Rome’s Most Iconic Sights - free walking tour

In two hours we walk through some two thousand years of history: the Colosseum, the Fora built by the emperors, the Capitoline Square designed by the great Michelangelo, the imposing Altare della Patria that dominates Piazza Venezia, the elegant 18th century Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps, whose subtle sophistication still astonishes visitors. 

• The Colosseum

We begin at the Flavian Amphitheater, better known as The Colosseum, built by Vespasian and his sons for the imperial capital following the chaotic and self-indulgent rule of Nero. Built with the profits from the conquest of Jerusalem, this is the most famous monument in the city.  We'll view it from the outside and talk more about why Vespasian constructed it, how it is constructed (another miracle of Roman concrete), where the different social classes were seated, how the gladiator games were conducted, and how over time the site became revered as a sacred place (the Pope still comes here every year on Good Friday).
 

• Forum of Augustus

From here we will continue down through the imperial fora, and look at the Forum of Augustus, which commemorated his victory over the conspirators who killed Julius Caesar and was inaugurated in the year 2 BC.  Augustus bragged that he found Rome brick and left it marble.  We will also look at the ingenious Markets of Trajan and the Forum of Trajan, the largest of the imperial fora, designed by Apollodorus of Damascus and inaugurated in the year 112 AD.  We'll also look at the extraordinary Column of Trajan that visually recounts, with over 2600 figures, his two wars against the Dacians.  This monument is only meters away from where Michelangelo lived on Via Macel de' Corvi until his death in 1564.  

• Capitoline Square

We'll then ascend the Capitoline Hill.  In 1536 the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V passed through Rome to celebrate a military conquest in Tunis.  His triumphal parade went through the Roman Forum but around the Capitoline Hill--it was far too rustic and neglected to visit.  Pope Paul III asked Michelangelo, then in his early 60s, to design a more elegant square.  So Michelangelo drew up the plans for the extraordinary Capitoline Square. We'll look at his creative and influential work as well as the bronze copy of Marcus Aurelius, the great emperor and Stoic philosopher.

• Piazza Venezia

From here we'll pass through Piazza Venezia, looking at the enormous and controversial Altare della Patria, which celebrates Italy's Unification under King Victor Emmanuel II.  We'll see Palazzo Venezia, an early Renaissance palace for Pope Paul II.  We'll talk about the Carnevale races, especially the Barbary horse race which ran down the Via del Corso and conveniently finished below the papal balcony.

• Trevi Fountain

From there we’ll continue to the elegant 18th century Trevi Fountain, designed by Nicola Salvi for Pope Clement XII in the 1730s, and I'll explain its beautiful program of statues and reliefs that celebrates the water flowing from the ancient Roman aqueduct, the Aqua Virgo.  This fountain is one of the most iconic sights in the city and many movies have scenes here, such as Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) and Woody Allen's To Rome with Love (2012). 

• Spanish Steps

Designed by an Italian architect for a French patron but called the Spanish Steps for their proximity to the Spanish Embassy to the Vatican, this is the most beautiful public staircase in the city.  We'll talk about the history of the Steps, which were inaugurated in 1725, and what makes them so elegant and beautiful.  We'll also look at the Barcaccia fountain, designed by Bernini in the 1620s as well as the house (from the outside) where the British Romantic poet John Keats died in 1821.