Rome

The Forum, the Caesars’ domain and the Colosseum, the landmark amphitheatre (for both +39 06 3996 7700, www.capitolium.org), nestle snugly between the Capitoline and Palatine hills. Capitoline Hill, or Campidoglio, overlooks it all, and is best reached via the steps rising from via del Teatro di Marcello, with its breathtaking centrepiece, piazza del Campidoglio. On opposite sides of the piazza, the grand Palazzo Nuovo and the Palazzo dei Conservatori together make up the Capitoline Museums (+39 06 8205 9127, www.museicapitolini.org). Initiated in 1471 by Pope Sixtus IV, these rank among the world’s oldest public museums and house excellent sculpture and Renaissance art. To the northwest, the Pantheon (+39 06 6830 0230), built by Hadrian as a temple to the 12 classical deities, is one of Ancient Rome’s best-preserved remains. North of via del Corso are the beautiful sight-laden districts of the Quirinale and the Tridente, the former famous for its romance magnet, the Trevi Fountain.

The lush Villa Borghese is a vast park (with a boating lake) housing the gorgeous Galleria Borghese (piazzale Scipione Borghese 5, +39 06 32810, www.galleriaborghese.it, booking essential), with its Bernini sculptures and Caravaggio paintings, and Italy’s national collection of modern art at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna (viale delle Belle Arti 131, +39 06 322 981, www.gnam.arti. beniculturali.it).

On the southwestern edge of the park are two particularly fine squares: the piazza di Spagna, known for its Spanish steps, and the piazza del Popolo.

The Vatican (www.vatican.va) in the northwest of the city is a tiny, independent state and centre for the world’s one billion Catholics. Once inside, the first stop has to be St Peter’s Basilica. The dome, when completed in 1590 to Michelangelo’s detailed specifications, was the largest brick construction ever built. The Vatican Museums (+39 06 6988 3333) are huge: the basilica has the Sistine Chapel, containing Michelangelo’s frescoes of the Creation and the Last Judgement, and luscious Renaissance works by Botticelli, Rosselli and Signorelli.

Local history

Republican ideals, imperial might and papal intrigue are common themes in Rome’s turbulent past. Probably the best-known Roman figure, after the Pope, is Julius Caesar who, once he had swept all opposition aside, ruled Rome as its dictator for the last six years of his life. He was eventually killed in 44 BC by his own friend Marcus Brutus who wanted to restore the Republic.

Local politics

Italians may puff away in private – and now in desperation on street corners following a smoking ban – but you won’t find anyone smoking on a train, or, amazingly, in a restaurant or bar anymore. Rome streets, traffic apart, are a lot nicer to walk down: junk food outlets are tastefully camouflaged, fresh drinking water is available at fountains on every piazza, and telephone boxes are now rarely vandalised.