Fontana di Trevi and other Rome, Italy Things to Do Tips

The only thing I disliked about the Trevi Fountain was the hundreds of tourists that were there (and yes, I was just another one of them). But if you can fall in love with a fountain, then I fell in love with the Fontana di Trevi. It's in a small square, with tall buildings around it, making the atmosphere feel very cosy. It is especially beautiful in the evening when it is lit up.

Also, while at the fountain you are supposed to stand at the waters edge, with your back to the fountain and throw a coin over your left shoulder - this is supposed to mean that you will return to Rome.

Now the fountain itself is very impressive. I've heard a lot of people say it was smaller than they thought it would be... to me it was bigger than I though it would be, and I thought it was stunning to look at. It was completed in the mid 18th Century and was designed by Nicola Salvi. The central figure of the fountain is Neptune, the sea god. The figures that stand immediately to the left and right of Neptune are supposed to represent fertility and good health.

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Address: Trevi Square
Website: http://www.romeguide.it/MONUM/STORICI/trevi/trevi.htm

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore dates back from the time of Pope Sixtus III (432-440). (Although the first church founded here was in c. 350 by Pope Liberius - but was more a 'church' rather than the basilica you see today). This is an impressive church. The church has a bell tower that chimes every hour and ever quarter hour. There are some really good mosaics and a beautiful gilded ceiling. There are also monuments to former Popes and Costanzo Partizi (although I am not certain who Costanzo Patrizi actually was) inside the basilica.

If you get the time, take a trip to this church. I remember I had a nice time sitting out the front in the cool shade of this church and watching people walking around the piazza. I also remember looking down a side street and seeing a couple of guys playing trumpets and dancing in the street.

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Address: 42 Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore, 00185 Rome
Website: http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen/fullscreen46.html

To be honest I was a little unimpressed by the Spanish Steps. The piazza was nice, the fountain beautiful, masses of people shopping and sightseeing... I even did the tourist thing and had a picture taken of my friend and I sitting on the steps, but it was still a bit disappointing.

I think the main reason for this, was that when I was at the foot of the steps, looking up at the Trinita dei Monti, it had a huge advertisement for 'Nike' on it - which really ruined it. Plus I had seen pictures of the steps, with beautiful green plants and colourful flowers on it - but there were none there when I went. It was still cool to be there on the Spanish Steps - but like I said, a little disappointing as well.

This piazza was named after the Spanish, because this is where the Spanish embassy was in the 17th Century. The square is very nice and picturesque with a fountain just in front of the Spanish Steps. The fountain is called 'Barcaccia', which means 'the boat' and was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the early 17th Century (This was to commemorate a flood of the Tiber that had reached up to this area in 1598).

If you love shops like Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, Fendi, Armani, Versace and Bulgari - then head straight to Piazza di Spagna as they are all in the immediate area! Just remember that this is high-fashion, so there are also extremely (and ridiculously) high prices!

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Address: Piazza di Spagna
Website: http://www.piazzadispagna.it/

The Colosseum when it was first built was known as the Flavian Amphitheater and was opened in 80 A.D by Titus (Roman emperor). There are 80 arches on the ground level, which were used as entrances into the colosseum - each arch is numbered (not in todays roman numerals though e.g IV is written as IIII on the colosseum). However today these entrances have bars across them to limit how people can enter the colosseum.

The amphitheater could hold approximately 70,000 people. The citizens would mainly have been men as the only women that were allowed in the theatre were usually 'working women' or vestal virgins. The emperor would have his own special seat and watch over all the fights deciding whether battles would be to the death or not (as you no doubt would have seen in the movie 'Gladiator').

You will notice when you go to the colosseum (as I recommend you do) that there are two main entrances into the interior of the amphitheater, one is larger than the other - this was the entrance of the gladiators, and the other smaller one, was the 'exit' for the gladiators that were killed. There were many different kinds of combats, man against man, man against animal and animal against animal. Animals were brought here from all over the world - like elephants, lions and even hippotamus.

A large portion of the colosseum still stands today, remarkable considering it is almost two millenia old. The reason why one side of the theatre has collapsed and not the other is because for hundreds of years one side had been in the sun and the other in the shade, the material of the side in the sun was weakened by the heat and caused it to fall apart (with the aid of an earthquake).

The colosseum is a very impressive structure, I went around the theatre with a guide (from Romaround tours) and found the information very helpful in understanding the context of the colosseums place in Roman history. It is an unbelievable place to see and I suggest that you check it out for yourself!

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Address: Piazzale del Colosseo, Via dei Fori Imperiali
Website: http://www.the-colosseum.net/

My friends and I were walking through the narrow streets of Rome, looking for the Pantheon, when we turned a corner and all of a sudden... there it was! But at first we were not sure if it was the Pantheon. Mainly because it was so closed in by the buildings around it, and we thought something with such history and such beauty would be in a very large piazza, on 'show'. But we were starting to learn that in the streets of Rome the past and present stand side by side.

The standout feature of the Pantheon is its large dome with the circular hole (oculus) in the middle, the only provider of light in the temple. The temple was designed by the emperor Hadrian (AD 118-125). Also take the time to note the beautiful marble floor (as not enough people look down when going through architectural marvels like this) and the bronze doors at the entrance (both restored over time). There are also excellent statues and paintings that feature almost symmetrically within the Pantheon. The main function of the Pantheon since the Renaissance (aside from a tourist attraction) has been as a tomb. Such people as Raphael and Vittorio Emanuele II are buried here.

Entrance
Free

Opening Times
Monday - Saturday: 8.30am - 7.30pm
Sunday: 9am - 6pm.

(Closed: 1st of January, 1st of May, 25th of December)

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Address: Piazza della Rotonda
Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome

San Pietro in Vaticano is amazing. I have never seen a place (church or otherwise) like this before. The architecture is astounding! I don't think my jaw has ever dropped so fast as when I stepped into San Pietro. The enormous hall, the columns, mosaics, the gilded bronze canopy (Baldacchino), the magnificent cupola (dome), the marble design and Michelangelo's The Pieta! It's incredible! With such beautiful architectural designs, sculptures and other art pieces I felt like I was walking in the most oppulent place on earth (and I probably was!).

And now for a bit of history...
Since the 2nd Century there has been a shrine of some kind on this site (for Saint Peter - who is believed to be buried beneath this structure). By 349 AD, after an order from the Roman emperor Constantine, the first basilica stood on this site. However by the 15th Century the basilica was in need of restoration. For almost the whole of the 16th Century (and into the 17th Century) the basilica was being rebuilt and restored by the most famous artists of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The cupola of San Pietro was designed by Michelangelo (although he did not live to see it finished as he died in 1564). The Baldacchino was created by Bernini. Other artists work in the basilica are by: Giotto, Alessandro Algardi, Filippo Barigioni and Arfnolfo di Cambio.

Opening Hours
April - Septemper: 7am - 7pm
October - March: 7am - 6pm

Admission
Free. But there are charges for if you want to go up the Cupola or into the Treasury

For more pictures of San Pietro take a look at my travelogue: Inside San Pietro

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Address: Vatican City
Directions: West of the centre of Rome, over the Tiber.
Website: http://www.stpetersbasilica.org/touristinfo.htm

Warning - only do this if you are in fairly good shape. It is a long way up to the very top of the cupola, and even though you can take an elevator up to the 'bottom' of the cupola, it is still a long and exhausting climb. However, it is well worth the trip. You get to see up close details of Michelangelo's design of the cupola, view the roof top and sculptures of the Twelve Apostles (and other statues of saints) and get the best views of the Vatican City and Rome!

I went midweek in August, it was very hot and there were hundreds of people. I think my friends and I waited in line for about 40 minutes (possibly longer) before we could buy our tickets and get to go up. For the first part you can take an elevator, or steps. After that, there is an area on the rooftop where there is a souvenir store and place for refreshments - I definitely recommend bringing a bottle of water with you before you start the climb. This is because after the elevator it is climbing all the way! And once you have climbed the 323 steps it is very crowded at the top where everyone is trying to see and take pictures of the city. It is totally worth it - although please don't do as others have - and write your names on the walls at the top, treat the place with some respect.

Opening Times
Daily: 8am - 5pm

For more pictures from the top of San Pietro, check out my travelogue Views from the top of San Pietro

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Address: San Pietro, Vatican City
Website: http://www.stpetersbasilica.org/touristinfo.htm

To be quite honest the Sistine Chapel was not how I thought it would look, and even though the ceilings mural is very impressive, I enjoyed the corridors with their paintings, sculptures, mosaics and other pieces of artwork more. When you are in the Chapel you feel everyone is impressed and trying to be quiet (although those not being quiet will be shushed by the guards), but still I was more impressed by other areas of Musei Vaticani.

The Sistine Chapel was built between 1475 and 1483. The most famous piece of art in the chapel is Michelangelo's fresco the Creation of Adam. Michelangelo also painted the Last Judgement, which is found over the altar in the chapel.

But please, don't just shuffle through the long corridors to look at the Sistine Chapel. Take in everything around you as you walk along the long corridors and go from room to room to room. Especially, I liked the 'Gallery of Maps', a gallery that is 120m long and holds 40 large (and incredibly beautiful) maps of the changing regions of Italy through the centuries. The ceiling looks golden and has many incredible works of art (paintings) - it is also along this gallery that you look out the windows and get a nice view of St. Peter's Basilica.

Admission (Museums and Chapel)
Adult: EUR 12
Reduced: EUR 8
Special: EUR 4
(check website for meaning of 'special' and 'reduced')

Opening Hours
(Generally - check website for specific dates)
April 1 to October 31: 8:45am - 4:45pm
November 1 to March 31: 8:45am - 1:45pm.
Closed all Sundays and holidays.

Although on the last Sunday of the month the museum is open with free admission.

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Address: Viale Vaticano - 00165, 00120 Citta del Vaticano
Website: http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html

I visited the Colosseum with a guide (Romaround tours) and our tour also included a guided walk around the Forums (different guy than from the Colosseum tour - this one was from England, his name was Harry). I didn't actually know anything about the Forum before coming here and this tour was a great way to learn more about the ruins.

The Forum was the centre of political and commercial life in ancient Rome and it is here that the ruins of that civilisation lie. There are beautiful columns, arches, temples, basilicas (which were the largest buildings in the area) and other ancient sites like Rostra (where people were allowed to make public speeches) to look at while you're there.

I really am glad I came here with a guide, otherwise I'm not sure I would have appreciated what I was looking at. If you don't want to walk around in a group, then at least get yourself a great guidebook to help show you your way around.

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Directions: Between the Colosseum and Piazza Venezia.
Metro stop: Colosseo
Website: http://www.romaround.it/tours.htm

Piazza Venezia is a large rectangular piazza, where the majority of the main roads in Rome lead. It is very close to the Forums, Capitol Hill and the Colosseum. In the piazza there is the large monument to Vittorio Emmanuelle II (the first King of Italy) designed by Enrico Chiaradia. And another monument is just below the depiction of the king, a tomb of an unknown soldier. This is meant to represent the irrationality of war, as it was built after World War I.

However, also on the square is Palazzo Venezia, one of Rome’s first Renaissance public buildings. However since 1916 it has no longer been owned by the public but by the state, and it is famous for when Mussolini ruled and made speeches from the balcony in the middle.

Also, just to note, don’t sit on the grass next to the main gates of the monument to Vittorio Emmanuelle II or the guards will yell at you to get off.

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Address: Piazza Venezia