Villa Sciarra

Home of the Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation and Benedictine monks studying in Rome. Visit the monastic produce shop and listen to the best Gregorian chant in Rome during Vespers (19:15 each evening).

Brand new museum designed to celebrate the art and architecture of the 21st century.

A relaxing place to sit and recover from the exertions of sightseeing. Permanent collection plus annual competition.

Although started in the 2nd century, San Callisto has had many more recent burials, including 16 popes. The burial arcades are almost 20 km long.

This well-preserved Roman circus was built at the beginning of the fourth century. It was part of an imperial villa built by Maxentius and the complex also contains the Mausoleum of his son, Romolo.

This building housed the University of Rome from the middle of the 15th century until 1935. The splendid interior courtyard was created by Giacomo della Porta. The inside church of Sant'Ivo (see above) is one of the masterpieces of the architect Borromini.

The Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Square) is the most famous square in Rome. For a very long time it was the meeting point of all foreigners coming to Rome. In the 17th century it was the residence of the Spanish Ambassador to the Holy See. The area around the residence was Spanish territory and foreigners who stayed here without permission were forced to serve in the Spanish army. The Fontana della Barcaccia (Old Boat Fountain) on Piazza di Spagna was designed and built in 1627-29 by Pietro Bernini, father of the more famous Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The fountain celebrates the fact that before high walls were built along the banks of the Tiber Rome often used to flood. Once the waters were so high that a boat ended up in the square. The decorations on the fountain imitate the coat of arms of Pope Urban VII, Barberini'p, who ordered the fountain to be built. A less aesthetic occupant of the square is Italy's first McDonalds, dating back to 1986. Also in the piazza is a column erected in 1856 to commemorate the Immaculate Conception. The column is topped by a statue of the Virgin Mary, and rests on a base with statues of Moses, David, Isaiah and Ezekiel. The Pope visits the Piazza every year on December 8th to celebrate Immaculate Conception.

The contours of the ancient stadium, built in the 6th Century B.C., are still visible in what is now a park in the shadow of the Palatine. Circus Maximus was primarily devoted to chariot races and was used for this purpose until around 550 AD. The stadium could seat up to 150,000 people. Originally built of wood, it burnt down twice, on the second occasion starting the great fire when the Emperor Nero was said to fiddle while Rome burned. It was in one of the tunnels here that Caligula met his end. Excavations began in 2009 at the east end of the circus and are likely to go on for some years.

Next door to the Pyramid, this fine gate in the Aurelian Wall is named after St. Paul as the Via Ostiense leads to the basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls (see Rome/South).

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.

In addition to Santa Maria in Cosmedin there is a lot to be seen around this piazza. Opposite the church is the round temple dedicated to Hercules Invictus (the Unconquered Hercules), and not far from that the rectangular Fortuna Virilis, both constructed in the 1st Century. Opposite, to the back of the piazza is the Arch of Argentari and behind that the church of San Giorgio in Velabro, the front of which was repaired after being damaged by a terrorist bomb in July 1993.

Permanent collection features paintings and drawings of Rome between the 18th and 20th centuries together with a fascinating black and white photo exhibition of Rome from 1950-80. Also offers rotating exhibitions, usually of the work of photographers.

Built in 81 AD by the emperor Domitianus in dedication to his brother Titus, who died earlier that year and reigned as emperor from 79-81, overseeing the opening of the Colosseum in 80 and the eruption of Mt Vesuvius the previous year.