Rome / Roma - Italia
Tourist information & accommodation
B&B, Hotels and Hostels in Rome - Italy
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It's hard to say what you'll find most breathtaking about the eternal city:
the arrogant opulence of the Vatican, the timelessness of the Forum, the top
speed of a Fiat Bambino, the millions of cats in the Coliseum, trying to cross a
major intersection, or the bill for your latte. Make like the locals and souse
your senses in the glut of pleasures the city has to offer, from the grandiose
thrill of feeling centuries of turbulent history under your feet to the small
but potent intoxication of eating chestnut gelato on a hot day.
Founded, according to legend, by Romulus and Remus in 753 B.C., Rome was first the centre of the Roman Republic, then of the Roman Empire, and it became the capital of the Christian world in the 4th century. The World Heritage site, extended in 1990 to the walls of Urban VIII, includes some of the major monuments of antiquity such as the Forums, the Mausoleum of Augustus, the Mausoleum of Hadrian, the Pantheon, Trajan's Column and the Column of Marcus Aurelius, as well as the religious and public buildings of papal Rome.
The main tourist season starts at Easter and runs until October; peak periods are in spring and autumn, when the tour buses pour in and tourists are herded around like cattle. Numerous outdoor festivals and concerts and the fact that Romans desert the city for the beaches and mountains, which means very light traffic and a less-crowded city centre, makes summer almost worth the heat. If you do visit in summer, try to hit the sights early, take a long lunch and a nap, and then head out again around to take advantage of the cooler evening. Winters are usually mild with few tourists and some fun events around Christmas time. The Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1990
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