Monument sights in Rome
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Colosseum
A monument to raw, merciless power, the Colosseum (Colosseo) is the most thrilling of Rome's ancient sights. It's not just the amazing completeness of the place, or its size, but the sense of violent history that resonates: it was here that gladiators met in mortal combat and condemned prisoners fought off wild beasts in front of baying, bloodthirsty crowds. Two thousand years later it's Italy's top tourist attraction, pulling in between 16,000 and 19,000 people on an average day.
Built by the emperor Vespasian (r AD 69–79) in the grounds of Nero's palatial Domus Aurea, the Colosseum was inaugurated in AD 80. To mark the occasion, Vespasian's son and successor Titus (r…
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Pantheon
Along with the Colosseum, the Pantheon is one of Rome's iconic sights. A striking 2000-year-old temple (now a church), it is the city's best-preserved ancient monument and one of the most influential buildings in the Western world. The greying, pock-marked exterior might look its age, but inside it's a different story and it's an exhilarating experience to pass through its towering bronze doors and have your vision directed upwards to the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.
Its current form dates from around AD 120, when Emperor Hadrian built over Marcus Agrippa's original temple (27 BC) – you can still see Agrippa's name inscribed on the pediment. Hadrian's temple…
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Bocca della Verità
A round piece of marble once used as an ancient manhole cover, the Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth) is one of Rome's great curiosities. Legend holds that if you put your hand in the carved mouth and tell a lie, it will bite your hand off.
The mouth lives in the portico of the beautiful, medieval Chiesa di Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Originally built in the 8th century, the church was given a major revamp in the 12th century, when the seven-storey bell tower and portico were added and the floor was decorated with Cosmati inlaid marble. Opposite the church are two small Roman temples: the round Tempio di Ercole Vincitore and the Tempio di Portunus. Just off the piazza, the
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Il Vittoriano
Known also as the Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland), this massive mountain of white marble towers over Piazza Venezia. Begun in 1885 to commemorate Italian unification and honour Victor Emmanuel II, it incorporates the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, as well as the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento documenting Italian unification.
For Rome's best 360-degree views, take the Roma dal Cielo lift from the side of the building up to the very top of the monument.
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Arco di Costantino
On the western side of the Colosseum, this triumphal arch was built in 312 to honour the emperor Constantine's victory over rival Maxentius at the battle of Ponte Milvio (Milvian Bridge).
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Mausoleo delle Fosse Ardeatine
This moving mausoleum is dedicated to the victims of Rome’s worst WWII atrocity. Buried here, outside the Ardeatine Caves, are 335 Italians shot by the Nazis on 24 March 1944. Following the massacre, ordered in reprisal for a partisan attack, the Germans used mines to explode sections of the caves and bury the bodies. After the war, the bodies were exhumed, identified and reburied in a mass grave, now marked by a huge concrete slab and sculptures.
The site also has a tiny museum dedicated to the Italian Resistance.
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Mausoleo di Augusto
Once one of Ancient Rome’s most imposing monuments, this is now an unkempt mound of earth, overgrown with weeds and surrounded by unsightly fences. Plans for a revamp have been on the table for some years, but there’s still no sign of activity.
The mausoleum, which was built in 28 BC, is the last resting place of Augustus, who was buried here in AD 14, and his favourite nephew and heir Marcellus. Mussolini had it restored in 1936 with an eye to being buried here himself.
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Pasquino
Recently scrubbed back to a virginal white, this unassuming sculpture is Rome’s most famous ‘talking statue’. During the 16th century, when there were no safe outlets for dissent, a Vatican tailor named Pasquino began sticking notes to the statue with satirical verses lampooning the church and aristocracy. Others joined in and soon there were talking statues all over town. Until a few years ago, Romans were still writing messages, known as pasquinade, and sticking them to the statue.
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Fontana delle Tartarughe
This playful 16th-century fountain depicts four boys gently hoisting tortoises up into a bowl of water. Apparently, Taddeo Landini created it in a single night in 1585 on behalf of the Duke of Mattei, who had gambled his fortune away and was on the verge of losing his fiancée. On seeing the fountain, Mattei’s future father-in-law was so impressed that he relented and let Mattei marry his daughter. The tortoises were added by Bernini in 1658.
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Porta Settimiana
Resembling a crenellated keep, Porta Settimiana marks the start of Via della Lungara, the 16th-century road that connects Trastevere with the Borgo. It was built in 1498 by Pope Alexander VI over a small passageway in the Aurelian Wall and later altered by Pope Pius VI in 1798.
From Porta Settimiana, Via Santa Dorotea leads to Piazza Trilussa, a popular evening hang-out, and Ponte Sisto, which connects with the centro storico.
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Elefantino
A short skip south of the Pantheon stands the Elefantino, a curious and much-loved sculpture of a puzzled elephant carrying a 6th-century-BC Egyptian obelisk. Unveiled in 1667 and designed to glorify Pope Alexander VII, the elephant, symbolising strength and wisdom, was sculpted by Ercole Ferrata to a design by Bernini. The obelisk was taken from the nearby Chiesa di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.
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Porta Maggiore
Porta Maggiore was built by Claudius in AD 52. Then, as now, it was a major road junction under which passed the two main southbound roads, Via Prenestina and Via Labicana (modern-day Via Casilina). The arch supported two aqueducts – the Acqua Claudia and the Acqua Aniene Nuova – and was later incorporated into the Aurelian Wall.
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