Pocket city guide : Rome (in a nutshell)

Rome, Lazio, Italy

2000 years of history in one day.
What you're going to see is a concentrated juice of Rome in a relaxing, daily walk.
Things you will see in this visit:

• Piazza del Popolo
• Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps
• Via Condotti & Via Del Corso (Shopping Paradise for Ladies)
• Piazza Colonna and the Italian Parliament
• The Pantheon
• Piazza Venezia
• Fontana di Trevi
• Piazza Venezia & the Vittoriano building (the huge typewriter)
• Via dei Fori Imperiali & The Foro Romano
• Colosseo & Arch of Constantine (or of Triumph)

Is it possible? In one day walking? Yes, it is. Just follow me.

Overview of the visit

We start from the Metro Line A, station "Flaminio", so if you come from Termini Train Station is just 5 stops (15 minutes).

As you get out of the metro, in a few steps you are in

A) Piazza del Popolo :

Piazza del Popolo

The name in modern Italian literally means “People’s Square”, but it's a mistake!
In fact, historically it derives from the poplars threes (populus in Latin, pioppo in Italian).

Riding the Lion

Piazza del Popolo was the traveller’s first view of Rome upon arrival.
For centuries, the Piazza del Popolo was a place for public executions, the last of which took place in 1826.
An Egyptian obelisk of Ramesses II from Heliopolis stands in the centre of the Piazza.

Ancient romans were fond of egiptian obelisks, you'll find them spread here and there in Rome.

Santa Maria del Popolo

Crucifixion of St.Peter

St.Paul's Conversion

On the north side of the Piazza del Popolo you should visit Santa Maria del Popolo, an Augustinian church in which you'll find two original Caravaggio's paintings (Crucifixion of St. Peter and Conversion on the Way to Damascus) and an Assumption of the Virgin by Annibale Carracci.
It's just the start.
Now, just in front of you, on the other side of the square, let's move to

A,B,C,D Waypoints

B & C) Via Del Corso & Via Condotti.
This is the "spine" of our trip. If you get lost, go back to Via del Corso to the last known waypoint.
Ladies, it's your moment. All you have to do here is shopping, while your partners will wait for you outside the shops eating an ice-cream or drinking something fresh while socializing with other ladies' abandoned partners and dogs.
After about 500mts, turn on left on Via Condotti, the most famous way of italian fashion brands.
Clean your glasses here.
Via Condotti ends in

D) Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps

This is one of the most popular meeting places in Rome and it is also one of the most visually pleasing squares.
Piazza di Spagna is connected to a French church (Trinità dei Monti) on top of the hill via a long staircase, known as the Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti or Spanish Steps.
The elegant staircase consists of 137 steps over twelve different flights that is especially beautiful in May, when it is decorated with azaleas.
The steps are usually very crowded; it attracts tourists as well as locals who use it as a gathering place.
You can sit down and take a rest on the stairs for a while and enjoy the panorama.



Let's go back to Via Condotti and turn left again on Via del Corso.
After about 400mt, you will arrive to

E, F Waypoints

E) Piazza Colonna.
It means Column Square because… guess?
It's a square with a column, called Colonna Antonina, even if it was dedicated to the Emperor Marco Aurelio (other historical misunderstanding…)
The spiralling reliefs of the column portrayes events of Marcus Aurelius' war campaigns.
Yes, it's a sort of a biography written on a Column and it was build 180 years before Christ. Quite old, isn't it?
Let's keep on walking to the other side of the Colonna Square, to

F) Piazza Montecitorio (Italian Parliament)
Here's the place where our politicians work, when they're not busy in parties.







Don't waste our time here, let's leave the Parliament behind us turn in via Aquiro and we'll arrive to

F,G,H Waypoints

G) The Pantheon

The Pantheon

Built more than 1800 years ago, the magnificent Pantheon building still stands as a reminder of the great Roman empire.
The adjective Pantheon comes from the ancient greek (weren't we in Rome?) and means "dedicated to all the Gods".
The Pantheon stands as the most complete Roman structure on earth, having survived 20 centuries of plunder, pillage and invasions. Touch it, and you 'll touch the history.
Raising in the Campus Martius area (Field of Mars, God of War), we are now in the place where Rome is supposed to be born…
Follow Via Giustiniani and we'll arrive to

H) Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona

The ancient Romans came there to watch the agones ("games"), and hence it was known as 'Circus Agonalis' (competition arena). It is believed that over time the name changed to 'in agone' to 'navone' and eventually to 'navona'.
In the center stands the famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or Fountain of the Four Rivers (1651) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
The base of the fountain represents four river gods and above them, an ancient Egyptian obelisk (another one!) surmounted with the Pamphili family emblem of a dove with an olive twig.

Fontana dei quattro fiumi

Collectively, they represent four major rivers of the four continents : the Nile representing Africa, the Danube representing Europe, the Ganges representing Asia, and the Plate representing the Americas.
If you come tom Rome in the Christmas time, you'll find the characteristic christmas market.

H,I,J Waypoints

Let's go back to via del Corso, cross it and take Via delle Muratte. You are now in from of the

I) Fontana di Trevi

The Fontana di Trevi or Trevi Fountain is the most famous and arguably the most beautiful fountain in all of Rome.
This impressive monument dominates the small Trevi square located in the Quirinale district.
The Trevi fountain is at the ending part of the Aqua Virgo, an aqueduct constructed in 19 BC. It brings water all the way from the Salone Springs (approx 20km from Rome) and supplies the fountains in the historic center of Rome with water.
It's still working since then.
Toss a Coin!
The water at the bottom of the fountain represents the sea. Legend has it you will return to Rome if you throw a coin into the water. You should toss it over your shoulder with your back to the fountain.

Time for launch!
About 300mt from Fontana di Trevi, on Via di San Marcello, you can stop and have your launch at the
J) "Antica Birreria Peroni"
 I wouldn't suggest a Banana Split cake at the end of the meal.
Are you relaxed now?

K,L,M Waypoints

So, let's go back to Via del Corso, till the end, where we'll arrive to

K) The Vittoriano on Piazza Venezia
The enormous white marble monument at the Piazza Venezia was built as a tribute to the first King of a united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, in 1885.
Not the most beautiful structure in Rome, the Victor Emmanuel monument has been given nicknames such as 'typewriter' and 'wedding cake' from romans, who don't like it at all…
The monument is nevertheless well worth the visit, if only for the great views from the top.
Do you like it?
Let's go on, direction :

L) Via dei Fori Imperiali and the Roman Forum

The Roman Forum

Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum. It was for centuries the center of Roman public life: the site of triumphal processions and elections, venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches, and nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city's great men.




If you have time, you can visit it. It's huge, but it's worth to see.
Next and last step :



M) The Colosseum

Guess what?

The Colosseum is probably the most impressive building of the Roman empire.
Originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater, it was the largest building of the era.
It was completed in AD 80, the year after Vespasian's death.
The Colosseum could accommodate some 55,000 spectators who could enter the building through no less than 80 entrances.
mperors used the Colosseum to entertain the public with free games. Those games were a symbol of prestige and power and they were a way for an emperor to increase his popularity.
Games were held for a whole day or even several days in a row. They usually started with comical acts and displays of exotic animals and ended with fights to the death between animals and gladiators or between gladiators. These fighters were usually slaves, prisoners of war or condemned criminals.

"Maximus: At my signal, unleash hell!"

The visit ends here, folks.
At Colosseum place there's the Metro station "Colosseo", Line B from which you can go back home.
Ad Maiora.

*Thank you to Wikipedia and "A view on cities" and Google for images and contents.