Must-see attractions in Southern Rome

  • The Appian way, Via Appia Antica
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    Via Appia Antica

    Southern Rome

    Via Appia Antica is a beautiful cobbled thoroughfare flanked by grassy fields, ancient Roman structures and towering pine trees.

  • ROME, ITALY - JUNE 15, 2019:  The San Sebastiano fuori le mura (Saint Sebastian outside the walls) is a basilica in Rome, central Italy.; Shutterstock ID 1689007471; purchase_order: 65050; job: poi; client: ; other:
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    Catacombe di San Sebastiano

    Southern Rome

    Extending beneath the Basilica di San Sebastiano, these underground burial chambers were developed in the 1st century.

  • ROME, ITALY - May 2018: Cycling people at the entrance gate to the Catacombe di San Callisto cave historical town in Rome, Italy; Shutterstock ID 1301255716; purchase_order: 65050; job: poi; client: ; other:
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    Catacombe di San Callisto

    Southern Rome

    These are the largest and busiest of Rome’s catacombs. Founded at the end of the 2nd century and named after Pope Calixtus I, they became the official…

  • Ruins of Villa dei Quintili on the Appian Way in Rome.
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    Villa dei Quintili

    Southern Rome

    Towering over green fields, this 2nd-century villa is one of Rome's unsung splendours. It was the luxurious abode of two consuls, the Quintili brothers,…

  • Galleria at Hall of Philosophers in Capitoline Museum, near Piazza del Campidoglio.

    Museo Capitoline Centrale Montemartini

    Southern Rome

    Housed in a former power station, this bold outpost of the Capitoline Museums (Musei Capitolini) juxtaposes classical sculpture with diesel engines and…

  • Cinecittà

    Southern Rome

    Cinecittà is Italy's foremost film studio, founded in 1937 by Mussolini and used for many iconic Italian and international films. It's possible to take a…

  • Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana

    Southern Rome

    Known more prosaically as the Square Colosseum, this iconic building in the EUR district is a prime example of rationalist architecture, featuring…

  • Villa di Massenzio

    Southern Rome

    The outstanding feature of Maxentius’ enormous 4th-century palace complex is the Circo di Massenzio, Rome’s best-preserved ancient racetrack. Above the…

  • Basilica di San Sebastiano

    Southern Rome

    The small 4th-century basilica atop the Catacombe di San Sebastiano dates mainly from the 17th century. It is dedicated to St Sebastian, who was martyred…

  • Capo di Bove

    Southern Rome

    Discovered when excavating the grounds of a private villa to build a swimming pool, the remains of this Roman villa give a sense of how a gracious ancient…

  • Catacombe di Santa Domitilla

    Southern Rome

    Among Rome’s largest and oldest, these wonderful catacombs stretch for about 17km. They were established on the private burial ground of Flavia Domitilla,…

  • Circo di Massenzio

    Southern Rome

    Part of the Villa di Massenzio complex, this is Rome’s best-preserved ancient racetrack – you can still make out the starting stalls used for chariot…

  • Basilica di San Paolo Fuori Le Mura courtyard garden.

    Basilica di San Paolo Fuori le Mura

    Southern Rome

    The largest church in Rome after St Peter’s (and the world’s third-largest), this vast basilica stands on the site where St Paul was buried after being…

  • EUR District

    Southern Rome

    This Orwellian quarter of wide boulevards and linear buildings was built for an international exhibition in 1942, and although war intervened and the…

  • MURo

    Southern Rome

    This isn't so much a museum as a collection of murals dotted around the Quadraro neighbourhood in the city’s southern suburbs. Works by nearly two dozen…

  • Mausoleo di Cecilia Metella

    Southern Rome

    Dating to the 1st century BC, this great drum of a mausoleum encloses a burial chamber, now roofless. In the 14th century it was converted into a fort by…

  • Mausoleo delle Fosse Ardeatine

    Southern Rome

    This 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…

  • Ex Mira Lanza Museum

    Southern Rome

    The ruins of this 19th-century soap factory in Ostiense, built in 1899, are the site of an experimental museum of street art. Home to a handful of…

  • Quartiere Garbatella

    Southern Rome

    A favourite location for films and TV, Quartiere Garbatella was originally conceived as a workers’ residential quarter, but in the 1920s the Fascists…

  • Porta San Sebastiano & Museo delle Mura

    Southern Rome

    Marking the start of Via Appia Antica, the 5th-century Porta San Sebastiano is the largest of the gates in the Aurelian Wall. During WWII the Fascist…

  • Roma Convention Centre

    Southern Rome

    Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas’ cutting-edge Roma Convention Centre: La Nuvola (2016) – the largest building to open in Rome in half a century – is a…

  • Casal Rotondo

    Southern Rome

    Over five very historic miles from the start of the Appian Way, this ruin was once a tomb dating to the 1st century BC. In the eons since it has been a…

  • Tombe della Via Latina

    Southern Rome

    The Archaeological Park of the Tombs of the Via Latina holds a trove of ancient Roman tombs in a park setting. Following an extensive restoration, the…

  • Mausoleo di Romolo

    Southern Rome

    Mausoleo di Romolo, located within the grounds of Villa di Massenzio, was built by Maxentius for his 17-year-old son Romulus. The huge mausoleum was…

  • Museo della Civilta Romana

    Southern Rome

    Wouldn't you know it! The pick of the three seldom-visited museums on this weed-strewn rationalist square is closed for 'renovations'. But just in case it…

  • Obelisco di Marconi

    Southern Rome

    Done up in faux-Egyptian style, this soaring central EUR obelisk was a favourite of Mussolini's. It features the usual array of buff workers beavering…

  • Sea Life Roma

    Southern Rome

    Over 5000 sea creatures, 30 tanks with more than one million gallons of water, a 360-degree glass tunnel for viewing sharks and stingrays, the list goes…

  • Genius of Sport

    Southern Rome

    Originally titled 'Genius of Fascism' and erected on this site in 1939 as EUR was taking shape, this statue was given the flimsiest of post-war make-overs…

  • Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis

    Southern Rome

    This pint-sized church marks the spot where St Peter, fleeing Rome, met a vision of Jesus going the other way. When Peter asked, ‘Domine, quo vadis?’ …

  • Caserma dell’Aeronautica

    Southern Rome

    It's fading fast: Bolognese artist Blu (www.blublu.org) painted this former military warehouse in a rainbow of sinister faces, incorporating the building…

  • Albergo Rosso

    Southern Rome

    This iconic housing block was designed by Innocenzo Sabbatini between 1928 and '29. It's a compelling yet strange combination of modern red bricks with…

  • Palazzo dei Congressi

    Southern Rome

    Rome's Congress Palace was constructed for the 1942 Universal Exposition, and hosted the fencing during the 1960 Olympics. The enormous terrace above the…

  • Chiesa Santi Pietro e Paolo

    Southern Rome

    Work started on this enormous white travertine and umber brick pile in 1939 for the Esposizione Universale di Roma (Roman Universal Exhibition), but didn…

  • Palazzo dello Sport

    Southern Rome

    This covered stadium was built for the 1960 Olympics and still hosts sporting and entertainment events today, with a capacity of around 12,000.