Rome wasn’t built in a day, and Rome can’t be explored in a day. There is so much to see and do, so I broke up my sightseeing into three separate days: historical sites, Vatican City, and Trastevere. I’ve always known Rome was a large city, but I really understood that when I walked it. It seemed like each monument was a 30 minute walk from the next, and the next, and the next. Over my three days, I walked 38,000 steps which equates to 22 miles. It took an entire day for my feet to recover, but it was worth it. Based on my experience, I’ve constructed a virtual walking tour of Rome, including images and quick history. Enjoy!
Day 1: Historical Sites
The Colosseum
The Colosseum is easily the most iconic Roman monument, and a must-see on any tourist route. It is four stories high on one side, and two on the other due to an earthquake that took a layer down. Contrary to what I was taught in fifth grade, Christians were not killed here, but at Circus Maximus, a close-by arena. Fights in the Colosseum were used as capital punishment for prisoners, and entertainment for Roman citizens.
The architecture of the building itself is best appreciated by standing at the bottom and looking up. While it is considered four stories high because of the floor plan, it is 157 feet tall, which would be about 11 stories high in modern times. No cement was used to seal the blocks in place, so they are held down only by their weight. The Colosseum stands here 1,900 years after its construction as a reminder of the thousands of men and animals killed here, but also as a testament to the advanced architectural gifts possessed by Roman mathematicians.
The Roman Forum
Acting as the center of Roman life, the Roman Forum was a public square that held shops, temples, and government buildings. The coolest thing about the Forum is imagining everything that used to happen there – debates, trading, pagan worship, chariots riding through. Today, it is made up of more ruins than buildings. When Saint Peter’s Basilica was being built, the gold and marble that went into the basilica was stollen from the Forum. Stealing was a lot more common a few hundred years ago, like speeding is today, and it happened often enough that only pieces of the Roman Forum stand today.
Wedding Cake Building
The building pictured above goes by many names – Victor Emmanuel II Monument, Vittoriano, the Altar of the Fatherland, and most commonly used by tourists, the Wedding Cake Building. It got this nickname because of the white exterior and tier shape that makes it looks like a wedding cake. Italy wasn’t the “Italy” that we know today until the 19th century, but a series of states ruled by kings and queens. The Wedding Cake building was constructed to celebrate the unification of Italy. During the excavation of the land, builders not only came across Roman ruins, but the fossils of a mammoth.
Side Steps up the Wedding Cake Building
On the side of the Wedding Cake Building are 134 steps that overlook a town square to the right and give a 180-degree panorama of the city. When climbing, I thought they would lead me to the deck of the Wedding Cake Building, and then the front door. Instead of bringing me to the building’s entrance, there was a small platform at the top with a dingy-looking door, holding a sign that read, “Basilica. Free entrance.” There was no way to get to the front of the building from the platform I had climbed to, and for a moment I thought I had wasted my time. In a “what the heck” moment, I decided to walk inside, where I discovered the Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara Coeli.
Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara Coeli
The dingy door that I almost didn’t walk through led to an incredible basilica. Over 50 chandeliers hang, 30 of which surround the altar in two layers. The ceiling is made of gold and carves out different crests and branches. Eighteen archways on the sides of the church hold praying rooms, frescoes, mosaics, and nativity scenes, each as beautiful as the main room. This basilica resembles what I have found all over Rome – a small, old door which looks like it could be a storage closet, with something completely unexpected and beautiful inside.
The Pantheon
The Pantheon was formally a pagan temple, but now functions as a church. It is located in a busy square of Rome, where families eat at the surrounding restaurants and shop down the side streets. While the building is rectangular on the outside, the inside room is completely round, with the roof resembling half of a sphere. The outer walls of the room hold different Christian relics and statues. At the very top, there is a small hole that opens to the sky, so when it rains, water falls down the center in a cylindrical shape. The intricate floor pattern hides the drains that keep the room from flooding when it rains.
Trevi Fountain
The Trevi Fountain is easily my favorite monument in Rome due to its beauty. The water glows blue in the day, and the sound of the fountain’s cascades create peace in a noisy city. At night, the fountain is illuminated by lights at every angle, like a stage right before a performance.
The statue in the center of the monument is Oceanus being pulled by two sea horses. One is wild and one is tame, representing the two moods of the sea. There is a legend around the Trevi Fountain that says if you throw a coin in, you are bound to come back to Rome. When I was 16 years old, I participated in this tradition and here I am again, so it must be true. The legend continues to say that if you throw in two, you’ll fall in love with an Italian, and with three, you’ll marry one (let’s see where four gets me). Every day, 3,000 euros (3,338 U.S. dollars) are collected at the bottom of the fountain and donated to charity.
Spanish Steps
This wide stairway consists of 138 steps and connects two piazzas (public squares). The name of the piazza at the bottom is “Piazza di Spagna” (Piazza of Spain), so this name extended to the steps once they were created. They were made to connect the Spanish embassy at the bottom of the hill to the church at the top. Standing at the church, Rome unfolds into a panorama as far as the eye can see.
Piazza Novana
Piazza Novana is a large shopping square in Rome. There, you can find hand painted dishes, leather purses, tourist keepsakes, and my favorite shop carried wax seals and calligraphy pens. Small shops line the side streets, where the food is twice as good and costs half as much as inside the square. During the warmer months, artists will display their work around the square, some even painting it right in front of you. The architecture of the square is dominated by the beautiful church of Sant’Agnese, right in the center.
Sant’Agnese in Piazza Navona
Out of all the intricately beautiful basilicas in Rome, this was the first where had to sit down to take it all in. The walls are plastered in gold and frescoes, the most interesting one painted on the inside dome. In that painting, it looks like people are swimming around the center light, which is guarded by angels, as if they are waiting to get into heaven. It is easy to get lost in everything there is to see here, so sitting down is the best bet when it comes to observing the art.
Tiber River
The Tiber River runs up the center of Rome, virtually splitting it in half. One the eastern side lies all the major monuments, and on the western side sits Vatican City and Trastevere. Walks along the Tiber are scenic and calming. The trees hang over the sidewalk creating an archway that makes it feels like you’re walking to somewhere important. Every so often there are bridges running across the river, some of which are roads, others walking paths with singers and artists.
Day 2: Vatican City
Saint Peter’s Square
Walking into Saint Peter’s Square is like walking up to a royal palace. The basilica is in the center and towers over all other buildings in Rome, standing at 448 feet, over 30 stories high. A courtyard of cobblestone leads to the church, with statues of saints standing on the covered walkway along the sides. These statues look small from afar, but standing next to them, they were nearly twice the height of me. The Vatican is considered a country separate of Italy, policed by the Swiss guards, protectors of the pope. There are no restaurants or stores in the Vatican, but there is a working post office that the pope uses to send and receive mail.
Vatican Museum
The Vatican Museum is a long walkway leading to the Sistine Chapel, filled with art from centuries ago. Nearly every visible surface has some kind of fresco or sculpture, including the ceiling. This museum is typically seen before walking into the Sistine Chapel, and it is a great representation of traditional Italian art.
Sistine Chapel
While the Vatican Museum is beautiful, there is a different feeling when walking into the Sistine Chapel. Pictures taken of the chapel are prohibited, and I was always taught that it is because the flash wears the paint down. However, these are frescoes, not paint, so flash would have no effect on them. These pieces are actually copyrighted, which is why tourists can’t take pictures. It’s a nice change to look up and take it all in rather than trying to get the perfect picture in such a short time. The ceiling of the chapel was painted by Michelangelo and includes visual interpretations of biblical stories in reverse chronological order so he could perfect his technique before making the image of God in the creation story.
Saint’s Peter’s Basilica
Looking Up
I am convinced that Saint Peter’s Basilica is the most beautiful place in the world. I was lucky enough to view the basilica from many different vantage points, first of which was from the ground. Every piece of art in the basilica is a mosaic rather than paint, made of tiny colored pieces put together to make a larger image. There are two alters, one of which is meant for only the pope to preside on. All of the gold, diamonds, and steel that make up the church were stolen from places like the Roman Forum and Colosseum — slightly ironic that the most religious place is the world was built from stolen metal. I could spend hours in the basilica and still wouldn’t be able to take everything in.
Looking Down
I paid eight euros to climb the stairs higher, and the views I saw were priceless. The first stop was to walk around the inside of the dome, looking down on the church. From that walkway, there were ten-foot mosaics that I couldn’t even see from the ground. This is also where I noticed the pattern of the floor – something I didn’t think to look at when I stood on the ground. For a size reference, the letters in the gold (pictured above) are six feet tall. No image can capture the true size and beauty of the basilica, so a trip there is worth a spot on the bucket list.
Looking Out
The last stop on my Saint Peter’s tour was at the highest point of the dome, looking out into the city. The total climb was around 400 slippery and narrow steps. Some staircases were spiral, with only a rope to hold onto. Others were tilted, where you had to lean your body on the inside wall because you were climbing the sphere of the dome. This 360-degree view from the top beats every other skyline that I’ve seen. The perfect picture looks over Saint Peter’s Square towards the east side of the Tiber where all of the landmarks are. I stood at the top for 30 minutes doing nothing but looking at the city, and I could have spent the whole day there.
Day 3: Trastevere
Via Degli Orti di Trastevere
Trastevere is a subsection of Rome, west of the Tiber. This little corner means a lot to me because it is where I am living for four months. The apartments have multiple locks and it takes about 10 turns of the key to lock the door. Under apartment complexes are coffee shops, bars, gyms, and gelato shops. Almost all apartments have balconies, and everyone with a balcony has plants. Via Degli Orti di Trastevere is close enough to walk to downtown, but far enough to have a scenic walk to class.
Streets
Walking through the streets of Trastevere is like walking through a movie set. Each building is unique, with iron gates and colorful shutters. Plants line every doorway and crawl up every wall. The streets are cobblestone, trekked by both walkers and drivers. Around every corner is something different — a market, a leather store, a woman making pasta in the window. Restaurants are easy to find, from a quick panini to a five course meal. Coffee shops double as bars, because both coffee and alcohol are acceptable at any time of the day.
Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere
This basilica is located in a small piazza in the center of Trastevere. On the outside, it is decorative but simple, and it looks like it would be small. However, the inside holds surprising beauty that seems almost misplaced in the quaint town square. The ceiling is three dimensional, with levels falling closer to the ground and others rising up. The walls shine gold throughout the church, like a treasure from centuries ago that was only recently discovered.
In my trip throughout the city of Rome, I found beauty everywhere. From the sculpted curves of the fountains to the street art that I almost stepped on. It is a place where I see math, science, music, art, history, and so much more, all within one street. I don’t think it’ll be possible for me to take it all in, no matter how much time I spend here. This is what I’ve seen for now, and I know that walking the same path again, I’ll find so much more.
That was a beautiful tour Rachyl, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for capturing all this Rachyl! Brautiful!
Wonderful tour and great experiences!