Italy, Rome

ART & DESIGN

Vatican
The Holy See – The Vatican Museum houses one of the finest art collections in the world. Marvel at St. Peter’s Square and the Obelisk, the Papal Swiss Guards, the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica of Saint Peters.

Capitoline Museums
The Capitoline Museum boasts ancient sculptural marvels and paintings, including works by Van Dyck and Rubens.

National Gallery of Ancient Arts of Barberini Palace
The Palazzo Barberini was once home to Queen Christina of Sweden and now houses a collection of Italian Renaissance paintings from the 15th—17th Century. The gallery contains works from Caravaggio, Titian, Guernica, Lippi and Raphael.

National Gallery of Modern Art
This gallery is packed with a collection of mostly Italian paintings and sculptures from the 19th and 20th Centuries. The gallery includes work by Balla, Morandi, Pirandello, Carra, de Chirico, de Pisisi, GuCoso, Fontana, Burri, Mastroianni, Turcato, Kandinsky and Cézanne.

Borghese Museum and Gallery
The Borghese Museum symbolises the style of villa owned by a great Roman family of the period. The Gallery contains works by Raffaello, Canova, Bernini and Romano.

Keats Shelly Memorial House
Tobias Smollett, George Eliot, Goethe, Coleridge, Shelley, Byron, the Brownings, Henry James, Edith Wharton, Oscar Wilde and Joyce were just a few of the English romantic poets, who were spellbound by the Eternal City. The collection contains a great many treasures and curiosities associated with the lives and works of the Romantic poets.

Maxxi Art
MAXXI, the National Museum of 21st Century Arts, is the first Italian national institution devoted to contemporary art and architecture. The MAXXI building is a major architectural work designed by Zaha Hadid, located in Rome’s Flaminio quarter and featuring innovative and spectacular forms.

Macro Museum of Contemporary Art
Macro’s permanent collection offers a selection of some of the most significant expressions characterising the Italian art scene since the 1960s.

National Roman Museum
The Roman National Museum, founded in 1889, illustrates the history of the city and its cultural aspects in the antiquity. It is a must for any younger students studying classics as you will see ancient hairstyles, mosaics and frescos, ancient cash and a mummified Roman child.

 

HISTORY & POLITICS 

Colosseum
The largest monument of Ancient Rome, the Amphitheatrum Flavium seated more than 50,000 spectators in its day. It was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles, including re-enactments of famous battles and dramas.

Palatine Hill
Palatine Hill is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It stands 40 metres above the Roman Forum looking down on one side, with the Circus Maximus on the other. According to Roman mythology, the Palatine Hill was the location of the cave where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf who kept them alive.

Roman Forum
This sprawl of ancient ruins used to be the centre of life in Rome during the Roman Empire. The forum served as a city square and central hub where the people of Rome gathered for justice and faith. It was also the economic hub of the city and considered to be the centre of the Republic and Empire

Arch of Constantine(Arco di Costantino)
Standing alongside the Colosseum, Constantine’s triumphal arch was one of the last great Roman monuments, erected in AD 315, shortly before he abandoned the city for Byzantium.

Imperial Forums
The Imperial Forums, around 1AD, were the centre of Roman society and consisted of temples and public squares. Nowadays all that remains are ruins, although it is still a very impressive site.

Circo Massimo
From the 4th century BC, Circus Maximus was the place where the chariot races were held, holding up to 300,000 people.

The Appian Way
The Appian Way is the oldest and most famous road built by the ancient Romans. It was built in 312 BC by the Roman censor Appius Claudius Caecus. Near Rome, the road was lined with tombs, of which the ruins of many can still be seen. Parts of the road are still in use.

Pantheon (Church of Santa Maria ad Martyres)
Built in 27BC by Hadrian as a temple, the Pantheon has also been used as a church and a market. It is one of the best preserved of all the ancient Roman buildings and is considered the omen of all modern places of worship. Its main feature is its dome with a circular hole open to the sky which casts down a beam of light.

Christian Catacombs
In Rome, there are miles of catacombs holding thousands of dead. The catacombs of St.Callixtus are among the greatest and most important of Rome. They originated about the middle of the second century and are part of a cemeterial complex. There are tens of martyrs buried, 16 popes and many Christians. The most popular catacombs are SanCallisto and San Sebastiano, both located on the old Appian Way.

Time Elevator
The Time Elevator Roma is a multi-sensorial attraction that tells 3,000 years of Roman History, from Romulus and Remus up to the present day, in an exciting and fun way. Time Elevator Roma combines education and entertainment in such a unique way that it has become an essential part of any visit to Rome for all ages. The seats are on special moving platforms, there is a panoramic screen, as well as digital surround sound with individual headsets available per person.

 

LANGUAGE & CULTURE

Baths of Caracalla
One of the most beautiful and luxurious bath complexes in Rome. Equipped with sophisticated plumbing systems, they could hold up to 1,600 persons. Built during the reign of Caracalla, the extensive ruins of the baths have become a popular tourist attraction.

Language Course
We have contacts with language schools in Rome who can offer a short course or program (usually a minimum of 10 – 15 hours) according to your requirements. Includes two lessons out and about in Rome, an evening meal in a central restaurant and a meeting with Italian students to practice the language.

Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
A beautiful church designed by Michelangelo and Luigi Vanvitelli, this basilica is dedicated to the Christian martyrs, known and unknown. Pope Clement XI commissioned Francesco Bianchini to build a meridian line in the 18th century, to check the accuracy of the Gregorian calendar and to predict the coming of Easter exactly.

 

CITY HIGHLIGHTS & DAY TRIPS

Trevi Fountain
The Trevi Fountain stands 30 metres high and 20 meters wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in Rome. A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are sure to return to Rome.

Guided Sightseeing Tour
A sightseeing tour of Rome will offer your group the opportunity to see the city’s main attractions. A professional, experienced, English-speaking guide will give an insight into the history and culture of the city and will be able to answer any questions you may have.

Day Trip to Assisi
Approximately 150km north of Rome, in the rolling hills of Umbria, stands the exceptionally well preserved medieval town of Assisi. Known primarily as the birthplace of St. Francis (1182-1226 AD), the town has been a sacred place since long before the Franciscan era. The Basilica of San Francesco, one of Italy’s foremost monuments, was built between 1228 and 1253 AD.

Day Trip to Tivoli
Tivoli is located not far from Rome, Italy. Known as Tibur in ancient times, Tivoli was a favourite resort for Roman travellers and home to Villa Adriana (Hadrian’s Villa). It took ten years to complete the largest and most sumptuous palace in the Roman Empire (135 AD.) Built on Roman ruins in 1550, the nearby Villa d’Este boasts one of the finest gardens in all of Italy. It’s a magical place where five hundred fountains keep tons of water flowing.

Day Trip to Ancient Ostia
A visit to Ostia Antica will give you the once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience what life in ancient Rome was really like. Leave the city behind and travel back over two thousand years. For children and adults alike, this is a fascinating way to step closer to the historical foundations of the western world.