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The fortress of Castel Sant'Angelo, wanted by Emperor Hadrian, was intended at first as a sepulchre for Emperors which until then had been buried in the mausoleum of Augustus.
It was started in AD 130 and finished in AD 140 by Emperor Antonius Pius. During the years it was transformed into a fortress. It takes its name from a vision that Pope Gregory VII had on this site. Thelegend, which dates back to AD 590 says that during the terrible plague that hit Rome Pope Gregory VII who was passing in front of the fortress had a vision of the Archangel Michael putting away his sword, which was a clear symbol that the plague was going to finish soon. To make the castle even more safe Pope Nicholas III built the Vatican Corridor which served as an escape route and still connects the castle to the Vatican to this day.
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The Trevi Fountain is the biggest and most famous fountain in Rome. The eighteenth-century fountain was designed by Nicolò Salvi and combines classicism and baroque. It lies against Palazzo Poli. The theme of the fountain is the sea and the main feature is a carriage in the shape of a shellfrom which a statue representing the Ocean emerges, flanked by the statues of the “Salubrity” andthe “Abundance”,both works by Filippo Valle. The carriage is pulled by two “sea-horses” driven by two tritons. In the fountain, baroque sculpture and architecture combine perfectly and create a beautiful water spectacle.The fountain was cleaned and restored in 1998 and the water system was also renovated.
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The Colosseum, the symbol of Rome, was commissioned by Emperor Vespasian in AD 72and opened in AD 80. Games, sea battles, wild animal fights and gladiatorial combats were staged inside the colosseum.
From the fifth century onwards, the colosseum was put out of use and this caused its deterioration. It was restored during the papacy of Pope Pius VIII, then by architect Valadier. It is the Roman monument which has the most visitors (1.500.000 each year).
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The area around the Spanish Steps was built between the end of the fifteenth century and the end of the nineteenth century. Trinità dei Monti, the Barcaccia fountain and the beautiful eighteenth-century buildings make Piazza di Spagna one of the most monumental squares in Rome.
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This baroque piazza was started in the middle of the seventeenth century and follows the shape of Domitian's Stadium which once stood on this site. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, during August, Piazza Navona was closed and flooded with water and prelates and princes paraded in thei carriages.
The piazza is also famous for Borromini's church of Sant'Agnese in Agone and Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi. During the Christmas period the square fills with typical market stalls.
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This supersb piazza together with Bernini's colonnade, make a beautiful spectacle for the biggest church of Christianity, dominated by the great dome designed by Michelangelo. The building of the basilica was carried out thoughout the XVI century by Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana. The basilica was built over the ruins of a paleochristian church which was the site of St Peter's tomb.
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Museo e Galleria Borghese
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The villa, which houses the Borghese Gallery and Museum, also known as Casinò Borghese, was laid out by Cardinal Scipione Borghese in 1613.
The museum (Museo Borghese), occupies the ground floor and contains antique sculptures by Bernini and Canova. The gallery (Galleria Borghese), is on the upper floor and has important paintings by Raffaello, Botticelli, Caravaggio, Bernini and Antonio Canova.
Open: 8.30 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday
Closed: Monday
Tickets:
Entrance fee: €8,50
Reduced fee: €5,20
Services: audio tours, cloakroom, multimedia conference room, toilets, wheelchair access, guided tours, café and restaurant.
Buses: 53-52-116-217-910.
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Address: Piazza S. Borghese, 5 - 00197 Roma tel.0632810 |
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Galleria Nazionale Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
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The National Gallery of Contemporary and Modern Art is dedicated above all to Italian painters and sculptors from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries but also important works of foreign painters are exhibited. There is also a very rich library and a special archive.
Open: 8.30 a.m.- 7.30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday
9a.m.-11p.m. Saturday
Closed: Monday
Tickets:
Entrance fee: €6,20
Reduced fee (for students aged between 18 and 25): €3,10
Services: library, café, toilets, wheelchair access, guided tours, restaurant at “Il Caffè delle Arti”.
Buses: 225-628-926
Tram: 3
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Address: Viale delle Belle Arti, 131 - 00196 Roma |
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Palazzo Venezia became a museum in 1916 when it became property of the Italian State after housing the Venetian and Austrian Embassies. In 1911, in order to make space for the statue of Victor Emmanuel II at the front of Piazza Venezia, the building which had been built for the Venetian Cardinal Pietro Barbo was moved to the left side of the Victor Emmanuel Monument and rebuilt using the original marbles and stones. The museum holds paintings from the thirteenth century to the eighteenth century and has a vast collection of wood and marble scupltures, bronzes, terracotta sculptures, ceramics, porcelain, silver, medals, glass and tapestries.
Open: 8.30 a.m.-7.30 p.m. Everyday
Closed: Mondays, 1st January, 25th December.
Tickets:
Entrance fee: €4,00
Reduced fee: € 2,00
Services: Audiotours, cloakroom, multimedia conference room, toilets, wheelchair access, guided tours, café and restaurant.
Buses: 30-40-44-46-62-63-64-70-75-81-84-87-95-160-170-186-204-271-492-571-630-715-716-780-781-810-916.
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Address: Via del Plebiscito, 118
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The buildings that house the papal museums and galleries were built by Pope Julius II (1503-1513). The Belvedere courtyard held many classical masterpieces such as the sculpture of the Apollo del Belvedere (a copy of a Greek statue of the sun god Apollo, probably by the Greek sculptor Leochares), the Laocoön (a copy of the original statue in Rhodes attributed to Agesander, Athenodorus and Polydorus) and the Torso del Belvedere (by the artist Apollonius of Athens).
Pope Leo X, Pope Clement VII and Pope Paul III, made additions to the collection during the sixteenth century. Sixtus V commissioned the building which houses the Vatican Apostolic Library.
Clement XIV and Pius VI founded the Pius Clementine Museum during the second half of the eighteenth century. Later Pius VII founded the Chiaromonti Museum and Pope Gregory XIV founded the Etruscan and Egyptian Museum.
Pope Pius XI is the founder of the picture gallery and the Missionary-Enthologic Museum. Pope John XXIII who decided to transfer into the Vatican the Gregorian Museum of Profane Art and the Lapidary Gallery which were housed until then in the Lateran Palace, commissioned a new wing especially for these museums. Finally, Pope Paul VI was the founder of the Collection of Modern Religious Art.
During the last few years, especially due to space, the Historic Museum has been transfered to the Papal Apartment in the Lateran Palace but the Carriage Pavilion has remained inside the Vatican. The Vatican Museums house a series of different collections. A complete tour of the museumslasts about five hours.
Tickets:
Entrance fee: €12,00
Reduced fee: € 8,00
Services: audiotours, cloakroom, toilets, wheelchair access, guided tours.
uses: 907-991-81-51-23-49-19-990-64
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Address: Viale Vaticano, vicino Piazza Risorgimento |
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