After the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, we checked out the lines for Palatine Hill. It was part of the admission for the Colosseum and we could see the ruins from outside and were definitely interested. We ended up having to go to lunch first. The lines were long before, but we hoped they …
In 64AD after the fires in Rome, the Emperor Nero decided to build himself a palace that would be called The Golden House. Upon Nero’s death, Rome was engulfed in a civil war until Vespasian took the throne in 69AD. Instead of building a monument of palace for himself, he decided to build an amphitheatre …
Rome is riddled with historical monuments. I commented in the first post that you can turn a corner and find a fresco or a sculpture on the next, but it’s almost that way with monuments as well. You can turn a corner and find columns sandwiched between two buildings, or just a wall of columns …
The Pantheon was built between 118 and 125 AD on the ruins of another pagan temple, which was destroyed by fire in 80 AD. When the Pantheon was built, it was used to worship the pagan gods of Rome (though no one knows specifically which ones) until 609 when it was converted to a Catholic …
According to Catholic texts, after the crucifixion of Jesus, St. Peter travelled to Rome and was martyred by being crucified head down near an ancient Egyptian obelisk in the Circus of Nero. Shrines existed in the spot until St. Peter’s was consecrated in 329 under the Emperor Constantine. During the 16th century, Pope Julius II …
One of the major attractions of Rome is, of course, the Vatican. The Vatican is known for having a tremendous amount of artwork as well as the Sistine Chapel, so obviously a big thing to do and see when visiting Rome. We booked tickets for the Vatican Museums for our first day in Rome. Little …
For first time travellers to Rome, we did a number of things correctly and a number of things caught us completely off-guard. Hopefully, after reading our experiences in the next several posts, you will know what to expect and won’t run across the same pitfalls we did! We still had an amazing time, so it …
L.L. Diamond 