European Vacation - Rome, Italy

t's hard to describe Rome in a few words; a city so vast and rich in art, monuments and exquisite views, a historic city, which has preserved its charm and independence throughout the centuries.

Rome's history can be read in every monument and palazzo. The city could be described as a gigantic open-air museum, visited each year by millions of tourists, scholars and pilgrims from all over the world.

Top Rome attractions are:

Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain). This aquatic marvel is one of the city's most exciting sights. Tourists toss coins into the basin while making their wish to return to Rome.
The Colosseum is arguably ancient Rome’s most famous building. Today, only the shell remains along with a view down to the passages through which slaves and animals were led before entering into Rome’s favorite spectator sports—gladiatorial contests, combats between men and wild animals and even mock naval battles. Unlike other Roman amphitheatres that are dug into hillsides, the Colosseum is a freestanding structure of stone and concrete and has long served as a model for stadiums around the world.
Pantheon. This onetime pagan temple, a marvel of architectural harmony and proportion, is the best-preserved monument of imperial Rome. The most striking thing about the Pantheon is the remarkable unity of the building. The diameter described by the dome is exactly equal to its height. It's the use of such simple mathematical balance that gives classical architecture its characteristic sense of proportion and its nobility and timeless appeal. The great opening at the apex of the dome, the oculus, is nearly 30 feet in diameter and was the temple's only source of light. It was intended to symbolize the "all-seeing eye of heaven."
San Pietro (St. Peter’s Cathedral). People come by the millions each year to receive the Pope's blessing, traditionally given on Sundays at noon.
Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps are a popular tourist and local hangout in the historic center of Rome. An incredible, almost theatrical square with the lovely Spanish steps leading up to the chiesa di Trinita dei Monti, hosts one of the most important fashion shows with the steps being used as a catwalk.
Piazza del Popolo, where condemned criminals were once tortured at carnival time, contains the church of Santa Maria del Popolo. Built in 1472, its grounds are said to be haunted. According to lore, Nero’s mistress secretly buried the hated Emperor’s body here, which left him a bit restless. Apart from Nero’s ghost, it is noted for works by Raphael, Caravaggio and Pinturicchio.
Villa Borghese is a vast park (complete with a boating lake) that once belonged to the Borghese family. It houses two “must see” art treasures: the gorgeous Galleria Borghese with its Bernini sculptures and Caravaggio paintings and Italy’s national collection of modern art at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna with works by Cézanne and Kandinsky.
The Vatican. This tiny independent city was founded in AD 90, when the first monument was built on what was believed to be the site of St Peter’s martyrdom. The Vatican leads a separate existence from the rest of Rome.

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.

Under the chapels, one containing Michelangelo’s “Pietà,” are the tombs of recent popes, including John Paul II. Further down, the Necropolis is where many believe St Peter is buried. The Vatican Museums are so huge that there are four color-coded itineraries to choose from.

The basilica end of the route has the Sistine Chapel, containing Michelangelo’s frescoes of the Creation and the Last Judgment and luscious Renaissance works by Botticelli, Rosselli and Signorelli.
Trastevere: Fontana Di Santa Maria In Trastevere is the oldest monumental fountain in Rome and dates back to 780 AD, under Pope Adriano I.
Piazza Navona is one of the more famous pedestrian squares (or ovals) in Rome. With the very dramatic Quattro Fuimi, Bernini's famous fountain, as its centerpiece, the large piazza has a colorful and interesting past.

Truly the most beautiful Baroque piazza in Italy, Piazza Navona boasts three of Bellini’s gorgeous fountains: Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, Fontana del Moro and Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi.
Domus Aurea or Golden House of Nero. Legend has it that Nero famously fiddled while Rome burned. Fancying himself a great actor and poet, he played, as it turns out, his harp to accompany his recital of "The Destruction of Troy" while gazing at the flames of Rome's catastrophic fire of AD 64.

Legend or not, Nero did get to build his new palace, the extravagant Domus Aurea (Golden House). The new palace was huge and sumptuous, with a facade of pure gold, seawater piped into the baths, decorations of mother-of-pearl, fretted ivory and other precious materials and vast gardens.

Not much has survived of Nero's palace; but the famous Octagon Room can still awe you and soaring vaults covered with faded remnants of Pompeiian-style frescoes, some of which came to inspire Raphael.