Latium Rome - Colosseum - Forum Romanum - Sights

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Colosseum & Aventine hill

The Colosseo (Colosseum), one of Rome's main attractions, can be easily reached by Metro B. From here you can walk to the Roman Forum, along the Fori Imperiali and see the remains of ancient Rome. With the Metro B or on foot you can get from the Colosseo to the Circo Massimo (Metro stop).From here you can walk up the Aventino hill on a comfortable footpath.

1. Colosseum

The Colosseum is the most famous building of the Roman Empire. The place of entertainment was 80 AD. opened with a hundred-day festival and offered space for 50,000 people. Under the arena were the training rooms for the gladiators. Right next to the Colosseum is the mighty triumphal arch that documents Constantine's victory over Maxentius. He was born in 315 AD. built.

Link: https://parcocolosseo.it/en/ - Archaeological Park of the Colosseum. Information about the Colosseo, also in English.

Churches near the Colosseum

Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano - Located near the Colosseum, this church offers the visitor a triple journey into history. The basilica is located on an old pilgrimage route and is dedicated to Clemens I. The dominating mosaic of the apse is particularly significant in terms of art history. With its wealth of detail and rich coloring, it represents an iconographic and stylistic novelty. It is completely occupied by a symbolic tree of life with a cross. The exit to the lower church is in the northern aisle. In the central nave of the lower church there are frescoes from the 6th-9th centuries. Century. At the end of the lower church is the exit to the lowest floor. You first reach the Mithras sanctuary through antechambers. A modern opening in the outer wall gives access to the excavated rooms of the antique house of Titus Flavius Clemens.

Link: https://www.basilicasanclemente.com/eng/ - Information about the Basilica San Clemente, also in English.

Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli - Near the Colosseum is the church "San Pietro in Vincoli". The main attraction of the church is Michelangelo's Moses, a marble sculpture by Michelangelo created for the tomb of Pope Julius II.

Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati al Laterano (Basilica of the Four Crowned) - The basilica is part of a complex of buildings with a monastery that dates back to the 4th century. It stands on the Celio hill between the Colosseum and the Lateran. Although the church is little noticed in a side street today, it still played an important role in the history of Rome.

2. Forum Romanum

The Roman Forum was the center of political, economic and judicial life in ancient Rome. Here you can admire:

Temple of Saturn from the year 42 BC. (you can still see the 8 surviving columns)
Temple of Vespasian (3 columns have been preserved)
Arch of Septimius Severus (This well-preserved and beautiful triumphal arch was built in 203 AD)
Phocas Column (13 meter high column erected in the 6th century AD on the occasion of the visit of the Byzantine Emperor Phocas)
Curia (It was the central meeting building of the Senate)
Temple of Castor and Pollux (Temple rebuilt several times, originally dedicated in 484 BC to the mythological twins and tutelary gods of the horsemen, Castor and Pollux.
Temple of Antoninus and Faustina (the portico of the temple from 141 AD was integrated into the church "San Lorenzo in Miranda") • Temple of Vesta (in this temple burned an eternal flame guarded by the Vestal Virgins)
House of the Vestal Virgins (residence of the guardians of the sacred fire)
Temple of Romulus (the dome vault from the 4th century AD has been preserved as part of the church "Santi Cosma e Damiano")
Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius (the remains of the vaults give an idea of the size of this basilica)
San Francesca Romana (15th century church)
Temple of Venus and Roma (remains of a temple from 121 AD)
Arch of Titus (replica of the Arch of Titus, originally erected in honor of the emperor)

If you walk up the hill at the Roman Forum, you will reach the Palatine Hill. It was the first home of the Romans and became a sought-after residential area, so representative imperial palaces were built. From the Palatine you have a beautiful view of the Circus Maximus and the Aventine Hill. Here you can see:

Domus Livia (House where Augustus and his wife Livia lived, with wall paintings)
Domus Flavia (palace for official occasions, overlooking the oval fountain)
Domus Augustana and Stadium (Palace where the Roman Emperors lived, the Stadium was the Imperial Private Garden)
The Farnese Gardens (gardens established in the 16th century, now a place of rest and relaxation)

3. Fori Imperiali

Imperial Forums with Trajan's Markets - If you walk from Piazza Venezia in the direction of the Colosseum on the wide street "Via dei Fori Imperiali" (partly a pedestrian zone), you will see the Imperial Forums on the left. These are a series of north and east extensions to the Roman Forum made towards the end of the Roman Republic and early Imperial period and were named after their builders. The complex of four imperial forums (Caesar Forum, Augustus Forum, Nerva Forum or Transitorium and Trajan's Forum) arose from the need to adapt the previous center for politics and administration of the city and state to the increased requirements and to expand it significantly. For example, Trajan's Markets were one of the wonders of the ancient world, with 150 shops and offices. The forum was the food market of the Romans. Also near the Imperial Forums is Trajan's Column, an elegant marble column depicting his victories.

4. Thermal baths Caracalla & Aventine hill

Caracalla - Baths - Emperor Caracalla opened 217 AD. this bathing facility, which could be used by up to 1,600 bathers and was in operation for around 300 years. A Roman bath began with a kind of Turkish bath, then the caldarium (sweating room), then the lukewarm tepidarium, and then the refreshment in the frigidarium. Finally, the natatio (outdoor swimming pool) and rubbing with scented towels. In the thermal baths there were also sports facilities, libraries, art galleries and gardens, so a real leisure center. The Caracalla Baths are located near the "Circo Massimo".

The Aventine Hill is a stage on the walk that starts at Circo Massimo and ends at "Campo de Fiori" square. Suggestion for a nice walk: starting from "Circo Massimo" (near the metro station of line B) you walk past the big stadium "Circo Massimo" in the direction of the Aventine hill. On the way you can visit the rose garden, which is especially worth seeing in spring. Arrived on the Aventine hill you can visit the two churches "Santa Sabina" and the basilica "Santi Bonifacio e Alessio" and the adjacent park "Giardino degli Aranci", with a beautiful view of the roofs of Rome and the dome of the Vatican. Immediately afterwards you reach the heavily frequented square "Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta". On the way back and down towards the center and the Tevere River, you come to the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Continue to the Teatro di Marcello and behind it to the Hebrew Quarter. The destination of the walk is then the "Campo de Fiori" square.

Things to see on this walk:

Circo Massimo - Rome's great stadium, situated in the valley between the Palatine Hill and the Aventine Hill, where in the 4th cent. Chr. chariot races took place, which are impressively shown in the film "Ben-Hur".

Rose Garden (Roseto) (walking up from Circo Massimo to the Aventine Hill you will pass the Rose Garden, beautiful in spring and open to the public.

Church "Santa Sabina" - on top of the Aventine hill stands this early Christian, simple but worth seeing basilica from the 4th century AD.

Basilica of Santi Bonifacio e Alessio, usually called Sant'Alessio for short - it is St. Boniface of Tarsus and Alexius of Edessa and stands on the Aventine. Weddings are often held in this church.

Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta - The square is named after the Knights of Malta and is known for the keyhole of the portal through which one can see St. Peter's Basilica framed by the vegetation of the garden.

Parco Savello or Orange Garden - The Savelli family built their castle on the Aventine Hill in the 14th century, making it an impregnable fortress. The high medieval walls now enclose the Parco Savello (also called the Orange Garden), a very popular garden that offers stunning views of the river and the city of Rome and St. Peter's Basilica. The orange trees that give the garden its name were planted in memory of San Domenico, who founded his monastery here.

5. Santa Maria in Cosmedin & Bocca della Verita

"Santa Maria in Cosmedin" - church with a beautiful mosaic floor from the 6th century, also known for the triton mask Bocca della Verità - (mouth of truth) in the vestibule. With this mask from the 4th century BC. A medieval legend is also connected: if you put your hand in your mouth and don't tell the truth, your fingers will be bitten off. A film scene in a well-known Italian film comedy about Rome was also filmed here.

Just in front of the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, there is a 17th-century fountain, the Fontana dei Tritoni. There are also two impressive, very well-preserved temples from the 2nd century BC at the Forum Boarium, right next to the basilica. The first, rectangular temple was dedicated to Portunus, god of rivers and ports. It stands on a podium and has four ionic travertine columns. The second, small, round Hercules temple is also often called the Vesta temple. It is made entirely of Greek marble.

The medieval church of San Nicola in Carcere rises above the former site of three Republican temples. The church was rebuilt in the 16C and restored in the 19C. Only the bell tower and the Roman columns are still original. It is located on the main street that leads to the city center. Here is also the Casa dei Crescenzi, a house built by the Crescenzi family from fragments of ancient buildings.

6. Celio hill & Villa Celimontana

Villa Celimontana, also called Villa Mattei, is a public park on the southwest side of Celio Hill, opposite the Baths of Caracalla. On the hill of Celio we also find:

Dolabella - Arch - It is an ancient city gate in Rome, next to the Church of Santa Maria in Domnica, that leads into the Park of Villa Celimontana. This city gate is located near the Colosseum. It was built in the time of the Roman Republic as a city gate in the Servian Wall called Porta Celimontana. The arch is made of travertine from Tivoli. In Neronian times, the Aqua Claudia was extended over the arch.

churches

Santo Stefano Rotondo - The church from the 4th century has an unusual floor plan: four chapels branch off a round building like a cross. It is one of the oldest sacred buildings in Rome and the 16th-century frescoes depict numerous Christian martyrs.

Basilica of Santa Maria in Domnica alla Navicella - The basilica is located on the top of Monte Celio. In the 8th century, Pope Paschalis I had a three-nave columned basilica with three apses built in the west. The mosaic pictures in the apse vault and on the apse arch, which are worth seeing, were donated by Pope Paschalis I. The Mother of God with the Child is enthroned in the middle of the apse, surrounded by crowded groups of angels.

Church "Santi Giovanni e Paolo" - The basilica, also called Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio, is also significant because of the remains of ancient Roman buildings that have been excavated beneath it, on which it partially rests to this day. The Romanesque campanile (tower), originally standing free next to the church, is today at least optically connected to the church by more modern buildings. It is designed in a typical Romanesque style and is considered a "gem of Romanesque architecture".

Basilica "Santi Andrea e Gregorio al Monte Celio" - The basilica, with a magnificent facade, is considered the main work of Soria. The church contains a few chapels and is known for its three oratorios.