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CAESAR'S FORUM, the "Roman Forum"

The Forum of Caesar was the first of the Roman Forums. Caesar bought the area in 54 BC and the inauguration took place on September 26th 46BC but the construction of the Forum came actually to an end under Augustus.
The Forum was made up by a rectangular long square, with a equestrian statue of Caesar in the middle.
Today, the visible part of the forum is the result of a restauration dating back from 1930 and it represent the half of the entire original area.

Phone: tel. 06 39 96 77 00
Opening Times: 9 - 1h (Before the sunset)
Ticket: Free Entry

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AREA SACRA DI TORRE ARGENTINA

Largo Torre Argentina is a square in Rome that hosts four Republican Roman temples, and the reminings of Pompey's Theater. It is located in the ancient Campus Martius.

CONSTANTINE'S ARCH

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The Arch of Constantine was erected to honor Emperor Constantine after the battle against Maxentius in 315 AD., at the Milvian Bridge. The Arch was constructed with materials taken from other earlier imperial monuments dedicated to Trajan and Hadrian. On the top you can read the inscription: "Constantine overcame his enemies by divine inspiration".

For more information about the Constantine's Arch visit our special section: click here

Address: Via di S. Gregorio (Colosseo - Piazza Venezia)

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PALATINE HILL

The hill which was the first nucleus of city life in Rome became thereafter the Imperial Headquarters. It is some 70 metres high and looks down on one side upon the Forum Romanum and on the other side upon the Circus Maximus.

It is surmounted by the Villa Farnese, which, with its many gardens and staircases, covers much of the hill, and hence a good deal of the architectural remains of the Roman age.

According to Roman mythology, the Palatine hill was where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf that kept them alive. According to this legend, the shepherd Faustulus found the infants, and with his wife Acca Larentia raised the children. When they were older this is where Romulus decided to build Rome.

Here you can also find the Domus Tiberiana, or Ancient House of Tiberius.

Address: Via di S.Gregorio 3
Phone: 06 39 96 77 00
Opening Times: Mondays-Saturdays 9 am-1:30 pm/2:30 pm-5 pm.
Ticket: from 8 to 12,5 Euros (ticket valid for the Palatine Hill, the Palatine Museum and the Coliseum too)

THE IMPERIAL FORUMS

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The Imperial Forums consist of a series of monumental fora (public squares), constructed in Rome over a period of one and half centuries, between 46 BC and 113 AD. The forums were the heart of the late Roman Republic and of the Roman Empire.

The Imperial forums are not part of the Roman Forum, which was the public square during the Roman Republic. These forums were the centres of politics, religion and economy in the ancient Rome.

Address: Via dei Fori Imperiali / Via Quattro Novembre, 94
Phone: 06 69 78 05 32
Opening Times: Winter 9 - 16.30, Summer 9 - 18.30, Mon. Closed

AUGUSTUS' FORUM

Photo by Mary Harrsch

The Forum of Augustus is one of the Imperial forums of Rome, built by Augustus. It includes the Temple of Mars Ultor.

The Augustan Forum was built in celebration of Augustus' victory (together with Marcus Antonius) over Caesar's murderers, and it took 40 years to build and was completed in 2 BC. Its North side was dominated by a Temple dedicated to Mars the Avenger. The centrepiece of the forum was a statue of Augustus riding triumphant in a chariot.

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TRAIAN's FORUM

Trajan's Forum is chronologically the last of the Imperial Forums of Rome.

The ruins of Trajan's Forum rise 16 feet below modern street level in the heart of Rome, and resemble pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. These are the ruins of an exceptional monument, begun during Trajan's principate and finished by his successor, Hadrian, in A.D. 128. Though the forum was described by the historian Ammianus Marcellinus (A.D. 330-395) as "a gigantic complex...beggaring description and never again to be imitated by mortal men," today's battered remains convey little of its past glory

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Isola Tiberina

Isle Tiberine rises in the middle of river Tevere, in Rome: it was an important place during the settlement of early Romans on the sourrounding territories. It is bound to the ground by the Fabricio and the Cestio bridges. It was dedicated Asculapio, god of the Medicin.

PANTHEON

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The Pantheon is one of the great spiritual buildings of the world. It was built as a Roman temple and later consecrated as a Catholic Church. Its monumental porch originally faced a rectangular colonnaded temple courtyard and now enfronts the smaller Piazza della Rotonda. Through great bronze doors, one enters one great circular room. The interior volume is a cylinder above which rises the hemispherical dome. Opposite the door is a recessed semicircular apse, and on each side are three additional recesses, alternately rectangular and semicircular, separated from the space under the dome by paired monolithic columns. The only natural light enters through an unglazed oculus at the center of the dome and through the bronze doors to the portico. As the sun moves, striking patterns of light illuminate the walls and floors of porphyry, granite and yellow marbles.

Address: Piazza della Rotonda
Phone: 06 68 30 02 30
Opening Times: 8h 30 - 18h 30; Sunday 9h - 18h; holiday 9h - 13h 30
Tickets: Free Entry

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Bocca della Verità

The Mouth of Truth has hung in the portico of the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome since 1632. Every day, this cracked marble disk, depicting an image of the river god, attracts tourists and the curious (and maybe even the jealous or suspicious who want to test their partner's fidelity). It was thought that a liar would loose his hands if he placed them in the mouth of the Bocca del Verita. Thought to be an ancient Roman ornamental drain cover, the disk certainly provides plenty of amusement and maybe just a shiver as you take the test.

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Piramide di Caio Cestia

The Cestia Pyramid in Rome is a funerary monument dedicated to the member of the "College of the Septemviri", who probably died in 12 before Christ, Caio Cestio Epulone. The work, is externally covered by marble slabs. The Cestia Pyramid is approximately 37 metres high, and it is laying on a square base with a side equal to 30 metres. The complex, built in an isolated position along the "via Ostiense", is nowadays close to the Door of San Paolo along the path of the Aurelius walls, where it was placed by the Imperator himself between 274 and 277 after Christ.

Ponte S. Angelo or Ponte Elio

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This bridge, known as the Pons Aelius (Aelius Bridge), Ponte San Angelo, or the "Angel's Bridge," has been spanning the Tiber in one form or another for almost two thousand years. This bridge links St. Angelo's Castle to the Campus Martius and the ornate statuary gives the bridge a grandeur fitting for its location.

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Porta San Paolo

Known in antiquity as the Porta Ostiensis, the gate opened into the Via Ostiense which led to St. Paul´s Basilica from which the gate took its present name.

TOMB OF CECILIA METELLA

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The tomb of Cecilia Metella, the daughter-in-law of the triumvir Crassus, was converted into a fortress by the Caetani (their coat of arms is still there), who added the pinnacles and built a palace. They fortified with walls a little village which included a church (S. Nicola di Bari). The fortress was attacked and damaged several times and eventually became a brigands' retreat.

Address: Via Appia Antica 161
Phone: 06 39 96 77 00
Opening Times: Mondays-Saturdays 9 am-1:30 pm and 2:30 pm-5 pm
Tickets: Appia Antica Card Euro 6,00 - Archeologia Card Euro 20,00.

Photo by Fabrizio Sarallo

VITTORIANO

It's a monument entitled to Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoia, first king of Italy. It is called also Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II) or Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland).

It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. The monument was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1895 and was completed in 1935.

It was opened in 1925. to bury the Unknown Warrior, symbol of all people dead during First World War. Today, the monument holds the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame. The base of the structure also houses the museum of Italian Reunification.

Address: Piazza Venezia
Phone: 06 69 91 718
Opening Times: Winter 9.30 - 16.30, Summer 9.30 - 17.30.
Tickets: Free Entry.