Curiosities
Mouth of Truth: Rome's ancient lie detector
Mouth of Truth remains hugely popular with visitors to Rome.
Rome's Bocca della Verità, or Mouth of Truth, is an ancient marble mask which according to the popular mediaeval legend will bite the hand...
Aventino and San Saba neighbourhood
Curiosities in Aventino and San Saba neighbourhood
Rome workshop has been fixing antique dolls for decades.
Disturbing, creepy, fascinating. These adjectives are regularly used to describe an otherworldly workshop in central Rome, specialising in the...
Historic centre area
Curiosities in Historic centre area
Rome's Romantic Poets: Finding the graves of Keats and Shelley
Keats and Shelley are buried in the Non-Catholic Cemetery in the Testaccio area of Rome.
Rome's Non-Catholic Cemetery, also known as the Protestant Graveyard, is the final resting place of the Englis...
Testaccio district
Curiosities in Testaccio district
Poggi: serving Rome artists since 1825
The historic Roman art shop Ditta G. Poggi has sold art supplies in Rome for almost two centuries.
Founded in 1825, Poggi Belle Arti has three outlets in Rome: Via del Gesù near the Pantheon, Via Car...
Historic centre area
Curiosities in Historic centre area
Unexpected Rome: view through Aventine keyhole
A keyhole on Rome's Aventine hill contains a glorious surprise.
On the summit of Rome's Aventine hill, near the Giardino degli Aranci or Orange Garden, lies the Church of S. Maria del Priorato.
Th...
Aventino and San Saba neighbourhood
Curiosities in Aventino and San Saba neighbourhood
Rome's Pyramid of Cestius and how to visit
Rome's Piramide Cestia can be visited on four mornings a month.
Rome’s only surviving ancient Egyptian-style pyramid is located directly oppostite the Piramide train station, beside the city's Non-Ca...
Testaccio district
Curiosities in Testaccio district
The curious tale of Rome's Magic Portal
An alchemist's magic door can be found in Rome's Piazza Vittorio park.
The Alchemical Door, also known as the Magic Portal or the Alchemy Gate, is located in the grounds of the former Villa Palombara...
Esquilino neighbourhood
Curiosities in Esquilino neighbourhood
St Patrick's Well: a highlight of Orvieto
Visitors to Orvieto, near Rome, can traverse the 248 steps of St Patrick's Well.
St Patrick’s Well, or Il Pozzo di S. Patrizio, is one of the highlights of the charming cathedral city of Orvieto in s...
Climbing St Peter's dome in the Vatican
Cupola of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican can be visited daily - inside and out.
Visits to the dome of St Peter’s are possible every day from 08.00 to 18.00, during April to September, and from 8....
St Peter's Area
Curiosities in St Peter's Area
Fairytale and fantasy: Rome's Coppedè quarter
Coppedè district in Rome contains a magical mix of architectural styles.
Rome's little-known Coppedè quarter, part of the Trieste suburb, is marked by an eclectic and original mixture of architectura...
Quartiere Africano, Salario, Trieste
Curiosities in Quartiere Africano, Salario, Trieste
Angel of Grief in Rome's Non-Catholic Cemetery
Emelyn Story memorial in Rome is known as the Angel of Grief.
The Angel of Grief is one of the most poignant and photographed memorials in Rome's Non-Catholic Cemetery, located in the shadow of the p...
Testaccio district
Curiosities in Testaccio district
Crypt of the Capuchins in Rome
Skulls and bones of the Capuchin friars on Via Veneto in Rome.
The vaults and walls of the crypt in the Capuchin church on Rome's Via Veneto host the bones and skulls of some 3,700 monks who died bet...
Veneto
Curiosities in Veneto
Changing of the Guard at Rome's Quirinal Palace
The Changing of the Guard ceremony takes place in front of Rome's Palazzo del Quirinale, the seat of the President of Italy, every Sunday afternoon. The colourful military spectacle, which is free and...
Historic centre area
Curiosities in Historic centre area
Big City Life: Rome's open-air street art museum
18 giant murals cover the housing blocks in Rome's Tor Marancia suburb.
The Big City Life street art project was designed to regenerate the forgotten suburb of Tor Marancia by turning the area's soci...
Garbatella neighborhood
Curiosities in Garbatella neighborhood
Michelangelo's statue of Moses in Rome
Rome's S. Pietro in Vincoli hosts the chains of St Peter as well as Michelangelo's Moses.
The church of S. Pietro in Vincoli, known in English as St Peter in Chains, is a minor basilica hidden away i...
Monti neighbourhood
Curiosities in Monti neighbourhood
Rome's annual Miracle of the Snow in August
Each year on 5 August Rome's Basilica di S. Maria Maggiore celebrates La Madonna della Neve (Our Lady of the Snows) by recreating a miracle snowfall during the height of summer.
According to legend,...
Esquilino neighbourhood
Curiosities in Esquilino neighbourhood
Secret Rome: Cloisters of S. Cosimato
Hidden cloisters provide a silent refuge in the heart of Trastevere.The Nuovo Regina Margherita hospital in Trastevere houses one of Rome's more unexpected treasures: the tenth-century monastery of S....
Trastevere neighbourhood
Curiosities in Trastevere neighbourhood
Rome's Palazzo della Cancelleria
This Renaissance palace, which is a World Heritage Site and is attributed to Bramante, was once the papal chancery and remains an extraterritorial property of the Vatican.
Located between Campo de' F...
Campo de' Fiori neighbourhood
Curiosities in Campo de' Fiori neighbourhood
Secret Rome: La Piccola Londra (Little London)
Rome's Flaminio district hosts a short private residential street whose English architectural style has earned it the nickname La Piccola Londra, or Little London.
This unexpected taste of England...
Flaminio neighborhood
Curiosities in Flaminio neighborhood
Borromini at Palazzo Spada in Rome
Hidden Roman treasures: Borromini's optical illusion.
Palazzo Spada, located between Campo de' Fiori and Rome's river Tiber, is home to a gallery whose sumptuous art collection contains works by 16th...
Campo de' Fiori neighbourhood
Curiosities in Campo de' Fiori neighbourhood
