Saint Charles at the Four Fountains

On the other side of the Via dei Fori Imperiali to the Roman Forum. Well-preserved market area that doubled as a way of stopping the Quirinal Hill from collapsing. Below in the Forum is Trajan's Column, built in 113 with reliefs depicting the Emperor Trajan's vistories in battle.

A great little cathedral to visit, lovingly looked after by Irish Dominicans. There is an excavated older church below the medieval church you enter and a Mithraeum (temple to Mithras, whose cult was very popular with Roman soldiers from the 1st to 4th century AD) below that. The only place in Rome to hear the underground river that flows beneath the city.

Regular shows plus an excellent astronomical museum.

Contains the ruins of several large villas that belonged to wealthy Roman families. You can buy a combined ticket for the Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum here, avoiding the long lines at the Colosseum. While the Imperial and Roman Fora are probably more spectacular, overall, there are amazing sights on the Palatine Hill, so unless you are terribly short on time or find it too challenging to climb the hill, allow an hour or more for these sights, too.

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.

This museum is built on top of the excavation site of the Balbi Crypt, a building from the first century A.D. which underwent considerable modifications in the following centuries. Through the building's history, the museum gives us glimpses of what Roman life across the ages was like. Free visits of the ruins are possible. The Essedra ruins are only accessible on Saturdays and Sundays, at 10:45, 11:45, 12:45, 14:45 and 15:45.

The remains of the ancient Roman archives, where Cicero and Seneca did research. Visible from the Forum and accessible through the Capitoline Museum.

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).

A museum devoted to pasta, Italy's premier gift to world cuisine.

Minor basilica in 17th-century baroque style with good art inside. In a smaller Italian city, this might be a prime attraction, but in Rome, with its abundance of great churches, this is merely a pleasant church of secondary interest to visit if you are in the area.

The 4th rebuilding of the meeting place for the Roman Senate, once converted into a church during the Middle Ages, but now restored since the 1930s.

On top of the Capitoline hill. The piazza was designed by Michelangelo. The Capitoline Museum is housed in the palaces flanking the piazza. You can walk behind the Palazzo Senatorio, where Rome's government meets, to a wonderful viewpoint which overlooks the entire Roman Forum. In the centre of the square you can admire an exact copy of the Statue of Marcus Aurelius on horseback; the original is kept in one of the two museums, to preserve it from pollution.

With Bernini's famous Triton Fountain. Via Veneto starts here too.