Must see attractions in Centro Storico

The Jewish Ghetto, centred on lively Via del Portico d’Ottavia, is an atmospheric area studded with artisan's studios, small shops, kosher bakeries and…

Tucked away in the back streets behind Piazza Navona, this small baroque church boasts a columned semicircular facade by Pietro da Cortona and a…

Hardly new as its name would suggest, this imposing landmark church boasts a distinguished 17th-century facade and a vast baroque interior. Of particular…

One of the world’s smallest inhabited islands, the boat-shaped Isola Tiberina has been associated with healing since the 3rd century BC when the Romans…

The historical, cultural and artistic heritage of Rome’s Jewish community is chronicled in this small but engrossing museum. Housed in a building attached…

One of Rome's most imposing Renaissance buildings, this huge palazzo was built for Cardinal Raffaele Riario between 1483 and 1513. It was later acquired…

This playful, much-loved fountain features four boys gently hoisting tortoises up into a bowl of water. Created by Giacomo della Porta and Taddeo Landini…

A must for opera fans, this towering 17th-century church is where Giacomo Puccini set the first act of Tosca. Its most obvious feature is Carlo Maderno’s…

Together with the adjacent Piazza di Montecitorio, this stylish piazza is Rome’s political nerve centre. On its northern flank, the 16th-century Palazzo…

The baroque Palazzo Braschi houses the Museo di Roma’s eclectic collection of paintings, photographs, etchings, clothes and furniture, charting the…

This battered, armless figure is Rome’s most famous ‘talking statue’. During the 16th century, when there were no safe outlets for dissent, a Vatican…

This innocuous-looking 11th-century basilica, hidden behind scaffolding when we last visited, harbours some fascinating underground ruins. Beneath the…

Home to Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, this baroque palazzo was built by Bernini in 1653, expanded by Carlo Fontana in the late 17th century, and given an…

Little remains of the 5th-century church that was originally built here atop a well sacred to Juno. But that shouldn’t detract from what is a very pretty…

Striking off west from Piazza Pasquino, Via del Governo Vecchio is an atmospheric cobbled lane full of boutiques, lively restaurants and vintage clothes…

Resembling a mini Colosseum, the Teatro di Marcello is the star turn of the dusty Area Archeologica del Teatro di Marcello e del Portico di Ottavia, a…

The columns, arches and fragmented pediment of this quadriporto (four-sided porch), which dates from 23 BC, once formed part of a vast rectangular portico…

Nicknamed the pulcino della Minerva ('Minerva's chick'), the Elefantino is a curious and much-loved statue of a puzzled-looking elephant carrying a 6th…

Seat of the Italian Senate since 1871, the regal Palazzo Madama was originally the 16th-century residence of Giovanni de’ Medici, the future Pope Leo X…

The last resting place of Francesco Borromini and Carlo Maderno, this graceful 16th-century church was commissioned by Pope Leo X as a showcase for…