Ancient Rome
If you ever wanted to feel like the Caesars—with all of ancient Rome (literally) at your feet—simply head to Michelangelo's famed Piazza del Campidoglio. There, make a beeline for the terrace...
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Aventino
Crossing the vast Valle Murcia rose garden that separates the Aventine hill from the city on its western flank, you'd be forgiven for imagining yourself on an island, rising above not only the Tiber, but...
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Corso and Spagna
You can hear the Trevi Fountain before you see it. In the early morning or late at night, gentle splashing sounds carry around the corners of the narrow alleys leading to its piazza, a white-noise counterpoint...
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Esquilino and Celio
In ancient times, the Suburra neighborhood, on the lower slopes of Esquiline Hill, was Rome's most notorious slum. A dark, warrenlike sector of multistory dwellings populated in part by gladiators from...
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Navona and Campo
When a busker sings a melancholy song about his bella city, chances are he's moved to music by the winding alleys and gentle light of Vecchia Roma—literally, "Old Rome," the hub of Rome's historic...
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Repubblica and Quirinale
Climbing the stairs out of the Metro at Piazza della Repubblica is something like stepping into a tornado. The clanging of sirens and car horns, the squeal of brakes, and the roar of mopeds, not to mention...
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Trastevere and the Ghetto
Though right in the geographic heart of the city, Trastevere and the Ghetto are outsiders nonetheless. Trastevere (literally, "across the Tiber") began as a farming settlement for immigrants from the East...
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Vatican
Climbing the steps to St. Peter's Basilica feels monumental, like a journey that has reached its climactic end. Harlequin-costumed Swiss Guards stand at attention, curly spears at their sides, dreaming...
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