindisi on the coast of Puglia. It was started around 312BC by
the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, but didn't connect with Brindisi
until around 190BC.
The first section of the road, which extended 90km (56mi) to Terracina,
was considered revolutionary in its day because it was almost perfectly
straight - perhaps the world's first autostrada. Every Sunday, a
long section of the Via Appia Antica becomes a no-car zone. You
can walk or ride a bike from the Porta di San Sebastiano for several
kilometres.
Monuments along the road near Rome include the catacombs and Roman
tombs. The Chiesa Di Domine Quo Vadis is built at the point where
St Peter had a vision of Christ as he was escaping the Neronian
persecution. Noticing he was going towards the city, Peter asked
'Domine, quo vadis?' - ('Lord, where are you going?') When Jesus
replied that he was going to Rome to be crucified again, Peter took
the hint and returned to the city, where he was arrested and martyred.
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