Vatican museums
The Vatican are in road Vatican in Rome, within the State of Vatican City. They are one of the largest art collections in the world, since they display the largest collection of works of art accumulated over centuries by the Popes.
The museum was founded by Pope Julius II in the sixteenth century . The Sistine Chapel and the papal apartments painted by Michelangelo and Raphael works that are part of the museum visitors can admire in their path.
Each year, more than 5 million people look the masterpieces exhibited in the 7km of rooms and corridors of the Vatican Museums, the sixth most visited museum in the world. The Vatican Museums, which occupy most of the vast courtyard of the Belvedere, were visited by 5,978,804 people in 2011, confirming its position as the most visited museum "Italian", although it should be remembered that this is not really being in territory not belonging to the Italian Republic (in this sense the Italian most visited art museum is the Uffizi Gallery in Florence).
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The Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel , dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, is one of the most famous cultural and artistic treasures of the Vatican City, inserted in the path of the Vatican Museums. It was built between 1475 and 1481, the time of Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere, which took its name.
It is known throughout the world is to be the place where you keep the conclave and other official ceremonies of the Pope (in the past also some papal coronations), it is to be decorated with one of the most famous works of art and artistic culture celebrated Western, the frescoes of Michelangelo Buonarroti, covering the time (1508-1512) and the wall (of Judgment) above the altar (1535 to 1541).
It is considered perhaps the piùcompleta and important than << visual theology, which has been called Biblia pauperum >> ;. The walls also kept a series of frescoes by some of the greatest Italian artists of the second half of the fifteenth century (Sandro Botticelli, Perugino, Pinturicchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Luca Signorelli, Piero di Cosimo and others).
There is also a "Sistine Chapel" in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, built by Sixtus V, and in the cathedral of Savona, built by Sixtus IV as a mausoleum for his parents.
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The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican
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St. Peter's Basilica , which is called in Italian "Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano", is a large church in the Vatican City, in Rome, Italy. It is often called "the greatest church in Christendom".[1][2] In Catholic tradition, St. Peter's Basilica is believed to be the burial place of Saint Peter, who was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. It is believed that Saint Peter was the first Bishop of Rome.
Although the Bible does not say that the apostle Peter went to Rome, other Roman Christians who were alive in the 1st century AD have written about him. Catholics believe that after Peter was killed, his body was buried in a cemetery where the basilica now stands. A tomb has been found below the altar of the basilica, and there were some bones, but no-one can say for certain if they are the bones of St. Peter.
A church was built here in the 4th century AD. The building that stands here now was begun on April 18, 1506 and was finished in 1626. Many Popes have been buried there. Although many people think St. Peter's is a cathedral, it is not, because it does not have a bishop. The pope is the Bishop of Rome, and although he usually uses St. Peter's as his main church, because he lives in the Vatican, his bishop's throne is in a different church, the cathedral of Saint John Lateran. Large important churches like St. Peter's are often called basilicas. There are four ancient basilicas in Rome that were begun by the Emperor Constantine soon after he made Christianity the legal religion of the Roman Empire in the early 4th century AD (300s). The basilicas are St. Peter's Basilica, St. John Lateran, Santa Maria Maggiore and St. Paul outside the Walls.
St. Peter's is famous for many reasons:
The pope, who lives at the Vatican, often says mass at St. Peter's.
Many people go there on pilgrimage.
It is said to be the greatest work of architecture of its age.
It has works by many famous artists including Michelangelo and Bernini.
St. Peter's is probably the largest Christian church in the world. It covers an area of 2.3 ha (5.7 acres) and can hold over 60,000 people.
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The Mausoleum of Hadrian
The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo (English: Castle of the Holy Angel).
is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum. The Castel was once the tallest building in Rome.
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Trastevere
Trastevere is the 13th rione of Rome, on the west bank of the Tiber, south of Vatican City, and within Municipio I.
Its name comes from the Latin trans Tiberim, meaning literally "beyond the Tiber". Its logo is a golden head of a lion on a red background, the meaning of which is uncertain. To the north, Trastevere borders on to the XIV rione, Borgo.
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Piazza Navona
Piazza Navona is a piazza in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium.
The ancient Romans went there to watch the agones ("games"), and hence it was known as "Circus Agonalis" ("competition arena"). It is believed that over time the name changed to in avone to navone and eventually to navona.
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Piazza di Spagna
Piazza di Spagna, at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, is one of the most famous squares in Rome (Italy). It owes its name to the Palazzo di Spagna, seat of the Embassy of Spain among the Holy See.
The ancient Romans went there to watch the agones ("games"), and hence it was known as "Circus Agonalis" ("competition arena"). It is believed that over time the name changed to in avone to navone and eventually to navona.
Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II
The Altare della Patria also known as the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II ("National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II") or Il Vittoriano, is a monument built in honour of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy, located in Rome, Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill.
The eclectic structure was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1885; sculpture for it was parceled out to established sculptors all over Italy, such as Leonardo Bistolfi and Angelo Zanelli.[1] It was inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1925.
The Vittoriano features stairways, Corinthian columns, fountains, an equestrian sculpture of Victor Emmanuel and two statues of the goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas. The structure is 135 m (443 ft) wide and 70 m (230 ft) high. If the quadrigae and winged victories are included, the height reaches 81 m (266 ft).
It has a total area of 17,000 square meters.
The base of the structure houses the museum of Italian Unification.
In 2007, a panoramic elevator was added to the structure, allowing visitors to ride up to the roof for 360 degree views of Rome.
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Pantheon
The Pantheon is a building in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier building commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). The present building was completed by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated about 126 AD. He retained Agrippa's original inscription, which has confused its date of construction.
The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.[3] The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 metres (142 ft).
It is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings. It has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a church dedicated to "St. Mary and the Martyrs" (Latin: Santa Maria ad Martyres) but informally known as "Santa Maria Rotonda"
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The Colosseum
The Colosseum or Coliseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of concrete and stone, it is the largest amphitheatre ever built and is considered one of the greatest works of architecture and engineering.
The Colosseum is situated just east of the Roman Forum. Construction began under the emperor Vespasian in 72 AD, and was completed in 80 AD under his successor and heir Titus. Further modifications were made during the reign of Domitian (81–96). These three emperors are known as the Flavian dynasty, and the amphitheatre was named in Latin for its association with their family name (Flavius).
The Colosseum could hold, it is estimated, between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators, having an average audience of some 65,000; it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.
Although in the 21st century it stays partially ruined because of damage caused by devastating earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome. It is one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions and has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum.
The Colosseum is also depicted on the Italian version of the five-cent euro coin.
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The Imperial forums
The Imperial forums (Fori Imperiali in Italian) are a series of monumental fora (public squares), constructed in Rome over a period of one and a half centuries, between 46 BC and 113 AD. The forums were the center of the Roman Republic and of the Roman Empire.
The Imperial forums, while not part of the Roman Forum, are located relatively close to each other. Julius Caesar was the first to build in this section of Rome and rearranged both the Forum and the Comitium, another forum type space designated for politics, to do so. These forums were the centres of politics, religion and economy in the ancient Roman Empire.
During the early 20th century, Mussolini restored the Imperial Fora as part of his campaign to evoke and emulate the past glories of Ancient Rome. But he also built the Via dei Fori Imperiali across the middle of the site, supposedly in order that he could see the Colosseum from his office window. The modern street and its heavy traffic has proved a source of damage to the buildings because of vibration and pollution. There have been a number of proposals to remove the road, but none have taken effect.
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