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Dome
Entry to the dome is to the far right of the basilica. A small lift takes you halfway up but it's still a long climb to the top. Press on and you'll be rewarded with some stunning views of Rome. It's well worth the effort, but bear in mind that it's a long and tiring climb and not recommended for those who suffer from claustrophobia or vertigo. Note also that the best time to photograph the view is in the afternoon when the light is much softer.
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Domus Aurea
A monumental exercise in vanity, the Domus Aurea (Golden House) was Nero's great gift to himself. Built after the fire of AD 64 and named after the gold that covered its façade, it was a huge palace complex covering much of the Palatino (Palatine), Oppio (Oppian) and Celio (Caelian) hills. Its grounds, which included an artificial lake, covered up to a third of the 1st-century city.
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Edicola Notte
Blink and you might miss it! At 1m wide and 7m long, Edicola Notte is Rome's tiniest art gallery. Established by Chinese-Malay artist and expat HH Lim, it's a peek-from-the-street affair, lit up each night for voyeuristic passers-by. And before you start making size jokes, remember, it's what you do with it that counts - past exhibitors include art world heavies such as Jannis Kounellis, Yan Pei Ming and Yang Jiechang.
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Elefantino
A short skip south of the Pantheon brings you to 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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Explora - Museo dei Bambini di Roma
Rome's only dedicated kids' museum, Explora is aimed at the under-12s. It's set up as a miniature town where children can play at being grown-ups. With everything from a hospital outpatients' department to a TV studio, it's a hands-on, feet-on, full-on experience that your nippers will love. And it runs on solar power.
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Fondazione Volume!
Head to this former glass factory for experimental, site-specific installations from A-list local and global artists. Past exhibitors include Jannis Kounellis, Sol Lewitt, Bernhard Rudiger and Marina Paris - each in turn have transformed the tiny space into completely different realities.
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Fontana dell'Acqua Paola
This monumental fountain was built in 1612 for Pope Paul V to celebrate the restoration of a 2nd-century aqueduct that supplied (and still supplies) water from Lago di Bracciano, 35km to the north of Rome. Four of the fountain's six pink-stone columns came from the façade of the old St Peter's Basilica, while much of the marble was pillaged from the Roman Forum. The large granite basin was added by Carlo Fontana in 1690.
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Fontana delle Tartarughe
This 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 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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Foro Italico
At the foot of Monte Mario, the Foro Italico is an impressive Fascist-era sports complex. Designed by the architect Enrico Del Debbio, it remains much as it was originally conceived. A 17m-high marble obelisk, inscribed with the words 'Mussolini Dux', stands at the beginning of a broad avenue leading down to the Stadio dei Marmi, a running track surrounded by 60 marble nudes, and the Stadio Olimpico, Rome's 80,000-seat football stadium.
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Forum Boarium
Piazza della Bocca della Verità stands on what was once ancient Rome's cattle market (Forum Boarium). The Forum later became an important commercial centre and had its own port on the River Tiber. Opposite Chiesa Santa Maria in Cosmedin are two tiny Roman temples dating to the 2nd century BC: the round Tempio di Ercole Vincitore and the Tempio di Portunus, dedicated to the god of rivers and ports, Portunus.
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Gagosian Gallery
In December 2007, contemporary art heavyweight Gagosian added Rome to its portfolio, converting a 1920s bank into a gallery designed by Firouz Galdo and Caruso St John. Its debut exhibition featured the work of Rome-based American artist Cy Twombly.
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Galleria Colonna
An extravagant work of art in its own right, this opulent six-room gallery houses the Colonna family's private art collection. It's not the capital's largest collection but it's highly regarded and well worth the ticket price. Entry is on Via della Pilotta, a picturesque street spanned by four arches connecting Palazzo Colonna to its private gardens.
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Galleria Lorcan O'Neill
Kick-started by a London art dealer and set in a converted stable, this is one of Rome's most respected private galleries. It was also one of the first to bring edgy international names to the city - think Tracey Emin, Max Rental, Matvey Levenstein, as well as local talent such as Luigi Ontani and Pietro Ruffo.
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Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica
A must for anyone into Renaissance and baroque art, this glorious gallery is housed in one of Rome's most spectacular palazzi . Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII to celebrate the Barberini family's rise to papal power in 1623, Palazzo Barberini was worked on by a who's who of 17th-century architects: designed by Carlo Maderno and then his nephew Borromini after his death, with a staircase by Bernini and a fresco by Pietro da Cortona.
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Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica di Palazzo Corsini
Originally known as Palazzo Riario after Cardinal Domenico Riario, who commissioned it in 1510, Palazzo Corsini owes its current look to a 1736 makeover by Ferdinando Fuga. Over the years a number of esteemed guests have stayed here - Michelangelo, Erasmus and Bramante among them - but the palazzo is most readily associated with Queen Christina of Sweden, who took up residency in 1662 and is said to have entertained male and female lovers here.
Read more about Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica di Palazzo Corsini
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Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna
Here, in a vast belle époque palace, you'll find works by some of the most important exponents of modern Italian art. There are canvases by the macchiaioli (the Italian Impressionists) and the futurists (including Boccioni and Balla), as well as major works by Modigliani and De Chirico. International artists are also represented, with works by Degas, Cezanne, Kandinsky, Klimt, Mondrian and Henry Moore.
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Galleria Pino Casagrande
Take the goods lift to the 5th floor of the legendary Pastificio Cerere for intelligent, progressive art at this small, top-notch gallery. Past exhibitors include German photographer Jan Bauer and local sound artist Piero Mottola.
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Gianicolo
It was here in 1849 that Giuseppe Garibaldi and his makeshift army fought pope-backing French troops in one of the fiercest battles in the struggle for Italian unification. Although a canon is still fired from it every day at noon, Rome's highest hill is now better known for great views, pony rides and Neapolitan puppet shows at weekends.
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Il Vittoriano
From virtually all over town, you'll see a massive white construction towering above the city. This is Il Vittoriano, Rome's most detested monument. Most Romans can't stand the sight of it, but they can't deny that the views are exceptional, spreading across the whole city from Piazza del Popolo and St Peter's in the north to the Roman Forum in the south.
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Imperial Forums
The expanse of ruins to the northeast of Via dei Fori Imperiali are known collectively as the Imperial Forums (Fori Imperiali). Constructed by Caesar, Augustus, Vespasian, Nerva and Trajan between 42 BC and AD 112, they were largely buried in 1933 when Mussolini built Via dei Fori Imperiali between the Colosseum and Piazza Venezia.
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Isola Tiberina
The world's smallest inhabited island was home to a 3rd-century temple dedicated to Aesculapius, the Greek God of healing. The temple's columns now line the nave of Romanesque Chiesa di San Bartolomeo ( M01B5, A3;h - & - Mon-Sun), while the remains of Rome's first stone bridge Ponte Rotto (Broken Bridge) are visible from island's south side.
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Keats-Shelley House
Next to the Spanish Steps, the Keats-Shelley House is where John Keats died in February 1821. He'd come to Rome a year earlier, hoping the Italian climate would improve his failing health. Unfortunately it didn't, and he died at the age of 25. A year later, Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned off the coast of Tuscany. The house is now a small museum crammed with memorabilia relating to the two poets and their colleagues Mary Shelley and Lord Byron.
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Largo di Torre Argentina
A busy transport hub, Largo di Torre Argentina is set around a sunken area, the Area Sacra, in which stand the remains of four Republican-era temples. These ruins were unearthed during construction work in 1926 and although off limits to humans are home to a thriving population of stray cats and a cat sanctuary (06 687 21 33; www.romancats.de). To learn more, and to visit the ruins, the sanctuary runs a free guided tour daily at .
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Macro Future
Housed in Rome's ex-slaughterhouse, MACRO's second gallery (the main one is in northern Rome) - serves up experimental art in two cavernous industrial halls. Recent shows have included the work of Anish Kapoor, John Bock and Russia's AES+F collective.
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Mausoleo delle Fosse Ardeatine
Buried here, outside the Ardeatine Caves, are 335 Italians shot by the Nazis on 24 March 1944. The prisoners, chosen at random, were killed in reprisal for a partisan attack. Following the massacre, 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 at the site, now marked by a huge concrete slab and sculptures.
