Rome is of course the capital of Italy. It is the fourth most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. The Vatican City (the smallest country in the world) is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city. Rome’s history spans 28 centuries. It became the first major center of the Italian Renaissance and the birthplace of the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the center of their activity, creating masterpieces throughout the city. In 1871, Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, which became the Italian Republic in 1946.
The Palatine Hill is one of the oldest inhabited parts of Rome and was the residence of aristocratic families and emperors. The Trajan Market is a well-preserved monument from the past. It has multiple floors of administrative offices and shops dating from ca. 100 A.D., including the famous Via Biberatica.
Rome offers a plethora of museums and art galleries filled with paintings and sculptures of the Renaissance and the Baroque periods. The Vatican Museum is home to some of the world’s most magnificent masterpieces such as the Sistine Chapel and the Raphael Rooms. Fine paintings can also be found scattered throughout Rome in several museums, galleries and churches.
The twelve paintings on its side walls are by artists such as Perugino, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Signorelli. It shows analogous episodes from the life of the Christ and Moses. The decoration of the Sistine chapel was completed between 1534 and 1541 by Michelangelo, who painted the great altar fresco, The Last Judgement.
Its beautiful frescoes express elements of rigidness and philosophical features of the Renaissance.
Astonishing copies of Greek and Roman sculptures have been kept on Capitoline Hill since the 15th century. All master pieces are housed in 2 palaces designed by Michelangelo: the Palazzo Nouvo and the Palazzo dei Conservatori.
There are about 19 basilicas, 3 of them are patriarchal: St Peter’s Basilica, St John in Lateran and the most ancient church in the world Santa Maria Maggiore.
The Roman Colosseum or Coliseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, was commisioned in AD 72 by Emperor Vespasian and was built on the site of Nero’s palace.
The Roman Pantheon is the most preserved and influential building of ancient Rome. It is a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods of pagan Rome.
The Via Appia is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi.
The Roman aqueducts not only provided drinking water for the Romans but indoor sewer systems that carried water away from the city and also supplied the bath houses with ample water.
The Catacombs of Praetextatus were built way back in the 2nd century. Originally built by an aristocratic Roman family intended for their use eventually became the burial choice of many leading aristocratic and pagan Roman figures. The Catacombs of San Sebastiano are also located on the Via Appia. Also on the Via Appia are the Catacombs of San Callisto in use during the 2nd century. These catacombs became the official catacombs of the Church of Rome.
There are so many more things to go see in Rome that we just have to stop here.
If you want to know more,we can recommend: