The Trevi Fountain
The fountain is one of the places and images which symbolise Rome, as well as being a late Baroque masterpiece, designed by Nicola Salvi.
The fountain is one of the main tourist attractions, partly because of the legend which says that if a traveler throws a coin into the water, is ensured a speedy return to Rome!!!.
The Quirinal Palace
The building started in 1573 on the highest hill of Rome as the wishes of Gregory XIII, who wanted to make the Pope’s summer residence there because the Vatican was held to be unhealthy because of malaria.
After 1870 it became the official king’s residence and then in 1947, the residence of the President of the Republic.
Even though the building is closed to the public for security reasons, the gigantic statues of Castor and Pollux and a splendid view of the city can be admired from the square in front of it.
Piazza Navona
This square was opened as a stadium. The foundations of the buildings, which face the elongated oval of the piazza, were what remained of the tribunes of the Domitian’s stadium.
The focal point is the obelisk of the Fountain of the Four Rivers opposite the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone. This great fountain (1651), which was designed by Bernini, is called the Fountain of Four Rivers because the four gigantic statues represent one of the four continents as they were thought of then: the Ganges for Asia, the Danube for Europe, the Rio del la Plata for America and the Nile for Africa, which has its head covered by a veil because its sources were not then known.
The church of Sant' Agnese, which is said to be built on the site where the saint was martyred, was erected by Borromini to the design of Girolamo and Carlo Rainaldi.
Piazza di Spagna
It was built in the XVI century. The pilgrims arriving at the northern gate of the city could reach the Vatican without going through the medieval centre of the city. The Spanish Steps (1725) The monumental stairway of 135 steps was inaugurated by Pope Benedict XIII. It was realized to link the Bourbon Spanish Embassy to the church of Trinita dei Monti. The house to the right of the steps is the Keats-Shelley Memorial Museum.
The fountain is one of the places and images which symbolise Rome, as well as being a late Baroque masterpiece, designed by Nicola Salvi.
The fountain is one of the main tourist attractions, partly because of the legend which says that if a traveler throws a coin into the water, is ensured a speedy return to Rome!!!.
The Quirinal Palace
The building started in 1573 on the highest hill of Rome as the wishes of Gregory XIII, who wanted to make the Pope’s summer residence there because the Vatican was held to be unhealthy because of malaria.
After 1870 it became the official king’s residence and then in 1947, the residence of the President of the Republic.
Even though the building is closed to the public for security reasons, the gigantic statues of Castor and Pollux and a splendid view of the city can be admired from the square in front of it.
Piazza Navona
This square was opened as a stadium. The foundations of the buildings, which face the elongated oval of the piazza, were what remained of the tribunes of the Domitian’s stadium.
The focal point is the obelisk of the Fountain of the Four Rivers opposite the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone. This great fountain (1651), which was designed by Bernini, is called the Fountain of Four Rivers because the four gigantic statues represent one of the four continents as they were thought of then: the Ganges for Asia, the Danube for Europe, the Rio del la Plata for America and the Nile for Africa, which has its head covered by a veil because its sources were not then known.
The church of Sant' Agnese, which is said to be built on the site where the saint was martyred, was erected by Borromini to the design of Girolamo and Carlo Rainaldi.
Piazza del Popolo
It was the square where the public executions of heretics took place. In the center is the obelisk of Pharaoh Ramses II (Augustus brought back as a souvenir from Egypt in the 1st century BC).
The piazza provides a stupendous background with its splendid Renaissance and Baroque works, like Santa Maria del Popolo, an early Renaissance church which contains some of the greatest masterpieces like some frescoes by Pinturicchio, Caravaggio and Raffaello, and the twin churches of Santa Maria de Montesano (with a facade made by Bernini) and Santa Maria dei Miracoli.
Piazza della Rotonda
Not to be missed!!!
The Pantheon, a Roman temple built 2000 years ago, dedicated to all the gods which was converted into a church in the Middle Ages, the church of Santa Maria ad Martyres.
Designed by the emperor Hadrian to substitute a previous Temple of Marco Agrippa, it is one of the best conserved ancient monuments in Rome.
The dome is the largest of its kind; it is a perfect half-sphere, constructed from poured concrete without the support of arches.
Inside it is the tomb of Raffaello where the remains of the artist repose under a Madonna by Lorenzetto.
Outside, in the front of the Pantheon, there’s the Giacomo della Porta’s Renaissance fountain, which supports an Egyptian obelisk added in the 18th. Century and around the left side of the Parthenon, another obelisk supported by Bernini’s elephant statue.
Behind this curious statue, you can visit the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, with Renaissance masterpieces including Michelangelo’s Christ Bearing the Cross and a statue of St. Sebastian.
It was the square where the public executions of heretics took place. In the center is the obelisk of Pharaoh Ramses II (Augustus brought back as a souvenir from Egypt in the 1st century BC).
The piazza provides a stupendous background with its splendid Renaissance and Baroque works, like Santa Maria del Popolo, an early Renaissance church which contains some of the greatest masterpieces like some frescoes by Pinturicchio, Caravaggio and Raffaello, and the twin churches of Santa Maria de Montesano (with a facade made by Bernini) and Santa Maria dei Miracoli.
Piazza della Rotonda
Not to be missed!!!
The Pantheon, a Roman temple built 2000 years ago, dedicated to all the gods which was converted into a church in the Middle Ages, the church of Santa Maria ad Martyres.
Designed by the emperor Hadrian to substitute a previous Temple of Marco Agrippa, it is one of the best conserved ancient monuments in Rome.
The dome is the largest of its kind; it is a perfect half-sphere, constructed from poured concrete without the support of arches.
Inside it is the tomb of Raffaello where the remains of the artist repose under a Madonna by Lorenzetto.
Outside, in the front of the Pantheon, there’s the Giacomo della Porta’s Renaissance fountain, which supports an Egyptian obelisk added in the 18th. Century and around the left side of the Parthenon, another obelisk supported by Bernini’s elephant statue.
Behind this curious statue, you can visit the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, with Renaissance masterpieces including Michelangelo’s Christ Bearing the Cross and a statue of St. Sebastian.
Piazza di Spagna
It was built in the XVI century. The pilgrims arriving at the northern gate of the city could reach the Vatican without going through the medieval centre of the city. The Spanish Steps (1725) The monumental stairway of 135 steps was inaugurated by Pope Benedict XIII. It was realized to link the Bourbon Spanish Embassy to the church of Trinita dei Monti. The house to the right of the steps is the Keats-Shelley Memorial Museum.
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