The History of Rome tour is an unforgettable tour to discover the most beautiful and important monuments of the Italian Capital City. Departure from Rome-Fiumicino Airport, your hotel or any other previously agreed location. During the car transfer toward the center of Rome there will be a stop for a coffee break on your request.
During the tour you’ll be able to admire the precious artistic and cultural remains of the glorious period of the Roman Empire, but that’s not all; in fact it’s important to remember that all the best artists of the 15th and 16th centuries lived in Rome, leaving here their most significant traces. First among all, Michelangelo. The artist designed Piazza del Campidoglio, where he placed the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, which originally stood in the Lateran Palace. The Capitoline Hill is the most important of the seven hills of Rome. Here you’ll start your tour.
On the left you’ll find the steep staircase that leads to the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli (Saint Mary of the Altar of Heaven) (1348). Behind the Campidoglio, on a slope of the Capitoline Hill, stands the huge monument celebrating the Italian Unification: the Vittoriano or Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland). The work, inspired by Hellenistic references, dates back to the end of the 19th century. In the center of the monument, on top of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, you’ll be able to admire the Equestrian Statue of Victor Emmanuel II King of Italy (1888-1901), a work by the sculptor Enrico Chiaradia. On the right of the Vittoriano there’s the Forum of Trajan, with the historiated column that celebrates the conquer of Dacia by the Romans. In front of the Altare della Patria stands Palazzo Venezia, built between 1455 and 1467 following the design of Leon Battista Alberti. It’s the first Renaissance work built in Rome. The ancient building, residence of the popes until 1564, and then of the ambassadors of the Republic of Venice, is now a museum. The History of Rome tour carries on in Via dei Fori Imperiali. In the background you will notice the most famous monument in Rome, which has become a symbol of the city: the Flavian Amphitheater (75 AD), or the Colosseum. On the left you’ll be able to admire the great Forum of Augustus, the ruins of the Temple of Mars Ultor and the Forum of Nerva. Instead, on the right you’ll find the Roman Forum, which is accessed from Via Salaria Vecchia. The complex was formerly the center of Rome’s political, commercial and judicial life. Worthy of mention are the Arch of Septimius Severus, the ruins of the Temple of Saturn, the Basilica of Maxentius and the Arch of Titus, which commemorated the victory over the Judeans and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Once arrived at the Colosseum, you can choose whether to visit the structure inside it or continue the History tour in Rome. Near the amphitheater you will find the Arch of Constantine, built in 316 AD and dedicated by the Roman Senate to the emperor for his victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge in 313. With this victory Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the State.
After the lunch break, you’ll be taken by your Transfers Rome chauffeur near Piazza Fontana di Trevi, dominated by the scenographic Baroque fountain made of tuff and travertine (1762, designed by Niccolò Salvi). Throwing a little coin in the fountain’s water brings good luck and it’s a promise to return.
You will then move to Piazza della Rotonda, where you will find the Pantheon. Built in 27 BC under the Empire of Augustus, it was destroyed twice by lightnings and rebuilt by Hadrian between 118 and 125. During the Christian era it became a church, now desecrated, but which still preserves the tombs of illustrious Italians, among which Raphael, the Kings of Italy Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I, the Queen Margherita of Savoy.
Behind the Pantheon there’s Piazza della Minerva, popular for its 2500-year-old Egyptian Obelisk supported by an elephant created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It’s the smallest monument in Rome, known as the “pulcino della Minerva”. In Piazza Navona you’ll be able to take some pictures of the wonderful Roman fountains, such as the Fontana dei Fiumi (Fountain of the Rivers) by Bernini (1651), with the personifications of the four major rivers know in the 17th century.
At the end of the History of Rome tour overnight stay in a hotel in Rome or return journey to the airport.
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