Southern Rome
The ruins of this 19th-century soap factory in Ostiense, built in 1899, are the site of an experimental museum of street art. Home to a handful of…
Must-see attractions in Lazio
Chiesa di Sant’Andrea della Valle
Centro Storico
A must for opera fans, this towering 17th-century church is where Giacomo Puccini set the first act of Tosca. Its most obvious feature is Carlo Maderno’s…
Centro Storico
Together with the adjacent Piazza di Montecitorio, this stylish piazza is Rome’s political nerve centre. On its northern flank, the 16th-century Palazzo…
Chiesa di Sant’Andrea al Quirinale
Tridente, Trevi & the Quirinale
It’s said that in his old age Bernini liked to come and enjoy the peace of this late-17th-century church, regarded by many as one of his greatest. Faced…
Southern Rome
A favourite location for films and TV, Quartiere Garbatella was originally conceived as a workers’ residential quarter, but in the 1920s the Fascists…
Chiesa di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
One of Rome’s seven pilgrimage churches, the Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem was founded in 320 by St Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine, in…
Trastevere & Gianicolo
Featured in the opening scene of Paolo Sorrentino's Oscar-winning La grande bellezza (The Great Beauty; 2013), this monumental white fountain with its…
Ancient Rome
On the Roman Forum, the Curia was the meeting place of the Roman Senate. According to tradition, it was originally built by Tullo Ostilio, the third of…
Santuario della Scala Santa & Sancta Sanctorum
San Giovanni & Testaccio
The Scala Santa, said to be the staircase Jesus walked up in Pontius Pilate’s palace in Jerusalem, was brought to Rome by St Helena in the 4th century…
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
This huge neoclassical palace was built in 1882 as an exhibition centre, though it has since served as headquarters for the Italian Communist Party, a…
Trastevere & Gianicolo
If this church were in another town, it would be a highlight, but in Rome it's just another church. Atmospherically forlorn, with weeds sprouting between…
Rome
Full of towering pine trees, atmospheric palms and scattered villas, this splendid but often ungroomed 19th-century park once belonged to Prince Giovanni…
Porta San Sebastiano & Museo delle Mura
Southern Rome
Marking the start of Via Appia Antica, the 5th-century Porta San Sebastiano is the largest of the gates in the Aurelian Wall. During WWII the Fascist…
Southern Rome
Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas’ cutting-edge Roma Convention Centre: La Nuvola (2016) – the largest building to open in Rome in half a century – is a…
Chiesa di San Carlino alle Quattro Fontane
Tridente, Trevi & the Quirinale
A masterpiece of Roman baroque, this tiny building was the first church designed by Francesco Borromini. His clever design – which includes a play of…
Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma
Rome
Along with MAXXI, this is Rome’s most important contemporary-art centre. Occupying a converted Peroni brewery, it is curating a free experimental program…
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
Housed within the splendidly restored Palazzo Merulana, this impressive museum exhibits artworks sourced from the Elena and Claudio Cerasi Foundation (the…
Viterbo
Viterbo's 15th-century city hall overlooks Piazza del Plebiscito, the elegant Renaissance square that has long been the city's political and social hub…
Rome
Dug between the 2nd and 5th centuries, this vast network of moody tunnels was known as the Queen of Catacombs. It was an important early Christian burial…
Museo Archeologico di Sperlonga e Villa di Tiberio
South Coast
Other than the beach – and great views from the historic centre – Sperlonga's main attraction is this seafront archaeological museum. Here you can admire…
Centro Storico
The baroque Palazzo Braschi houses the Museo di Roma’s eclectic collection of paintings, photographs, etchings, clothes and furniture, charting the…
Trastevere & Gianicolo
These polished brass stones, shaped square like a Roman cobble and engraved with the name of a local Jewish resident, marks the exact spot where Holocaust…
Viterbo
Head to Bagnaia and the 16th-century Villa Lante for some of Italy's finest mannerist gardens. Designed by Vignola, they feature monumental fountains, an…
Chiesa della Trinità dei Monti
Tridente, Trevi & the Quirinale
Sitting in majesty above the Spanish Steps, this landmark church was commissioned by King Louis XII of France and consecrated in 1585. Apart from the…
Centro Storico
This battered, armless figure is Rome’s most famous ‘talking statue’. During the 16th century, when there were no safe outlets for dissent, a Vatican…
La Storia di Roma Attraverso La Costruzione
Southern Rome
This vast relief sculpture on the side of an EUR government building tells the story of Rome as Mussolini wanted it told when it was created in 1939…
Rome
Beneath the greenery of Villa Torlonia lie reminders of a dark chapter in Rome's history. Between 1940 and 1943, Mussolini had two air-raid shelters and…
Basilica di San Nicola in Carcere
Centro Storico
This innocuous-looking 11th-century basilica, hidden behind scaffolding when we last visited, harbours some fascinating underground ruins. Beneath the…
Ancient Rome
Most of the Palatino as it appears today is covered by the ruins of Emperor Domitian's vast 1st-century complex, which served as the main imperial palace…
Centro Storico
Home to Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, this baroque palazzo was built by Bernini in 1653, expanded by Carlo Fontana in the late 17th century, and given an…
Basilica di San Lorenzo in Lucina
Centro Storico
Little remains of the 5th-century church that was originally built here atop a well sacred to Juno. But that shouldn’t detract from what is a very pretty…
Centro Storico
Striking off west from Piazza Pasquino, Via del Governo Vecchio is an atmospheric cobbled lane full of boutiques, lively restaurants and vintage clothes…
Lazio
Housed in a medieval fortress on what was once ancient Caere's acropolis, this interesting little museum houses archaeological artefacts unearthed at the…
San Giovanni & Testaccio
According to tradition, two Roman soldiers, John and Paul (not to be confused with the Apostles), lived in these houses before they were beheaded by the…
Southern Rome
Over five very historic miles from the start of the Appian Way, this ruin was once a tomb dating to the 1st century BC. In the eons since it has been a…
Tridente, Trevi & the Quirinale
The Rome branch of Larry Gagosian’s contemporary art empire has hosted the big names of contemporary art since it opened in 2007: Cy Twombly, Damien Hirst…
Ancient Rome
Also known as the Tempio del Divo Romolo, this 4th-century brick temple on the Roman Forum was once thought to have been dedicated to Valerio Romolo, the…
Centro Storico
Resembling a mini Colosseum, the Teatro di Marcello is the star turn of the dusty Area Archeologica del Teatro di Marcello e del Portico di Ottavia, a…
Castelli Romani
For centuries a closed world, the papal gardens at Castel Gandolfo can now be visited, albeit accompanied and in groups. The regular one-hour tour…
Centro Storico
The columns, arches and fragmented pediment of this quadriporto (four-sided porch), which dates from 23 BC, once formed part of a vast rectangular portico…
