Rome, The Eternal City

“Rome welcomes you when you come and forgets you when you go” wrote Federico Fellini. Well, maybe. But in that precious time when you are a guest of one of the world’s most spell-binding cities, every moment will seem like a vignette pulled from one of Fellini’s classic films. An endless cast of characters and a timeless backdrop will make home seem like light years away.

A republic was declared in Rome in 509 b.c., and all roads have led here ever since. A very busy city of leisurely citizens, Rome serves up a jolt of big-city life with the warmth of a small provincial town. You’ll be inclined to pull up a ringside chair in an opera-set piazza, and enjoy the parade of people, but the Eternal City promises an embarrassment of sites and sights that begs to be seen.

Ten Favorite Sights (in no particular order!)

Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
One of Rome’s four major basilicas, built in the 5th century, then restored and extended between the 12th and 18th centuries. Its magnificent 5th-century mosaics are among the oldest and most beautiful in the city, and its 15th-century coffered ceiling is said to have been gilded with some of the first gold brought from the New World, a gift of the Spanish monarchy. Where: Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore.   

Borghese Gallery
Begun by Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the 17th century, the collection includes Titian’s Sacred and Profane Love, Raphael’s Deposition, Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne, and Caravaggio’s David with the Head of Goliath, among innumerable other masterpieces. Where: Piazzale Scipione Borghese.   www.galleriaborghese.it.   

The Coliseum
Once able to seat 50,000, the Coliseum was begun in a.d. 72 by Vespasian and inaugurated in a.d. 80 by his son, Titus. Combat was the usual entertainment — between men, between animals, between men and animals, and even between ships, as the whole thing could be flooded. Centuries of neglect and outright ransacking left it a shell largely without floor or seats, but what a shell it is, with three tiers of columns—Doric, Ionian, and Corinthian. Renovation projects go on perpetually though recent progress occasionally allows special events to take place here. Where: Piazzale del Colosseo, Via dei Fori Imperiali.  

EtruscanMuseum at the Villa Giulia
This elegant 16th-century country villa built for Pope Julius III holds thirty-five rooms with Italy’s largest and best collection of ancient Etruscan sculptures, terra-cotta vases, sarcophagi, and exquisite jewelry. Very little is known about the mysterious Etruscans, whose impressive empire predated the Roman. Where: Piazzale di Villa Giulia 

Piazza Campidoglio and the Capitoline Museums
Designed by Michelangelo in the 1550s, the Piazza Campidoglio is one of Rome’s most elegant piazzas, and home to one of its greatest museums, inaugurated by Pope Clement in 1734. Its collection includes ancient Roman sculptures and Renaissance paintings, including numerous works by Tintoretto and Reni. The famous statue of the wolf suckling Romulus and Remus is here, as is the original statue of Marcus Aurelius astride a horse, which once sat in the center of the piazza. Pollution led to its removal indoors; a copy remains outside. Where: Piazza del Campidoglio. www.museicapitolini.org.

The Pantheon
Built in 27 b.c. by Marcus Agrippa and reconstructed by Hadrian in the early 2d century a.d., the Pantheon is the most complete ancient Roman building remaining today and one of its architectural wonders: its dome is exactly as wide as it is high, supported by pillars hidden in the walls. Raphael’s tomb (and countless others) is here. Sit outside in any of the cafes for a late afternoon Campari and gaze upon its ancient wonder. Where: Piazza della Rotonda.

The Roman and Imperial Forums
The center of Roman life in the days of the Republic, the Roman Forum was a stone quarry and cow pasture before excavations began in the 19th century. You need a map and guide to put some meaning to the ruins, which include numerous temples, the Umbilicus Urbus, considered the center of Rome (and, by extension, of the empire); the Curia, the main seat of the Roman Senate; and the House of the Vestal Virgins, home of the young women who minded the Temple of Vesta’s sacred fire. The Imperial Forum was begun by Julius Caesar to show the power of the emperors. You can see his forum, once the site of the Roman stock exchange; the Forum of Augustus, built to commemorate the defeat of Caesar’s assassins; the famous Trajan’s Column, with bas-reliefs depicting the emperor’s campaign against the Dacians; the Forum of Trajan; and much more. Where: Via dei Fori Imperiali

Spanish Steps
Designed by Francesco de Sanctis and built between 1723 and 1725, these wide steps ascend in three majestic tiers from the busy Piazza di Spagna to the French Trinità dei Monti church, one of Rome’s most distinctive landmarks and the place to be at sunset, with a post-card perfect view of Rome’s seven hills. The steps take their name from the Spanish Embassy, which occupied a nearby palace in the 19th century. Located at the foot of the staircase, the boat-shaped fountain in the piazza was designed in the late 16th century by Bernini or his father (the jury is still out). The house where John Keats lived and died sits beside the steps. Where: Piazza di Spagna.

Trevi Fountain
Who hasn’t seen the night-time scene in “La Dolce Vita” with Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroiani who frolic in the Trevi Fountain? Designed by Nicolo Salvi and completed in 1762, the fanciful Baroque fountain features Neptune standing on a chariot drawn by winged steeds. Throw in a coin to promise your return to Rome.
Where: Piazza di Trevi.

Vatican City
The world’s smallest independent state, Vatican City is accessed through vast St. Peter’s Square, surrounded by an elliptical colonnade with some 140 saints on top. Straight ahead is the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica, the center of world Catholicism. The Circus of Nero, where St. Peter was crucified, once sat on this spot, and in 324 a.d. the emperor Constantine commissioned a basilica to be built here in the saint’s honor. The present structure dates from the 16th and 17th centuries and contains cream-of-the-crop statuary, the Michelangelo-designed dome and his famous Pietà, and so much more that it’s overwhelming — exactly as it was supposed to be. To the north of the piazza, the Vatican Museums (www.vatican.va) contain one of the world’s greatest collections of art from antiquity and the Renaissance, including Raphael’s famous stanze (several rooms containing many of the artist’s masterpieces), housed in a labyrinth of palaces and galleries. The gem of the collection is the famous Sistine Chapel, with its ceiling painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512. Recently restored, their vibrant colors have left even art historians in awe.

Have you ever traveled to Rome? What's your favorite sight to see?

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Patricia Schultz is the author of 1000 Places To See Before You Die (Workman) and 1000 Places to See in the USA & Canada Before You Die (Workman)

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