79 Best Sights in Rome, Italy

Inspired by Trajan's Column, this 2nd-century-AD column is composed of 27 blocks of marble covered in reliefs recounting Marcus Aurelius's victory over the Germanic tribes. A bronze statue of St. Paul, which replaced the original effigy of the emperor and his wife, Faustina, in the 16th century, stands at the top. The column is the centerpiece of Piazza Colonna.

The remarkable series of reliefs spiraling up this column, which has stood in this spot since AD 113, celebrate the emperor's victories over the Dacians in today's Romania. The scenes on the column are an important primary source for information on the Roman army and its tactics. An inscription on the base declares that the column was erected in Trajan's honor and that its height corresponds to the height of the hill that was razed to create a level area for the grandiose Foro di Traiano. The emperor's ashes, no longer here, were kept in a golden urn in a chamber at the column's base; his statue stood atop the column until 1587, when the pope had it replaced with a statue of St. Peter.

This small nonprofit art foundation is housed inside the turn-of-the-century Cerere factory, which produced pasta until 1960 and embodies San Lorenzo's transition from industrial to artsy. Although the foundation was established in 2004 to promote the work of young contemporary artists, artists have been renting studio space in the factory since the 1970s. Part of the exhibition space has remained raw, which makes for interesting site-specific installations. Check in advance to see what's happening, as exhibitions typically change every couple of months.

When Pope Sixtus V (Felice Peretti) completed the restoration of the Acqua Felice aqueduct toward the end of the 16th century, Domenico Fontana was commissioned to design its monumental fountain. Sculptors Leonardo Sormani and Prospero da Brescia had the unhappy task of executing the central figure of Moses; the comparison with Michelangelo's magnificent Moses in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli was inevitable, and the giant sculpture was widely criticized. But the new fountain served to position the formerly rustic Quirinale neighborhood as a thriving urban center.

At the foot of the Spanish Steps, this curious, leaky boat fountain is fed by Rome's only surviving ancient aqueduct, the Acqua Vergine. The sinking ship design is a clever solution to low water pressure and was created by Pietro Bernini, with the help of his son, the prolific sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The project was commissioned by Barberini Pope Urban VIII, and the bees and suns on the boat are symbols of the Barberini family. Looking for more symbolism, some insist that the Berninis intended the fountain to be a reminder that this part of town was often flooded by the Tiber; others claim that it represents the Ship of the Church; and still others think that it marks the presumed site of the emperor Domitian's water stadium in which sea battles were reenacted in the glory days of the Roman Empire.

The upper shell and inscription of this fountain, which is decorated with the famous heraldic bees of the Barberini family, are from a fountain that Bernini designed for Pope Urban VIII; the rest was lost when the fountain was moved to make way for a new street. The inscription caused considerable uproar when the fountain was first built in 1644. It said that the fountain had been erected in the 22nd year of the pontiff's reign, although, in fact, the 21st anniversary of Urban's election to the papacy was still some weeks away. The last numeral was hurriedly erased, but to no avail—Urban died eight days before the beginning of his 22nd year as pope. The superstitious Romans, who had regarded the inscription as a foolhardy tempting of fate, were vindicated.

Designed by Giacomo della Porta in 1581 and sculpted by Taddeo Landini, this fountain, set in pretty Piazza Mattei, is one of Rome's most charming. Its focal point consists of four bronze boys, each grasping a dolphin spouting water into a marble shell. Bronze turtles just out of reach of the boys' hands drink from the upper basin. The turtles were added in the 17th century by Bernini.

This is the Roman outpost of Larry Gagosian’s global art empire. Taking residence in a 1920s bank building, Gagosian brings an international crowd with highly anticipated exhibitions and blockbuster showcases of megastars such as Cy Twombly, Damien Hirst, and Jeff Koons.

The Gianicolo is famous for its peaceful and pastel panoramic views of the city, a noontime cannon shot, the Fontana dell'Acqua Paola (affectionately termed "the big fountain" by Romans), and a monument dedicated to Giuseppe and Anita Garibaldi (the guiding spirit behind the unification of Italy in the 19th century, and his long-suffering wife). The view from the terrace, with the foothills of the Appennini in the background, is especially breathtaking at dusk. It's also a great view for dome-spotting along the city skyline, from the Pantheon to the myriad city churches.

It's easy to overlook this tiny island in the Tiber, but you shouldn't. In terms of history and sheer loveliness, charming Isola Tiberina—shaped like a boat about to set sail—gets high marks. Cross onto the island via Ponte Fabricio, Rome's oldest remaining bridge, constructed in 62 BC. On the north side of the island crumbles the romantic ruin of the Ponte Rotto (Broken Bridge), which dates from 179 BC. Descend the steps to the lovely river embankment to see a Roman relief of the intertwined-snakes symbol of Aesculapius, the great god of healing.

In imperial times, Romans sheathed the entire island with marble to make it look like Aesculapius's ship, replete with a towering obelisk as a mast. Amazingly, a fragment of the ancient sculpted ship's prow still exists. You can marvel at it on the downstream end of the embankment. Today, medicine still reigns here. The island is home to the hospital of Fatebenefratelli (literally, "Do good, brothers"). Nearby is San Bartolomeo, built at the end of the 10th century by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III and restored in the 18th century.

During summer, the island hosts an outdoor cinema, while its walkway is dotted with white tented bars and pop-up eateries.

If you're keen to delve deeper into Rome's contemporary art scene, come to this stark-white gallery, which represents local and international artists whose work gets shown at international art fairs and prestigious museums like MAXXI and MACRO. The gallery has four exhibitions per year.

Unlike the other mausoleums in the area, this one is much more recent: buried here are the 335 victims of a massacre ordered by the Nazis as retribution for a partisan attack that killed 33 Nazis in March 1944. The tombs are labeled with the names, ages, and occupations of the victims, most of whom had nothing to do with the attack. As you enter the complex and walk through the caves, note the sculpture at the entrance and the bronze gates inside the tunnels. The statue, called The Three Ages of Man, represents the age range of the victims, from the youngest (15 years old) to the oldest (74 years old), while the bronze gates represent the horrific tangle of tortured bodies. A small museum with artifacts from the war sheds some light on the tragedy that took place here.

Rome's first walls were erected in the 6th century BC, but the ancient city greatly expanded over the next few centuries, and when Rome was at its peak, it didn't need walls. In the 3rd century AD, however, Emperor Aurelian commissioned a 12-mile wall to protect the city. Although many considered this a sign of weakness, it was more than a century before those walls were first breached in a siege that would herald the end of the empire. The ancient walls eventually became the fortifications of the papal city and remained in use for 16 centuries until the unification of Italy in 1870. Studding the Aurelian Walls were 18 main gates, the best preserved of which is the Porta di San Sebastiano at the entrance to the Via Appia Antica. This gate is also home to a small museum that allows you to walk a section of the ancient ramparts and take in some truly wonderful views. Note that the museum closes relatively early, at 2 pm.

Opulent, velvet-and-crystal salons in the Palazzo Primoli hauntingly capture the fragile charm of early-19th-century Rome and contain a specialized and rich collection of Napoléon memorabilia, including a bust by Canova of the general's sister, Pauline Borghese. You may well ask why this outpost of Napoléon is in Rome, but in 1798 the French emperor sent his troops to Rome, kidnapping Pope Pius VII and proclaiming his young son the King of Rome—though it all ultimately came to naught.

There are few places dedicated to Second World War history in Rome, but this small museum inside the infamous prison on Via Tasso serves as a poignant reminder of the horrors that conspired here under the Nazi-Fascist regime. In cells where the S.S. tortured partisans and other prisoners, artifacts such as wartime bulletins, letters written by the prisoners, and even bloody garments are displayed as moving testaments to a dark period in history.

Housed in a Baroque masterwork by Borromini, this former religious residence named for Saint Philip Neri, founder in 1551 of the Congregation of the Oratorians, now contains Rome's Archivio Storico. Like the Jesuits, the Oratorians—or Filippini, as they were commonly known—were one of the religious orders established in the mid-16th century as part of the Counter-Reformation. Neri, a man of rare charm and wit, insisted that the members of the order—most of them young noblemen whom he had recruited personally—not only renounce their worldly goods, but also work as common laborers in the construction of Neri's great church of Santa Maria in Vallicella.

The Oratory itself, built between 1637 and 1662, has a gently curving facade that is typical of Borromini, who insisted on introducing movement into everything he designed. The inspiration here is that of arms extended in welcome to the poor. The building houses the Vallicelliana Library founded by Philip Neri, and the courtyard is usually accessible during the library's opening hours. Otherwise, guided visits, usually in the mornings, can be booked by email.

Following the shape of Emperor Domitian's Odeon arena, a curving, columned portico identifies this otherwise inconspicuous palace on a traffic-swept bend of Corso Vittorio Emanuele. In the 1530s, Renaissance architect Baldassare Peruzzi built this palace for the Massimo family, after their previous dwelling had been destroyed during the Sack of Rome. (High in the papal aristocracy, they claimed an ancestor who had been responsible for the defeat of Hannibal.)

If you visit on March 16, you'll be able to go upstairs to visit the family chapel in commemoration of a miracle performed here in 1583 by St. Philip Neri, who is said to have recalled a young member of the family, one Paolo Massimo, from the dead (expect a line). Any other day of the year, though, you'll only be able to view the private residence from the outside. The palazzo's name comes from the columns of the ancient Odeon; one is still visible in the square at the back of the palazzo.

This amusing palazzo was designed in 1591 by noted painter Federico Zuccari (1540–1609), who frescoed the first floor of his custom-built home. Typical of the outré Mannerist style of the period, the two windows and the main door are designed to look like monsters with mouths gaping wide. Zuccari—whose frescoes adorn many Roman churches, including Trinità dei Monti just up the block—sank all his money into his new home, dying in debt before his curious memorial, as it turned out, was completed.

Today, it is home to the German state-run Bibliotheca Hertziana, a prestigious fine-arts library. Access is reserved for scholars, but the pristine facade can be admired for free. Leading up to the quaint Piazza della Trinità del Monti, the nearby Via Gregoriana is quite charming and has long been one of Rome's most elegant addresses, home to such residents as 19th-century French painter Ingres; Valentino also had his first couture salon here.

Umbrella-like Roman pines line the pathway of Savello Park, an enchanting public garden atop the Aventine Hill. The towering trees lead the way to a mesmerizing belvedere of the Tiber and the city rooftops, offering views spanning from the Monument to Vittorio Emmanuele II all the way to St. Peter’s. The park is named after the Savelli family who built a fortified palace on the spot in the late 13^th century, but it is better known simply as the Giardino degli Aranci, or the Orange Garden, thanks to the numerous citrus trees that were planted here in honor of St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominican order who preached under an orange tree at the nearby cloister of Santa Sabina. The former fortress opened as a park in 1932, but there are still some traces of its more ancient past in the old walls opposite the church, where the outline of an old drawbridge is still visible.

A bustling marketplace in the morning (Monday through Saturday from 8 to 2) and a trendy meeting place the rest of the day and night, this piazza has plenty of down-to-earth charm. Just after lunchtime, all the fruit and vegetable vendors disappear, and this so-called piazza trasformista takes on another identity, becoming a circus of bars particularly favored by study-abroad students, tourists, and young expats. Brooding over the piazza is a hooded statue of the philosopher Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake here in 1600 for heresy, one of many victims of the Roman Inquisition.

This strategic location atop the Quirinale has long been important. Indeed, it served as home of the Sabines in the 7th century BC—when they were deadly enemies of the Romans, who lived on the Campidoglio and Palatino (all of 1 km [½ mile] away). Today, it's the foreground for the presidential residence, Palazzo del Quirinale, and home to the Palazzo della Consulta, where Italy's Constitutional Court sits.

The open side of the piazza has a vista over the rooftops and domes of central Rome and St. Peter's. The Fontana di Montecavallo, or Fontana dei Dioscuri, has a statuary group of Dioscuri trying to tame two massive marble steeds that was found in the Baths of Constantine, which once occupied part of the Quirinale's summit. Unlike many ancient statues in Rome, this group survived the Dark Ages intact, becoming one of the city's great sights during the Middle Ages. The obelisk next to the figures is from the Mausoleo di Augusto (Tomb of Augustus) and was put here by Pope Pius VI in the late 18th century.

Often the first view that spells "Rome" to weary travelers walking from Termini station, this round piazza was laid out in the late 1800s and follows the line of the caldarium of the vast ancient public baths, the Terme di Diocleziano. At its center, the exuberant Fontana delle Naiadi (Fountain of the Naiads) teems with voluptuous bronze ladies happily wrestling with marine monsters. The nudes weren't there when the pope unveiled the fountain in 1888—sparing him any embarrassment—but when the figures were added in 1901, they caused a scandal. It's said that the sculptor, Mario Rutelli, modeled them on the ample figures of two musical-comedy stars of the day. The colonnades now house the luxe hotel Anantara Palazzo Naiadi and various shops and caffès.

This tiny piazza takes its name from the figure in the corner, the remnant of an old Roman statue depicting Menelaus. The statue underwent a name change in the 16th century when Pasquino, a cobbler or barber (and part-time satirist), started writing comments around the base. The habit caught on; soon everyone was doing it. The most loquacious of Rome's "talking statues," its lack of arms or face is more than made up for with the modern-day commentary that is still anonymously posted on the wall behind the weathered figure.

One of Trastevere's most historic and time-burnished squares (albeit one that's now a bit overrun by traffic), this piazza takes its name from ancient Roman baths on the site (piscina means "pool"). It's said that the tiny church of San Benedetto on the piazza was built on the home of Roman nobles in which St. Benedict lived in the 5th century. Opposite is the medieval Casa dei Mattei (House of the Mattei), where the rich and powerful Mattei family lived until the 16th century, when, after a series of murders on the premises, colorful legend has it that they were forced to move out of the district, crossing the river to build their magnificent palace close to the Jewish Ghetto.

Piazza Venezia stands at what was the beginning of the ancient Via Flaminia, a historic Roman road leading northeast across Italy to the Adriatic Sea. From this square, Rome's geographic heart, all distances from the city are calculated.

The piazza was transformed at the turn of the 20th century when much older ruins were destroyed to make way for a modern capital city (and a massive monument to unified Italy's first king). The female bust near the church of San Marco in the southwest corner of the piazza is a fragment of a statue of Isis, now known to the Romans as Madama Lucrezia. It is one of the city's "talking statues" on which anonymous poets hung verses pungent with political satire.

The Via Flaminia remains a vital artery. The part leading from Piazza Venezia to Piazza del Popolo is now known as Via del Corso, after the horse races (corse) that were run here during the wild Roman carnival celebrations of the 17th and 18th centuries. It also happens to be one of Rome's busiest shopping streets.

Angels designed by Baroque master Bernini line the most beautiful of central Rome's 20-odd bridges. Bernini himself carved only two of the angels (those with the scroll and the crown of thorns), both of which were moved to the church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte shortly afterward at the behest of the Bernini family. Though copies, the angels on the bridge today convey forcefully the grace and characteristic sense of movement—a key element of Baroque sculpture—of Bernini's best work.

Originally built in AD 133–134, the Ponte Elio, as it was originally called, was a bridge over the Tiber to Hadrian's Mausoleum. Pope Gregory changed the bridge's name after he had a vision of an angel sheathing its sword to signal the ending of the plague of 590. In medieval times, continuing its sacral function, the bridge became an important element in funneling pilgrims toward St. Peter's. As such, in 1667 Pope Clement IX commissioned Bernini to design 10 angels bearing the symbols of the Passion, turning the bridge into a sort of Via Crucis.

The massive, 1st-century-AD arch was built as part of the original Aqua Claudia and then incorporated into the walls hurriedly erected in the late 3rd century as Rome's fortunes began to decline. The great arch of the aqueduct subsequently became a porta (city gate) and gives an idea of the grand scale of ancient Roman public works. On the Piazzale Labicano side, to the east, is the curious Baker's Tomb, erected in the 1st century BC by a prosperous baker (predating both the aqueduct and the city walls); it's shaped like an oven to signal the deceased's trade. The site is now in the middle of a public transport node and is close to Rome's first tram depot (going back to 1889).

Framed by two squat, circular towers, this gate was constructed at the beginning of the 5th century during a renovation of the 3rd century Aurelian Walls. Here you can see just how well the walls have been preserved and imagine hordes of Visigoths trying to break through them. Sturdy as they look, these walls couldn't always keep out the barbarians: Rome was sacked three times during the 5th century alone.

Looming over the Jewish Ghetto, this huge portico, with a few surviving columns, is one of the area's most picturesque set pieces, with the church of Sant'Angelo in Pescheria built right into its ruins. Named by Augustus in honor of his sister Octavia, it was originally 390 feet wide and 433 feet long; encompassed two temples, a meeting hall decorated with bronze statues, and a library; and served as a kind of grandiose entrance foyer for the adjacent Teatro di Marcello.

In the Middle Ages, the cool marble ruins of the portico became Rome's pescheria (fish market). A stone plaque on a pillar (it's a copy as the original is in the Musei Capitolini) states in Latin that the head of any fish surpassing the length of the plaque was to be cut off "up to the first fin" and given to the city fathers or else the vendor was to pay a fine of 10 gold florins. The heads, which were used to make fish soup, were considered a great delicacy.

This intersection takes its name from its four Baroque fountains, which represent the Tiber (on the San Carlo corner), the Arno, Juno, and Diana. Despite the nearby traffic and the tightness of the sidewalk, it's worth taking in the views in all four directions from this point: to the southwest, as far as the obelisk in Piazza del Quirinale; to the northeast, along Via XX Settembre to the Porta Pia; to the northwest, across Piazza Barberini to the obelisk of Trinità dei Monti; and to the southeast, as far as the obelisk and apse of Santa Maria Maggiore. The prospect is a highlight of Pope Sixtus V's campaign of urban beautification and an example of Baroque influence on city planning.