Monuments to visit Rome

On Piazza del Quirinale, by heading towards via Nazionale, you can find, hidden in the bottom of a small indentation from the via, this palace built in the early th century at the initiative of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, but also among its illustrious owners Mazarin.

Pallavicini Gallery and its gallery offer a beautiful collection of great names of Italian paintings. Portrait of lady with little dog, De, Chick's canvases, Van Dyck, Signorelli is one of the inevitable. In the pavilion (Casino), the ceiling of the living room is decorated by a fresco by Guido Reni entitled L'Aurore.

Faced with the Gesù is the seat of Christian Democracy, this political party which governed Italy for more than thirty-five years and finally sunk under the minirévolution of Mani Pulite or'Hands clean '. Its debris remains under the name PPI.

Through the lane on the right of PPI's seat, we reached via delle Botteghe Oscure, in which this time the Italian Communist Party, which has become PDS since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Passing through the via delle Botteghe Oscure via Coetani, you arrive to the pretty piazza Campitelli.

Third of the basilicas of the Forum with the Julia Basilica and the one of Maxentius and Constantine, it can be seen on the right when entering via dei Fori Imperiali. Huge (100 m long by 40 m wide), it housed shops, courtrooms and business centres. Real antique halls built in 179 B.C., the only building of this type from the Republican era that has survived to this day. Its current state dates back to the 1st century AD. Surrounded by a colonnaded portico and divided into several naves, the basilica was decorated with precious materials.

In front of the curia, there is an arched platform called rostra. This Latin term refers to the spurs of enemy ships that the Romans obtained after each naval victory and proudly hung on the first platform as early as the 3rd century BC. It was here that the Republic's speakers, senators, magistrates and tribunes delivered their great speeches and defended their projects before the assembled people to listen to them. Stop for a moment and imagine Cicero pleading....

The Arch of Septimius Severus (193-211), erected in 203 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Emperor's reign, is one of three triumphal arches still visible in Rome. It currently separates the Curia from the Rostres and is one of the best preserved in the city. Interesting bas-reliefs celebrate the emperor's victories over the Parthians, which Roman soldiers drag in chains. The monument was dedicated to the Emperor and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta. Geta's name was erased when Caracalla had her younger brother murdered in order to rule alone.

Domus Augustana occupied the centre of the system and extended along the edge of the Palatine. The traveller from the East was facing the majestic mass of the palace and could not therefore ignore who was the master of the world. Behind the domus was a basilica, in which the emperor's court was located, and the Flavian palace (Domus Flavia), intended for official receptions. Next to the Domus, to the east, the so-called Domitian Stadium was reserved for the exercises of the emperor and his court; further away are the baths built under Septimius Severus.

The area that extends from the Tiber to the foot of the three hills of the Capitol, the Palatine and the Aventine was occupied in ancient times by the port of Rome and by the food markets (forums): the holitorium forum (vegetables), at the foot of the Capitol, and the boarium forum (cattle) in the south, at the foot of the Aventine. These forums were supplied by ships that, after sailing up the Tiber from Ostia, docked on the bank below the bridge over the river. This bridge, first built in the 2nd century BC, collapsed several times. Today, there are only two arches left in the middle of the river, at the end of the Tiberine Island. It is called the Rotto egg laying (the broken bridge). The markets were under the protection of many deities who had their temple nearby. Today, only two remain and remains of a few others are still visible in the basements of the church of San Nicola in Carcere. The first, the round one, was dedicated to Hercules, while the other, the rectangular one, was dedicated to Portunus, the protector of the port facilities. Both were transformed into churches, but in the early 20th century, the Christian additions were removed and brought back to their ancient appearance. The foro boario and the foro olitorio are of great importance in Roman history and were undoubtedly one of the pillars of the economy of ancient Rome.