When we were in Vatican City in the afternoon, we skipped the plaza. We came back in the early…read moreevening and it was much less crowded. The square is directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica. Both are named after Saint Peter, an apostle of Jesus whom Catholics consider the first Pope. There is an obelisk in the center and 284 columns that create the elliptical shape of the square.

This is the area around the Vatican…read more It's gorgeous! I absolutely love the fountains and statues in this area. So much amazing architecture. When you step into this piazza, I feel like you get a sense of the Holy Spirit. I mean, how can you not when you are so close to the Vatican? There's a peaceful atmosphere here.

I went to Rome for the first time last week and spent three nights at a hotel right by the Piazza…read moredel Popolo. I loved Rome even more than I'd imagined, and was tremendously impressed by the giant piazzas, these vibrant public spaces that you could never build into a newer city, designed for people driving cars. The Piazza del Popolo was a particularly grand one, with its twin churches and its ancient Egyptian obelisk, already over a thousand years old when it was stolen and brought to Rome in the year 1 BC. We walked through the piazza several times during our stay, and it was striking both for its legitimate strikingness and for its natural incorporation into the day-to-day life of the city. The square was always lively without being crowded in mid-November, just people hanging out or walking through, enjoying a moment of leisure. The obelisk was set on a foundation with a fountain, of course, and plentiful seating. What a special thing, to sit at the base of something so extraordinary, to check email or eat a sandwich. We didn't notice many street entertainers, but we did watch a man in colorful clothing dipping a long wand in a vat of soapy water and releasing enormous bubbles to the delight of both adults and children passing by. It made me miss my kids, who would have flipped for that display, and who I hope to bring to Piazza del Popolo one day, to see a public square unlike any they'll ever see at home.

Cool Piazza at the Northern City Wall and also a gateway to Villa Borghese. This piazza has an…read moreobelisk, two churches, two fountains and also restaurants. There is a huge shopping area with parallel streets of shops, one that goes to Piazza di Spagna, at the base of the Spanish Steps. Five Stars!

I absolutely loved coming here. So majestic during the holidays…read more The decor and the ambiance is great. A nice open space with a Merry-Go Round. Tons of vendors selling xmas ornaments and other items. I spent a couple of hours here people watching and shopping and take in the scenery. The fountain in the middle of the piazza is amazing. So stunning It is built on the site of the 1st century AD Stadium of Domitian and follows the form of the open space of the stadium in an elongated oval.[1] The ancient Romans went there to watch the games In the 17th century it became a showcase for Baroque design, with work by Bernini and Borromini among others. The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi stands in front of the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone.

Piazza Navona is absolutely stunning and full of life. The fountains are breathtaking, especially…read morethe Fountain of the Four Rivers, and the entire square feels like you're walking through an open-air museum. Everywhere you look there's beauty, history, and energy. I loved the atmosphere here. Street artists, music, people enjoying the moment, and the glow of the lights at night make it feel magical. It's the perfect place to slow down, take it all in, and really feel the soul of Rome. A must-visit spot that captures the charm and elegance of the city.

So sad the Piazza Venezia and its' surrounding area was under construction during the time of our…read morevisit. This is one of the most iconic and central squares in Rome, and I can even see some of its' elegance peeking out from behind the construction area.

A must stop if you're looking for free things to do. There are options to pay like they have a…read moremuseum and some other stuff otherwise you could totally walk through the piazza completely free. Many picture areas and has bathrooms, though it was crowded.

Should have posted previously…read more.. A darling neighborhood to stroll and should be added to any Tiberina itinerary since it's so close. Wonderful history to explore.

Jews have lived in Rome for over two thousand years. Their presence in Rome predates Christianity…read more It is probably the oldest continuous Jewish community outside of the Israel and the Middle East. Written records trace the Jewish community as early as 161 BC when Judah Maccabee sent envoys to Rome. For hundreds of years, Jewish families coexisted with their neighbors. They worked as bakers, butchers, physicians, money lenders and craftsmen. As the friction between the papacy and the Jewish community in the 1500s escalated, walled off Jewish ghettos were created following the model in Venice. The Roman Ghetto was established as a result of Papal bull Cum nimis absurdum mandated by Pope Paul IV on 14 July 1555. The bull required that the 2,000 Jews who lived in Rome at the time to live in the ghetto, which was not only walled off, but the gates were also locked from the outside at night to keep them in. The Jewish community was also forced to pay 300 Roman scudi for the construction of the wall and gate. The location was prone to flooding and quite undesirable. By the late 1580s, roughly 3,500 inhabitants were living in inhuman conditions. During the plague of 1656, 800 of the ghetto's 4,000 inhabitants died. The bull revoked almost all the rights of the Jewish community. It placed many restrictions on Jews including prohibition on property ownership (even within the ghetto), not being allowed to provide medical care to Christians and compulsory Catholic sermons on the Jewish Shabbat. Life in the ghetto was harsh filled with poverty, epidemics, such as plague, cholera and malaria, diseases due to lack of fresh water and overcrowding. Roman Jews were limited to unskilled jobs such as pawn brokers, fish mongers or ragmen. Many Christians hated the Jews because they were allowed to "lend" money throughout Rome and Europe. Jews had to wear a yellow cloth if they left the ghetto. The yellow veil worn by Jewish women matched the color worn by Roman prostitutes. During Christian feasts they were forced to run naked or be ridden by the Romans as a way to entertain the Romans. They had to petition for the privilege annually to live in their homes and swear loyalty to the Pope at the Arch of Titus which celebrated the Roman sack of Jerusalem in 70 AD. As in most of Rome, there was no fresh water in the ghetto. When the Pope decided to use the old aqueduct system to provide fresh water via a series of fountains designed by Giacomo della Porta, a fountain was due to be placed at Piazza Giudea, the site of a market, inside the ghetto. However, Muzio Mattei used his influence to have the fountain, the Fontana delle Tartarughe (Turtle Fountain), located in the Piazza Mattei instead in front of his residence. Outraged, della Porta changed the design of the fountain so that it provided a small trickle of water to the Mattei family. In 1888, the ghetto walls were torn down. In 1904, the Great Synagogue of Rome and a number of apartment buildings were erected on the site. The Roman Ghetto was the last remaining ghetto in Western Europe until ghettos were reintroduced by Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Today, the Jewish Quarter is a thriving community filled with delicious Kosher restaurants, street musicians and shops. The Great Synagogue in Rome has a very visible square dome and a Jewish Museum. Look for the stumbling stones scattered along the cobblestone streets that remember Roman Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust and a tribute to Stefano Tache Gay who was murdered at the age of two as the synagogue was attacked on Shabbat in 1982. Sit at a sidewalk cafe for lunch or dinner. Try the Jerusalem artichokes and pistachio crusted sea bass at Renato al Ghetto and the pizza and pasta at Ba'Ghetto Milky. Delicious! Thank you to Mircea from GURU Tours who shared the rich history and secret sites of the Jewish Quarter during an amazing, and free, night tour. Highly recommended if you like history and cultural insights.

So much history here. It was hard for me to imagine what once was an empire to be neglected into…read moreruins but that is what happens when empires fall and there is no money for maintenance. People pillaged and plundered these buidings and repurposed the material to build other things elsewhere. This is located right next to the colosseum and you can get a combined admission ticket to see both. FYI that there are metal detectors and scanners at the security checkpoint. I got a lot of steps in that day! Many of the paths here to not connect so need to double-back much of the time. Five stars!

Some countries have ghost towns, dusty abandoned places where you might find an old gas station or…read morea closed mill. Italy has the Roman Forum, an awe-inspiring collection of ruins, the remains of the heart of ancient Rome. Founded in the 8th century BC, the Forum was the center of city life until around the 6th century AD. Temples and government buildings, a thriving marketplace, a compound of vestal virgins. Meetings and speeches, trials and gladiator battles--this place was happening over two thousand years ago. The Forum fell into disrepair, the temples and shrines abandoned by the 8th century. It was ruthlessly dismantled and exploited, especially during the Italian Renaissance, when its materials were extracted for building projects. Like, for example, St. Peter's Basilica. Seems like a mistake to convert downtown ancient Rome into a marble quarry, but hindsight 20/20 and all that. What remains standing in 2025 is absolutely incredible. The ruins are well preserved and quite legible, at least with the help of a guide (we took a Forum and Colosseum tour with Crown Tours, which I'd highly recommend). It was downright surreal walking around those grounds, imagining the life of ancient Rome. I mean Julius Caesar hung out here, among buildings he had erected. If you're visiting Rome for the first time, I'm sure you're planning to hit the Colosseum. Don't miss the Roman Forum while you're there. It's just as amazing, a unique, transporting journey into the rich depths of history.

Another great experience while in Rome. I walked up and got in line to pay for my ticket 5 Euros…read more(comes to about 6$ USD) For the people who purchased tickets on line was LONGER than the line for same day purchase tickets. This place is amazing to say the least! Architecture is breathtaking, so much history, and the final resting place for several famous figures such as Renaissance artist Raphael, and the first two kings of a unified Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II and his son Umberto I, along with Umberto's wife, Queen Margherita of Savoy, making it a significant mausoleum for Italian national heroes and celebrated artists Pro Tip the Trevi Fountain is a 5 min walk from this site

The Pantheon is an ancient Roman temple turned Catholic church, first built in the 2nd century…read moreunder Emperor Hadrian, then consecrated in 609 as the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs, the title it holds to present day. It's an incredible building that's been in continuous use for almost 2,000 years. No Roman ruin, the Pantheon, but a marvel of ancient ingenuity pulled forth into the 21st century. Beautifully preserved and, with its layers of history, particularly emblematic of Rome. The exterior is striking, with the one-two of the grand columned portico and the enormous rotunda. There's an significant-looking inscription across the portico, with M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT written in giant letters. They apparently translate to "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made this building when consul for the third time," a hilarious thing to have stamped on a historic landmark in size 1,000,000 font. The Pantheon is in the Piazza della Rotunda, which is also home to the Pantheon obelisk, one of Rome's thirteen ancient Egyptian obelisks. Roaming the piazza and seeing the Pantheon from the outside is free, but it's worth the small expense and hassle to see it from the inside. We visited on our last day in Rome, having already been to the Vatican and the Colosseum on guided tours. The Pantheon was easy enough to navigate on our own, and we were able to walk in without much trouble on a Saturday afternoon in November. The piazza was busy, more crowded than almost anywhere else we went on our trip, but the line to get tickets was manageable. (I will note that there are different lines for cash and credit card and the signage is not that apparent. We lost a few minutes in the wrong line.) We were inside within about twenty minutes. Almost two millennia after it was built, the Pantheon still holds the record for the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. It is a staggering piece of architecture, massive and majestic, an implausible freak of a monument. The coffered ceiling is spectacular, the recesses creating a geometric pattern that looks, from some angles, almost fake and two-dimensional. At the center of the dome is an uncovered oculus. It had been raining when we visited, and there was rainwater on the marble floor, roped off to protect clumsy tourists. The Pantheon felt like it was mostly dome, but the other elements were noteworthy too, plenty of sculpture and multi-colored marble. There are some important tombs, the most famous belonging to Raphael, who requested to be buried at the Pantheon. A pretty primo resting place. Unless you hate history and art and should have booked yourself a different trip, you have to see the Pantheon when in Rome. It's an amazing place, unlike anywhere else in the world.

If you visit early, you are able to get very nice pictures in the front and you won't have to pay…read more I recommend 6am ish, we had great lighting and even if there was a small crowd you just wait your turn and can get good pictures without waiting too long. I think they clean the fountain on monday and friday mornings so avoid those days. Another thing to note is that I never felt like I was at risk with pickpockets. There was always enough room and no one was acting strange.

This was our first stop in Rome and to be honest it was the worst. The fountain itself is large…read moreand beautiful, but the mass and rows of tourists pushing to get their selfies and willing to stand in line and pay 2 Euros to get a selfie left a bad taste in my mouth. I refused to pay the 2 Euros and stand in the long line to get a self indulgent picture. Although Trevi fountain wide and impressive, I liked the 1651 Baroque Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) by Bernini at is at Piazza Navona better. One of those River Gods had some impressive, muscular thighs. 8-)