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Museo Storico Artistico (Treasury)
The sacristy entrance (halfway down the left aisle) leads to the treasury, which has sacred relics and priceless artefacts. Highlights include a tabernacle by Donatello; the Colonna Santa, a 4th-century Byzantine column from the earlier church; the 6th-century Crux Vaticana (Vatican Cross), made of bronze and beset with jewels - a gift of the emperor Justinian II; and the massive 15th-century bronze tomb of Sixtus IV by Pollaiuolo.
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Orto Botanico
Formerly the private grounds of Palazzo Corsini, Rome's 12-hectare botanical gardens are a great place to unwind. Plants have been cultivated on this site since the late 13th century but, in their present form, the gardens were established in 1883. Nowadays, they are managed by La Sapienza University and boast up to 8000 species, including some of the rarest plants in Europe.
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Palatine
Overlooking the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill is where it all began. An area of majestic ruins and grand views, this is where the mythical she-wolf nursed Romulus and Remus before Romulus killed his brother and founded Rome in 753 BC. Indeed, archaeologists have unearthed evidence of human habitation dating to the 9th century BC.
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Palazzo Cenci
A 16th-century house of horrors, Palazzo Cenci was home to ill-fated Beatrice Cenci, who was beheaded on Ponte Sant'Angelo in 1599 for murdering her sadistic father. Shelley based his tragedy The Cenci on the family, and a famous portrait of Beatrice by Guido Reni hangs in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica. It shows a sweet-faced young girl with soft eyes and fair hair.
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Palazzo del Banco di Santo Spirito
The early-16th-century Palazzo del Banco di Santo Spirito was designed by Antonio Sangallo the Younger and was the mint of Papal Rome. The facade of the building resembles a Roman triumphal arch and the two baroque statues crowning it represent Charity and Thrift.
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Palazzo del Quirinale
Flanking Piazza del Quirinale, this immense palazzo served as the papal summer residence for almost three centuries until the keys were handed over, begrudgingly and staring down the barrel of a gun, to Italy's new king in 1870. It was passed on to the president of the Republic in 1948.
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Palazzo della Cancelleria
As impressive an example of Renaissance architecture as you'll find in Rome, this huge palazzo was built for Cardinal Raffaele Riario between 1483 and 1513. Something of a rogue by all accounts, Riario is said to have financed up to a third of the palace with gambling winnings.
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Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro
Dubbed the Square Colosseum due to its superimposed loggias, the Palace of the Workers is EUR's architectural icon - a solid, gleaming office block clad in white travertine. Designed by Giovanni Guerrini, Ernesto Bruno La Padula and Mario Romano (and inaugurated in 1940), its six rows of nine arches honour the project's Fascist commissioner - Benito having six letters, Mussolini having nine.
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Palazzo delle Esposizioni
Recently opened after years of renovation work, this grand 19th-century building is one of Rome's most prominent cultural centres, used for multimedia events, art exhibitions, performances and film screenings. In the past it has served as the headquarters of the Italian Communist Party, a mess for allied servicemen, a polling station and even a public loo.
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Palazzo di Montecitorio
This grandiose baroque palazzo is home to Italy's Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of parliament). Standing on the piazza to which it lends its name, it was built in 1653 by Bernini, expanded by Carlo Fontana in the late 17th century and given a larger façade by Art Nouveau architect Ernesto Basile in 1918. Prior to Italian unification it was the seat of the papal courts.
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Palazzo e Galleria Doria Pamphilj
On the corner of Via del Corso and Via del Plebiscito, this huge, grey palazzo houses one of Rome's least-known jewels. Often overlooked by tourists, the Galleria Doria Pamphilj is home to one of the richest private art collections in Rome, with works by Raphael, Tintoretto, Brueghel, Titian, Caravaggio, Bernini and Velázquez.
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Palazzo Farnese
Forming one side of Piazza Farnese, Palazzo Farnese is one of Rome's most impressive Renaissance palazzi . It was started in 1514 by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, continued by Michelangelo, who added the cornice and balcony, and finished by Giacomo della Porta. Nowadays, it's the French Embassy and is open only to visitors who've booked a place on the biweekly guided tour.
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Palazzo Madama
The seat of the Italian Senate since 1871, Palazzo Madama was originally the 16th-century townhouse of Giovanni de' Medici. It was enlarged in the 17th century, when the baroque façade was added together with the decorative frieze of cherubs and bunches of fruit. The name 'Madama' is a reference to Margaret of Parma, the illegitimate daughter of Charles V, who lived here from 1559 to 1567.
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Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
Some of the city's best examples of Roman art are housed in Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, a converted 19th-century Jesuit College. A stunning, light-filled museum, it's worth at least a couple of hours of anybody's time.
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Palazzo Spada
Built in 1540, the Mannerist Palazzo Spada was restored by Borromini a century later and is worth the rather steep ticket price for his famous perspective. What appears to be a 25m-long corridor lined with columns and leading to a hedge and life-sized statue is in fact only 10m long. The sculpture, a later addition, is actually hip-height and the columns seem to diminish in size not because of distance but because they actually get smaller.
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Palazzo Venezia
Palazzo Venezia was the first of Rome's great Renaissance palaces. It was built between 1455 and 1464 for the Venetian cardinal Pietro Barbo, who later became Pope Paul II (r 1464-71), and was used for centuries as the embassy of the Venetian Republic. Its most famous resident, however, was Mussolini, who made speeches from the balcony and kept the lights on throughout the night to give the impression he was working.
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Palazzo Venezia & Museo del Palazzo di Venezia
On the western side of Piazza Venezia is Rome's first great Renaissance palace. Built between 1455 and 1464 for the Venetian cardinal Pietro Barbo (who later became Pope Paul II), it was used for centuries as the embassy of the Venetian Republic. Its most famous resident was Mussolini, who used the vast Sala del Mappamondo as his centre of operations.
Read more about Palazzo Venezia & Museo del Palazzo di Venezia
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Pantheon
Marcus Agrippa's Pantheon is one of the world's most sublime architectural creations: a perfectly proportioned floating dome resting on an elegant drum of columns and pediments. Built in 27 BC, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in 120 AD, it is one of Rome's best-preserved ancient monuments. Its extraordinary dome is the largest masonry vault ever built.
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Parco Savello
Known to Romans as the Giardino degli Aranci (Orange Garden), this pocket-sized perfumed park is a romantic haven. If you can, grab a perch at the small panoramic terrace and watch the sun set over the Tiber and, beyond, Trastevere and the Vatican. In summer, a stage is sometimes set up among the orange trees and outdoor performances are held.
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Pasquino
A grubby statue covered with tatty bits of paper, the Pasquino 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. Even today Romans still leave messages, known as pasquinade .
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Pastificio Cerere
It might be an icon of modern Italian art, but Pastificio Cerere started life as a giant pasta factory in 1905. Abandoned in 1960, its empty loft spaces would eventually draw six emerging artists - Nunzio, Giuseppe Gallo, Piero Pizzi Cannella, Gianni Dessì, Marco Tirelli and Bruno Ceccobbelli. Dubbed the Nuova Scuola Romana (New Roman School), they took the nation's art scene by storm in the early 1980s, rebelling against mainstream minimalism with a revival of old-school techniques mixed with new-school edge.
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Piazza Barberini
More a traffic thoroughfare than a place to linger, this noisy square owes its name to the Barberini family, one of Rome's great dynastic clans. In the centre, the eye-catching Fontana del Tritone (Fountain of the Triton) was created by Bernini in 1643 for Pope Urban VIII, patriarch of the Barberini family. It depicts the sea-god Triton blowing a stream of water from a conch while seated in a large scallop shell supported by four dolphins.
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Piazza Colonna
Dominating the northern side of this stylish piazza, Palazzo Chigi (06 677 93 417; www.governo.it in Italian; Piazza Colonna 370; visits on request) has been the official residence of the Presidente del Consiglio, Italy's prime minister, since 1961. The building, off limits unless you've booked a visit, was started in the 16th century by Matteo di Castello and finished more than a 100 years later by Felice della Greca.
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Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta
At the southern end of Via di Santa Sabina, this peaceful little square takes its name from the Cavalieri di Malta (Knights of Malta), who have their Roman headquarters here, in the Priorato dei Cavalieri di Malta. Although it's closed to the public, the priory offers one of Rome's most charming views: Look through the keyhole and you'll see the dome of St Peter's perfectly aligned at the end of a hedge-lined avenue.
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Piazza dei Santissimi Apostoli
A popular place for political demonstrations, this long thin piazza is home to L'Ulivo, Italy's main centre-left political party, and is flanked by impressive baroque palazzi . At the end of the square stands Palazzo Balestra, given to James Stuart, the Old Pretender, in 1719 by Pope Clement XI. Opposite the Basilica dei Santi Apostoli is Palazzo Odelscalchi, with its impressive 1664 façade by Bernini. Only the church is open to the public.
