Curiosities
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
Curiosities in Historic centre
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
Curiosities in Garbatella
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
Curiosities in Monti
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
Curiosities in Esquilino
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
Curiosities in Trastevere
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
Curiosities in Campo de' Fiori
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 Engl...
Flaminio
Curiosities in Flaminio
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
Curiosities in Campo de' Fiori
Rome's Galleria Sciarra
Galleria Sciarra was built between 1885 and 1888 as part of surge of development following Rome's designation as capital of a united Italy in 1870.
Prince Maffeo Sciarra, owner of the prime property...
Historic centre
Curiosities in Historic centre
Hidden Roman treasure: Passetto del Biscione
A hidden frescoed lane-way just metres from Rome's Campo de' Fiori.
Il Passetto del Biscione is a small but significant treasure often missed on the tourist trail, despite its central location around...
Campo de' Fiori
Curiosities in Campo de' Fiori
Rome's Portico d'Ottavia
The recently-restored Portico d’Ottavia is a complex of ancient monuments rebuilt by Octavian (later the emperor Augustus) around 27 BC and dedicated to his sister Octavia. Over the centuries it has s...
Jewish Ghetto
Curiosities in Jewish Ghetto
Largo degli Acetari
Extremely well hidden, Largo degli Acetari is an enchanting scene that will only reveal itself to those who really set out to find it. Head to Via del Pellegrino 19 (the first left onto a small side s...
Hollywood tutto sul Cinema
With customers including Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, this small but well-stocked Roman shop (the first in Italy to specialise in auteur cinema) has a collection of about 5,000 movies to buy or...
Campo de' Fiori
Curiosities in Campo de' Fiori
Candle’s Store
Candles galore awaits you in this family-run candle making business.
All the candles are hand made and come in every imaginable size, colour and shape.
S. Lorenzo
Curiosities in S. Lorenzo
Best views of Rome
Best views in Rome. There are as many good views of the city as there are hills of Rome. The famous ones are the view from the Pincio, from the Fontanone on the Gianicolo and from the top of St Peter'...
Crypt of the Capuchins
The Cappuccini on Via Veneto.
In the basement of the Capuchin church in Via Veneto, there is an unusually artistic cemetery where the bones of 4,000 monks who died between 1600 and 1800 decorate the...
Veneto
Curiosities in Veneto
Palazzo Spada
On the ground floor of the elegant Palazzo Spada you can admire a magnificent colonnade with an enormous statue of Mars at the end. This is a clever trick of perspective by Borromini, because the gall...
Campo de' Fiori
Curiosities in Campo de' Fiori
