Must see attractions in Rome

This is one of Rome’s richest Renaissance churches, with a particularly impressive collection of art, including two Caravaggios: the Conversion of St Paul…

Nowhere better illustrates the various stages of Rome's turbulent past than this fascinating multilayered church. The ground-level 12th-century basilica…

A magnet for visitors since the 18th century, the Spanish Steps (Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti) provide a perfect people-watching perch. The 135…

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…

Church to Rome’s French community since 1589, this opulent baroque chiesa is home to a celebrated trio of Caravaggio paintings: the Vocazione di San…

Although a bit of a hike, it’s well worth searching out this intriguing medieval church complex. Set over the catacombs where St Agnes was buried, it…

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,…

Nestled in a quiet corner of Trastevere's focal square, this is said to be the oldest church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Rome. In its original form,…

Pope Julius III’s 16th-century villa provides the often-overlooked but charming setting for Italy’s finest collection of Etruscan and pre-Roman treasures…

Housed in a vast belle époque palace, this oft-overlooked modern-art gallery, known locally as GNAM, is an unsung gem. Its superlative collection runs the…

The compact Quartiere Coppedè, centering around the magnificent Piazza Mincio, is one of Rome's most extraordinary neighbourhoods. Conceived and built by…

Once home to Queen Christina of Sweden, whose bedroom reputedly witnessed a steady stream of male and female lovers, the 16th-century Palazzo Corsini was…

The interior of this gorgeous 16th-century villa is fantastically frescoed from top to bottom. Several paintings in the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche and the…

The last resting place of the patron saint of music features Pietro Cavallini's exquisite 13th-century fresco in the nuns' choir of the hushed convent…

Despite the roads that surround it, Rome’s 'non-Catholic' cemetery is a verdant oasis of peace. An air of Grand Tour romance hangs over the site where up…

Home to two of the world’s most famous works of art – Michelangelo’s ceiling frescoes (1508–12) and his Giudizio Universale (Last Judgment; 1536–41) – the…

Entry to the dome is to the far right of the basilica's main portico, where you also buy your ticket. A small lift can take you halfway up, but it’s still…

Locals, lovers, tourists, joggers – no one can resist the lure of Rome's most celebrated park. Originally the 17th-century estate of Cardinal Scipione…

Considered the first great building of the High Renaissance, Bramante’s sublime tempietto (Little Temple; 1508) is a perfect surprise, squeezed into the…

This solemn basilica, one of Rome's most beautiful early Christian churches, was founded by Peter of Illyria around AD 422. It was enlarged in the 9th…