Rome: archaeological city par excellence, strewn with the traces of a glorious past. Our journey across the imperial city starts at the northern most gate, the Porta del Popolo, from where we head towards the Via del Corso, past the old river port of Ripetta and the elegant Villa Medici as far as Piazza del Popolo and the Egyptian obelisk brought to Rome during the reign of Augustus.
From the piazza a small flight of steps leads to the Pincio terrace from where to admire a fabulous view of the Villa Borghese. In the museum of Villa Borghese there is an invaluable collection of artworks by great artists such as Bernini, Canova, and Caravaggio. In the same part of the city, we find Villa Giulia and the National Etruscan Museum. The Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, overlooking the piazza, houses two famous works by Caravaggio and statues by Bernini. One of Rome's oldest monuments is situated in Piazza Augusto Imperatore. The Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Peace) was, in fact, erected back in the 9th century B.C. Today, the altar is housed in a striking modern building designed by the American architect Richard Meier and inaugurated in 2006.
Via del Babuino leads us to the famous Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish steps: a great flight of travertine steps, realized by Francesco De Santis in 1723, at the bottom of which lies Pietro Bernini's Barcaccia Fountain and the Keats and Shelley Museum, this latter also known as the Casina Rossa. Rome's glamorous designer shopping district commences directly opposite, in Via Condotti, street which owes its name to the 16th century channels that carried water to the Agrippa thermal spa baths. Another of the Italian capital's most fashionable addresses is that of Via Veneto'', immortalised in Fellini's cinematographic masterpiece "La Dolce Vita"'''.
In the lively Via del Tritone we find the fountain commissioned by Urbano VIII Barberini and sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The National Gallery of Ancient Art is housed in the sumptuous Palazzo Barberini nearby. Continuing along Via Veneto, we come to Piazza della Repubblica and the Roman Baths of Diocletian. The Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri was built inside the tepidarium of the baths according to the designs of Michelangelo. Later construction work was directed by Luigi Vanvitelli.
After a maze of narrow alleyways, much loved by both Goethe and Stendhal, Via del Crociferi leads the visitor to the magnificent Trevi Fountain, the 18th century masterpiece realized by Nicola Salvi. In Piazza Colonna, which takes its name from the Column erected in honour of the emperor Marcus Aurelius at its center, we find Palazzo Chigi, the seat of Italian government, and Palazzo di Montecitorio, the country's Houses of Parliament since 1871.
Piazza della Rotonda is dominated by the obelisk of Ramses III and the Pantheon. The Pantheon was built under the reign of the Emperor Adrian in the II century B.C. as a temple dedicated to all the gods. Many centuries later, in 609, the building was converted in to Christian church and given the name Santa Maria ad Martyres. Today, within the walls of this magnificent building, visitors can see the tomb of Raphael and the Mausoleum of the Savoy.
Facing on to the Corso Rinascimento, Palazzo Madama is the meeting place of the Italian Senate. Just a little further on we come to Piazza Navona, an immense rectangular-shaped piazza constructed by Emperor Domiziano in 86 A.C as the city's stadium. During the middle ages, the terraces were replaced by houses and towers, which were later converted in elegant palazzi and renaissance and baroque style churches. Today visitors gather here to admire Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers and Borromini's Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone.
Those wishing to experience an authentic slice of Rome need do no more than walk the few meters which divide Piazza Navona from the nearby Campo de' Fiori which, with its colorful display of market stalls opening on to Piazza del Mercato, has represented an important trading post since the 15th century.
