ROME IN A DAY
As the saying goes.. “Rome wasn't built in a day" This is my throwback to when I visited the colosseum. In my opinion, Rome is a walking museum.
Here are top 10 sights you should visit. This list also includes Vatican City (NB: Another country, but because it is so close to Rome you could look at booking your full day tour inclusive of a visit to the Holy See.)
- Colosseum
The Colosseum is the largest amphitheatre built during the Roman Empire. Inaugurated in 80 AD, it offered gladiator fights, executions and animal hunts. - Roman Forum
Located between Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum, the Roman Forum was the hub of political and social activity of the Roman citizens. - Trevi Fountain
Trevi Fountain is the most beautiful and most spectacular fountain in Rome. Millions of people visit it every year to make a wish. - Piazza Navona
With its three majestic fountains and surrounding mansions, Piazza Navona is one of the most beautiful Baroque squares in Rome. - St. Peter’s Square
St. Peter’s Square (Piazza San Pietro in Italian) is located in the Vatican at the feet of the Basilica. One of the most famous squares in the world. - St. Peter’s Basilica
One of the largest churches in the world, St Peter’s Basilica, built in the Renaissance style is part of the Vatican. Many Popes have been buried here. - Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel is one of the greatest treasures of the Vatican City. Designed by the brilliant Michelangelo, it is a must-see tourist attraction. - Piazza di Spagna & the Spanish Steps
As the site of many events and fashion shows, the Spanish Steps is one of the most renowned places in Rome. Piazza di Spagna in one of Rome’s best areas. - Pantheon
Completed by Hadrian in the year 126AD, the Pantheon claims to be the best preserved building from ancient Rome. A masterpiece of Roman architecture. - Catacombs
San Sebastiano, San Callisto, Domitilla, Priscilla, and Sant’Agnese… Discover Rome’s various catacombs, what they are and how to visit them.
This majestic structure is one of the most renowned and iconic landmarks in the world and a trip to Rome would not be complete without visiting the Colosseum. I’m sure you’d have visited?
I found 14 interesting facts about Rome:-
1) Modern Rome has 280 fountains and more than 900 churches.
2) Nearly 700,000 euros worth of coins are tossed into Rome’s Trevi Fountain each year. The proceeds are donated to Caritas to help those in need.
3) The Romans had built a road network of 53,000 miles by the early fourth century. Each Roman mile was about 4,800 feet and marked by a milestone, giving birth to the saying “All roads lead to Rome.”
4) The mascot of Rome is a she-wolf that cared for brothers Romulus and Remus, the mythological founders of Rome.
5) Women in ancient Rome dyed their hair with goat fat and beech wood ashes. The most popular colors were red and blond.
6) The first ever shopping mall was built in Rome between 107 and 110 AD by Emperor Trajan. It sold a wide variety of goods and grocery items.
7) Cats have special rights – the city, thanks to a Roman policy set in place in 1991 to protect them.
8) Rome is believed to be 2,800 years old today (as at 2020)
9) Rome’s nickname is called “The Eternal City” because the city continued to grow in terms of size, population, and influence, and so the Ancient Romans believed that the place would live on forever. It’s nickname Rome was Roma Caput Mundi comes from Latin and means Rome Capital of the World.
10) Guess what! Pizza wasn’t invented in Rome. Like what?? In ancient Greek, flatbreads were topped with cheese, oils, garlic, and herbs. This is believed to have been the first version of pizzas. This method of serving flatbread spread to Italy, specifically Naples, where it was refined into modern pizza.
11) Rome became the capital of Italy in 1871. As surprising as it might seem, Rome wasn’t always the capital of Italy.
12) In ancient times, Rome was 32 times more densely populated than today
13) The Pantheon has been used for close to 2,000 years
14) In Ancient Rome, gladiator blood was a popular medicine. Back in ancient history, gladiators were considered as superstars by citizens. So much so that the blood of these brave warriors was a popular medicine in Ancient Rome.
Located between Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum, the Roman Forum was the hub of political and social activity of the Roman citizens.
The Roman Forum was where religious and public life in ancient Rome took place. The Forum is, along with the Colosseum, the greatest sign of the splendour of the Roman Empire that can be seen today.
After the fall of the Empire, the Roman Forum was forgotten and little by little it was buried under the earth. Although in the 16th century the existence and location of the Forum was already known, it was not until the 20th century that excavations were carried out.
Interestingly, the place where the Forum was built was originally a marshy area. In the 6th century B.C. the area was drained by means of the Cloaca Maxima, one of the first sewer systems in the world.
Roman gladiator Colosseum games were an opportunity for the rich aristocrats to display the wealth and power of the Empire, mark visits from important officials, celebrate birthdays or to simply distract the common people away from economic and political issues.
To appeal to the Roman’s needs the games were bloody and the fascination came from life and death contests. Now millions of popular still flock to the Colosseum, now a little more desolate, to witness the marvel of Roman architecture and understand how our historical predecessor spent their free time.
Frequently asked questions – Gladiator Colosseum FAQ
What animals did gladiators fight in the Colosseum ?
Mostly gladiators fought with bears, rhinos, tigers, giraffes and elephants.
Where did gladiators fight before the Colosseum ?
Fights were held in the Circus Maximus, or sometimes in the forum.
Why did the gladiators fight in the Colosseum ?
There are numerous reasons. Gladiators were gaining the praise of the general public. Actually, gladiators were celebrities and almost every woman would fantasize about marrying a gladiator.
How many gladiators died in the Colosseum ?
According to experts, around 400,000 gladiators were killed.
What games were played in the Colosseum ?
It all started with parades. Then there were religious ceremonies, sacrifices, animal hunting, gladiator fights, horse races and executions. These are just some of the ‘games’.
Was Gladiator filmed in the Colosseum ?
Not really. The most of the movie was filmed in England, Morocco and Malta.
The above FAQs was taken from Rome site.
Architect Giuseppe Sacconi designed this humongous national monument in 1885. The memorial is very significant to Italians as it was made to commemorate Italy’s unity in 1870. The memorial honours the memory of Vittorio Emanuele the 2nd, Italy’s very first king. The king is well represented in a bronze equestrian statue at the focal point of the majestic building.
The building of the monument commenced in 1911 and was not completed until 1925. Apart from the king’s statue, the Vittorio Emanuele II features statues of the goddess Victoria, Corinthian columns, fountains and stairways.
The base architectural style for the Altar of the Fatherland is not Roman. Instead, Giuseppe infused Greek, German and Teutonic styles from architects all over the world. The eclectic monument stands about 230 feet high and spans about 443 feet wide, excluding the winged goddesses and the Quadrigae Terrace.
Set against the external base of the Vittoriano, on the sides of the entrance to Piazza Venezia, are the “fountains of the two seas” which are dedicated to the Adriatic sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Both are inserted in a flower bed and possess, from the beginning, a hydraulic system that recycles the water avoiding waste. Historically, a 500,000 litres (130,000 US gal) water cistern was also active, then abandoned, located in the basement of the monument. The two fountains therefore represent the two major Italian seas and, therefore, in this perspective the Vittoriano is assimilated to the Italian Peninsula. This way the whole country is represented, even geographically.
Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio a Trevi (“Saints Vincent and Anastasius at Trevi”) is a Baroque church in Rome, the capital of Italy. Built from 1646 to 1650 to the design of architect Martino Longhi the Younger and located in close proximity to the Trevi Fountain and the Quirinal Palace, for which it served as parish church, it is notable as the place where the precordia and embalmed hearts of 22 popes from Sixtus V to Leo XIII are preserved.
Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio a Trevi lies on the location of a medieval church, mentioned in 962 in a bull by Pope John XII as a branch of the San Silvestro in Capite basilica as well as in 15th century records. Known as Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio since the 16th century, it was rebuilt in the Baroque style and completed in 1650.
The Arch of Constantine was erected in the year 315 in commemoration of the victory of Constantine I the Great in the Battle of Milvian Bridge.
Constructed from pieces of previous buildings, the Arch of Constantine is the most modern of the triumphal arches that were built in ancient Rome. It is 21 meters high, 25 meters wide and is made up of three arches.
In the reliefs on the monument, which were carved on blocks of marble, display statues taken from Trajan’s Forum and some reliefs showing Marcus Aurelius distributing bread among the poor, as well as a representation of Trajan after his victory over the Dacians.
The inscription on the upper part, originally cast in bronze letters, states the following: “To the Emperor Caesar Flavius Constantinus, the greatest, pius, and blessed Augustus: because he, inspired by the divine, and by the greatness of his mind, has delivered the state from the tyrant and all of his followers at the same time, with his army and only the force of arms, the Senate and People of Rome have dedicated this arch, decorated with triumphs.”
Here’s some interesting facts about the Arch of Constantine:-
1) The Arch of Constantine is the model for numerous triumphal arches all around the world.
Below are of some of the most renowned:
- Arc de Triomphe – Paris / France
- Brandenburg Gate – Potsdam / Germany
- Cinquantenaire Arch – Brussels / Belgium
- Marble Arch – London / England
- Siegestor – Munich / Germany
- Arch of Triumph / Pyongyang / North Korea
2) Constantine the Great was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He did this only on his deathbed though as he lived most of his life as a Pagan. He did play a very important role in the tolerance of Christianity in the Roman Empire. He ordered the First Council of Nicaea in 325 which produced the statement of Christian belief known as the Nicene Creed.
3) The circle-shaped reliefs on the Arch of Constantine were created during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, over 200 years before the Arch was constructed. These reliefs display scenes of hunting and sacrificing, for example, “hunt of a boar” as an offer to Apollo and “hunt of a lion” as a sacrifice to Hercules.
4) At the top of the Arch of Constantine are several statues of soldiers. These were taken from the Forum of Trajan which was completed in 112 AD.
Santa Maria di Loreto is a 16th-century church in Rome, central Italy, located just across the street from the Trajan’s Column, near the giant Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II.
There is little chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of Our Lady of Loreto. At the end of the 15th century this chapel was given to the Università dei Fornari, the Guild of Bakers, who soon found it to be too small and had it demolished to use the site for a bigger church. Construction of the Renaissance edifice started in 1507, with the project being in charge of Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, but was completed about seventy years later by Giacomo Del Duca, a pupil of Michelangelo, who added the beautiful dome and the pre-Baroque bell tower. An overall restoration of Santa Maria di Loreto was carried out in the second half of the 19th century by Luca Carimini and Giuseppe Sacconi, the future architect of the Vittoriano. A short distance away, in 1741 the adjacent church of Santissimo Nome di Maria al Foro Traiano had been completed by Antoine Dérizet who matched his work to the older church.
Although in this picture, you can’t really see the Column. But behind me is the ground of the Trajan’s Column.
Trajan’s Column, monument that was erected in 106–113 CE by the Roman emperor Trajan and survives intact in the ruins of Trajan’s Forum in Rome. The marble column is of the Roman Doric order, and it measures 125 feet (38 metres) high together with the pedestal, or base, which contains a chamber that served as Trajan’s tomb.
Originally the column stood in the middle of a courtyard surrounded by galleries from which one could view at various levels the spiral band (over 800 feet [240 metres] long and about 4 feet [1.2 metres] wide) covered with low-relief sculpture that forms a continuous narrative of the emperor’s two campaigns in Dacia. A spiral staircase is contained within the shaft’s interior, which measures 12 feet 2 inches (3.7 metres) in diameter. At first a bronze eagle had been placed on top of the column and then after Trajan’s death a bronze statue of the deceased emperor, which was replaced in 1588 by a statue of St. Peter.
Trevi Fountain is the most beautiful fountain in Rome. Measuring some 20 meters in width by 26 meters in height, Trevi Fountain is also the largest fountain in the city.
The origins of the fountain go back to the year 19 B.C., in which period the fountain formed the end of the Aqua Virgo aqueduct. The first fountain was built during the Renaissance, under the direction of Pope Nicholas V.
The final appearance of the Trevi Fountain dates from 1762, when after many years of works at the hand of Nicola Salvi, it was finalized by Giuseppe Pannini. Interestingly enough, the
name of Trevi derives from Tre Vie (three ways), since the fountain was the meeting point of three streets.
The myth of the Trevi Fountain
Why are there always people in the fountain throwing coins into the water and taking photos of themselves?
The myth, originating in 1954 with the movie “Three Coins in the Fountain,” goes like this:
- If you throw one coin: you will return to Rome.
- If you throw two coins: you will fall in love with an attractive Italian.
- If you throw three coins: you will marry the person that you met.
- In order to achieve the desired effect, you should throw the coin with your right hand over your left shoulder.
Here’s an interesting statistic: approximately a million euros worth of coins are taken from the fountain each year. Since 2007 this money has been used to support good causes.
Here’s 4 interesting facts about Trevi Fountain:-
- Did you know that the same Roman aqueduct that gives the fountain its’ water also diverts to the Piazza Navona!
- The original sculptor Bernini died in the middle of the first attempt to build the current fountain.
- Where do the Coins go after? Easy! The Catholic Church collects almost one and a half million euros thrown annually into the Trevi Fountain. In fact, city council staff have to remove the money every day as the volume of coins is so great! The beneficiary – a charity called Caritas – then uses the donations to fill soup kitchens with food and donate to hospitals and other good causes.
- There was a controversy over the Trevi Fountain – the donations are not without their own source of scandal. The Mayor of Rome claimed recently that the money landing in the fountain (almost four thousand euros every day) should go to the city as a whole, and not a religious organisation. Supposedly it does need a little help, as during my time I saw people litter everywhere and the rubbish bins are overflowing with rubbish. I also noticed some of the sculptures could use a re-paint and cleaned. Well that’s my opinion.
Pro-tip : Trevi fountain can get SUPER crowded. So go very early in the morning – suggest going at dawn and sunrise – seems to be the best bet, and will give you some great lighting for your photographs.
In my opinion going late at night is another great time to visit the Trevi Fountain, however you will find the area busy until well after midnight. But I suppose it depends on your preference and what time of photos you’re after. After all this is THE most instagrammable spot in Rome.
In my opinion, Rome is a small city and also congested especially during peak seasons.
If you’re staying in Rome for a few days and focused on city tours mainly, then I would recommend that you opt to look at staying at hotels close to Trevi Fountain. Reason why is it’s literally walking distance to the top attractions that I’ve mentioned.
During my visit, I stayed at this cute little 3* hotel called Julia Hotel. It was clean and the staff were friendly. Breakfast is provided.
Pro Tip – if this is your first time visiting Rome, the streets are cobblestones so do be mindful of the type of shoes that you’d plan to wear. Especially with Rome tours it involves a lot of walking. So, be sure to wear proper clothes and comfy shoes. Oh ladies if you’re planning on wearing heels please try and avoid wearing stilettos. You’ll struggle terribly walking on these streets trust me!
Also please be vigilant when carrying large backpacks, it is known for street pick-pockets. So, my recommendation is to carry light and don’t carry all of your valuables with you. Oh and for men, I would recommend that you don’t place your wallets at the back of your jeans pockets. That’s how it gets pickpocketed easily especially when all of the touristics sights involve large crowds.
Food – there are many choices, from Asian chinese to indian food! Gosh believe me being an Asian after the 3rd day you can’t have pasta and pizzas forever! You’ll definitely be craving for some Asian food. If not mistaken there should be a cute little chinese restaurant just around near Hotel Julia. Do ask your hotel for directions. I’m sure they’d tell you where the best place for Asian food.