When you come to Rome you will no doubt want to visit the Colosseum and see the buildings that remain from Ancient Rome. Many guided tours offer the Colosseum and Roman Forum together but what does that mean? What IS or WAS the Roman Forum? Simply put it was the city centre or the central …
A frequent question from visitors, is “What is that big white building in the centre of town?” The Vittoriano as it is known to locals is a grand monument in the centre of the city, dating to the 19th century which recalls and celebrates Italian unification and the first king of united Italy – Victor …
Click Here For Traditional Recipe #LasagneDay is organised by the Italian Food Union and the International Pasta Organisation and features a day-long series of online culinary events, with the chance to follow the lasagna recipes of top chefs live from your own kitchen. To celebrate we thought we would enlighten you on it’s origins and …
Today the Circus Maximus doesn’t look like much, it is a large grassy space between the Palatine hill and the Aventine hill. It is difficult to imagine that this big field was once a huge stadium that held a quarter of Rome’s population for, one of the most popular games in Ancient Rome – chariot …
A triumph was the greatest honour that an Emperor or general would ever receive in ancient Rome. The absolute highlight of a career. It required the conquest of new territory, the acquisition of great riches for Rome and the inevitable capture of prisoners of war to supply the all-important slave economy. Think the 4th of …
The year is 590 AD. An assembly of the faithful have gathered outside the church of San Saba on the Aventine hill. Rome is being ravaged by plague, but today they will march to the Vatican to beg for salvation from the deadly disease that is decimating the population. At the head of the procession …
King of the Baroque Picture the scene. The year is 1667. Music is playing in the distant background. Perhaps the evocative sweet strings of Vivaldi. Perhaps the rousing chords of J S Bach. (Please do not let the fact that the former was only two years old and the latter was not yet born put …
The City of Hills Ancient Rome was founded on seven hills. Yet as you walk around Rome today, it is difficult to understand the layout of the city as the Romans knew it. When Rome was founded long ago (see our blog on Romulus and Remus) the hills of Rome were occupied by different tribes …
Apollo and Daphne Apollo and Daphne is a life-sized statue by the Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the Borghese Gallery in Rome. The story of Apollo and Daphne comes from Greek and Roman mythology and is one of doomed, unrequited love. The myth was recounted by the Roman poet Ovid in the first century …
A Walk Among Heroes and Legends In the 3000 years of Rome’s history, millions of people have walked the streets of the forum, the old center and the seven hills of the city. A few of the more famous, and infamous, characters in Roman history can still be found in these cobbled streets, for the …
