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City Guide - Rome - Sightseeing | ||
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Sightseeing There is simply too much to see in Rome - the Vatican City alone can easily swallow up an entire weekend. Most visitors are overwhelmed and remain torn between running from sight to sight in order to 'do' everything, or lingering over a couple of monuments and museums. The latter option is strongly recommended, and even then, it is best to punctuate cultural trips with ice creams, coffees, and serene walks in the city's parks -the Villa Borghese is one of the loveliest. As for most holy sites, clothing covering midriffs, shoulders and legs are recommended, particularly for the Vatican. The centro storico is the obvious starting point, with the greatest concentration of Classical and Christian sites enclosed in a relatively small space. Stumbling upon ancient frescoes, Renaissance fountains and beautiful piazzas are part of the pleasures of wandering around Rome's streets. Rome has over 400 churches, and four major basilicas - St Peter's, St John Lateran, St Mary Major and St Paul's. However, it is San Clemente, on Via San Giovanni in Laterano, which encapsulates the multi-layered labyrinth of Rome. At street level, there is a twelfth-century basilica with beautiful mosaics; down one level, a well-preserved Roman basilica; deeper still, more ancient Roman remains; and finally, at the deepest level, the temple to the oriental cult of Mithras. During the Settimana dei Beni Culturali (Cultural Week), in the first or second week of December, there is free entry to all museums, public monuments and excavation sites (tel: (06) 58431). Tourist Information Azienda di Promozione Turistica di Roma (APT) Via Parigi 11 Tel: (06) 488 991. Fax: (06) 4889 9250. Website: www.romaturismo.com Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0815-1915, Sat 0815-1345. Other APT branches are at Termini station and Fiumicino airport. Another useful source of information is English-centric Enjoy Rome, Via Varese 39, near Termini station (tel: (06) 445 1843). The Ente Nazionale per il Turismo (ENIT), Via Marghera 2 (tel: (06) 497 111; website: www.enit.it/uk/), provides information on Italian areas outside of Rome and the Latium region. |