Curia Julia

Named after St. Francis of Assisi, who stayed nearby. Inside the Paluzzi-Albertoni chapel is one of Bernini’s masterpieces, the statue of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni. The column in front of the church comes from the ruins of Veii (see Rome/North).

A strange building, constructed by Reginald Pole, an English cardinal and later Archbishop of Canterbury, allegedly on the spot where he was able to escape from assassins sent by the English King Henry VIII.

This was the site of the slaughter in 1944 of 335 Italians, including many Jews from the Ghetto, in retaliation for a Partisan attack on German troops in Rome. The caves where the massacre took place are now a National Monument and Memorial Cemetery and can be visited daily.

More modern than most Roman churches: it was not started until 1873. This is Rome’s Episcopalian church. Some very interesting artwork, particularly the mosaics by Edward Burne-Jones of the Pre-Raphaelite school.

The Celian Hill is one of the seven hills of Rome. You immediately see the church of San Gregorio Magno. On this site monks were trained before setting off as missionaries to England at the end of the 6th Century. Further up the hill is Santi Giovanni e Paolo. At this point it is difficult to believe you are in the middle of a major city. This church was built in 398 over the home of two Roman soldiers, John and Paul, who were martyred for their Christian beliefs in 362. Excavations show that there were several burials on the site, a risky business as burials were illegal at that time. After the church you come to the back entrance of the Villa Celimontana park (jazz festival nightly in late June-August). The modern buildings before you reach the park are owned by Silvio Berlusconi’s television company. By the main entrance of the park note the boat-like fountain known as the “Navicella”. As you exit the main entrance to the left is the church of S. Maria in Domnica, which has some interesting mosaics. Next to this church is the Porta Esquilina, one of the gates from the original Servian walls of Rome. It dates back to the 4th century BC.

It was built in 27 BCE, by Augustus' right hand man Marcus Agrippa, and later remodeled by the Emperor Hadrian (AD 125-128). This ancient temple was built as a temple to all the gods of the Roman state but has served as a Christian church since the 7th century. It is the only building from the Graeco-Roman world which has remained substantially intact and in continuous use throughout to the present day, and as it is still a functioning church, silence is requested during your visit. The Pantheon is celebrated for its large dome. From inside you'll see traces of the former bronze ceiling, melted down during the reign of Pope Urban VIII to make weapons for the fortification of the Castel Sant' Angelo. The hole in the center of the ceiling, though, is an original feature designed for architectural reasons (the dome would collapse without it.) If it happens to be raining, you should definitely go to the Pantheon to see the rain pouring into the building through the hole in the ceiling. There are holes in the ground that drain the water. The spectacular doors are Romans, but not the original. The original bronze beams of the pronao were melted down by Pope Urban VIII and might have been used to create Bernini's Baldacchino, or canopy, in Saint Peter's. The dome is the largest masonry dome in the world, larger than that of Saint Peter. The building now appears to be built in a depression, but this was not the original appearance. The street level at the sides and rear has risen about 10 metres (33 ft) since its construction due to the accumulation of debris from 2,000 years of settlement. This has necessitated the maintenance of the deep trench that keeps the building from being buried. The Pantheon was free for many years, but fees began being charged in 2023.

At the northern end of Via XX Settembre next to the Porta Pia designed by Michaelangelo. The previous embassy had been destroyed by a terrorist bomb in 1946 and was eventually replaced by this world-renowned modern design by Sir Basil Spence. It was built on stilts so as not to interrupt the view of the garden.

This is a large tomb built by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 28 BC in the form of a stone ring covered by an earth mound. A brick wall, 87 m in diameter, carried an earth mound covered with cypresses. On top of the hill stood a bronze monument of the emperor. The building was 44 meters high. At the beginning of the alley, which led to the tomb were two Egyptian obelisks. On both sides of the doorway bronze plates describe the "Res gestae", the deeds of the emperor. The urns of Augustus, Marcellus, Octavia, Agrippa, Drusus and other members of the Julian Claudian dynasty were revered here. In the Middles Ages the building served as citadel of the Colonna family. It was destroyed by Pope Gregor IX in 1241. The body of Cola di Rienzo. a popular leader of the people in the mid-14th century, was burnt in this monument. The Mausoleo di Augusto is not open to the public, and is fenced off.

It was immortalised in 1960 by the Federico Fellini film La Dolce Vita. It is also the location of the US Embassy, in the massive Palazzo Margherita. Via Veneto went into a period of decline in the 1980s but has returned to popularity and the roadside cafes are the place to be seen if you are into that sort of thing.

The renamed Rome Zoo, one of the oldest in Europe, founded in 1911. On the edge of the Borghese Gardens, a short, well-signposted walk from the Gallery. They try hard, but San Diego this isn't. If you are a regular zoo-goer you will be disappointed.

The building is in one of the most hidden corners of the city center among Piazza Navona and Castel Sant'Angelo. It served as residence for the Orsini family. Nowadays it is private property and one can only glance at the courtyard and the amazing fountain inside, erected in 1618 by architect Antonio Casoni. However, the brief moment is worth it.

A magnificent patrician house with beautiful gardens. It was built by order of Cardinal Alessando Albani in 1743-1763 in order to accommodate his collection of art. The collection was taken care of by the Winkelmann, adviser and friend of the cardinal. In Rome, Winkelmann wrote his "Geschichte der Kunst des Altertumns (HIstory of the Art of Antiquity)", which made him the founder of classical archaeology. The painted ceiling of the great hall depicting Mount Parnassus is by the German painter Anton Raphael Mengs who was considered as the greatest painter in Rome in the 18th century. A permission to visit is to be requested by email or fax from Principi Torlonia's administration where you'd need to indicate date and time desired, your name and number of people in your party (max. 10).

If it is sunny, you'll catch a few young people and older gentlemen sitting at the base of a statue in the middle of the open space. The statue is a brooding, hooded Giordano Bruno—an excommunicated Dominican monk and one of the earliest cosmologists who held the idea of an infinite universe. He was burnt at the stake for heresy on this spot on 17 February 1600. The piazza is used as a marketplace during the day, and party central for college students and tourists at night. When the sky gets dark and the street lamps go on, the Campo de' Fiori fills with people and lovers wander arm in arm in the crowd. Over the buzzing of conversation and the occasional burst of laughter you may hear a young vocalist belt out O Sole Mio at the top of his lungs as change plunks into his accordion case.

Ara Pacis is an altar to peace commissioned by the Roman Senate on 4 July 13 BC to honor the triumphal return from Hispania and Gaul of Augustus. It is universally recognised as a masterpiece. Following discovery of this work under a building in Rome, Mussolini built a protective building for it near the Mausoleum of Augustus, where it was reconstructed. A new building on the same site as Mussolini's was opened in 2006 and has been controversial. The mayor at the time said he would tear down the new structure. The basement of the new building features occasional exhibitions. You can see much of it from outside the building. Paying to go inside adds some background info, but not much more.

Fantastic Byzantine mosaics and some other interesting artwork. Not to be missed. 30 minutes are sufficient for a relaxed visit.

Small and attractive piazza tucked away in a neighborhood near Pantheon.

Perhaps most famous for a large model of imperial Rome, but also has a large display of various aspects of ancient Rome, using plaster casts, models and reconstructions of works found in museums throughout the world.

The Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs) is, according to Roman Catholic tradition, the staircase used by Jesus Christ to approach Pontius Pilate to be sentenced to death. Attracts numerous pilgrims who climb the stairs on their knees.

The chains that allegedly held St. Peter are displayed in a case before the altar. More importantly, contains the impressive statue of Moses by Michelangelo. It's close to the Colosseum, but a little hard to find. Take the steps opposite the Colosseum on Via dei Fori Imperiali, cross the road at the top and seek directions. Also reachable through steps to the right leading off Via Cavour.

Constructed around the 1940s as the centrepiece of the EUR, but unused for a long time. It was restored before 2015 when the luxury fashion label Fendi moved in.