Rom sevärdheter

Världsberömda Colosseum byggdes år 80 e.Kr. för att de romerska kejsarna skulle kunna iscensätta gladiatorspel med dödlig utgång samt jaga och döda vilda djur, medan folket tittade på de våldsamma föreställningarna. Inträdet var gratis, men var du fick sitta berodde på din samhällsklass och rikedom. Gladiatorspelen förbjöds 438 e.Kr. – jakten på vilda djur fortsatte fram till år 523. Colosseum har en komplex och avancerad arkitektur och byggnadsteknik. Trots att byggnaden användes som stenbrott för byggnadsmaterial under olika tidpunkter i historien är den fortfarande till stor del intakt. Du kan se de olika våningarna med sittplatser, korridorerna och de underjordiska rummen där djur och gladiatorer inväntade sitt öde. Colosseum har stått modell för dagens moderna arenor, men med den skillnaden att dagens lag överlever spelen.

The popes were among the very first royalty to open their vast art collections to public viewing. Pope Julius II (1443 - 1513) began collecting sculpture during the Renaissance and, ever since, most popes have taken an active interest in art and in commissioning the best artists of their time. Today you can view the Vatican's incredible collection while touring the so-called 'Vatican Museums', a huge complex of galleries and museums showcasing painting, sculpture, frescoes, tapestries and classical antiquities including Roman, Greek and Egyptian. There are, of course, also collections of religious art, papal portraits and, less obviously, carriages and automobiles. Any visit to the Vatican should also include the famous Sistine Chapel and Raphael's Rooms. Leave plenty of time for winding your way through the museums and the narrow connecting corridors and staircases.

En del av kapellets berömmelse är direkt förknippad med påvedömet: I Sixtinska kapellet samlas kardinalerna för att välja en ny påve (i en s.k. konklav). Den främsta anledningen till dess berömmelse är konsten: takfresken som Michelangelo målade mellan 1508 och 1512. Den enorma målningen föreställer scener ur skapelseberättelsen, och trots att det ofta är fullt med folk i Sixtinska kapellet gör målningen ett mäktigt konstnärligt intryck, vilket förstärks av att den nyligen restaurerades och återfick ursprungsmålningens färger och djup. Mellan 1537 och 1541 återvände Michelangelo till Sixtinska kapellet för att måla den storslagna fresken ”Den yttersta domen” på altarväggen. Få människor lämnar Sixtinska kapellet oberörda av Michelangelos verk. Själva kapellet är uppkallat efter påven Sixtus IV, som renoverade ett gammalt kapell och beställde de första konstverken till kapellet.

In Ancient Rome, the Forum was the centre of the Roman Empire. Until the 4th century AD, a thousand years of decisions affecting the future of Europe were made here. When Roman soldiers were out conquering the world in the name of the Emperors, temples, courts, markets, and government buildings were thriving in the Forum. Located between two of Rome's famous hills, the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, it is now a collection of ruins having spent centuries as a quarry for marble and a cow paddock. The Forum became a very dense collection of buildings in its time but mostly all that remains today is columns, arches, and some scattered marbles so it can be difficult to make sense of it all. Ongoing archaeological work continues, and getting a map or a guide can really bring the bustle of the ancient site to life. You can get a great view over the Forum from the overlooking hills in the Farnese Gardens and from Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio.

Vatican City was created in 1929 and run by the Pope (who is the supreme monarch!). The official population is a little over 800 and it covers an area of 110 acres (44 hectares). Within the walls of the city are St Peter's Basilica, St Peter's Square, the Vatican Museums, the residence of the Pope and offices of the Catholic Church. Being a separate state, the Vatican has its own postage stamps, and the official language is Latin (as well as Italian). It has its own bank and the world's only ATM with instructions in Latin! Although it uses the euro, the Vatican does issue its own coins. The economy revolves around tourism, printing, mosaics and manufacturing uniforms (who knew!). There are two forces for law and order; one is the Gendarmerie, who keep order, the other is the Swiss Guard (notable for their crazy yellow, blue and red uniforms) the Pope's personal bodyguard since 1506. All 134 members are indeed from Switzerland.

St Peter's Basilica was built between 1506 and 1590, when the dome was finally completed. It is on the site of the tomb of St. Peter; his relics were finally found and authenticated in the middle of the 20th century. Before the current grand basilica, a 4th-century church built by Emperor Constantine stood here. This is a church like no other. It is huge and full of significant artworks and tombs, including that of Pope John Paul II. One of the most beautiful pieces is the marble Pieta by Michelangelo just inside the door on the right. It is now behind bullet proof glass after being attacked by an art-hating lunatic in 1972. If you can time your visit with a Mass, you will see the most important hierarchy of the Catholic Church come to worship in their red robes and hats. Climbing to the top of the dome gives a wonderful view over the piazza and Bernini's enclosing colonnade below, and across Rome.

The Borghese Gallery (Galleria Borghese) is in central Rome, located within the Villa Borghese. The Borgheses were a very powerful Italian family rising to prominence and wealth after one member became Pope Paul V in 1552 and gave power and titles to many family members. One such was his nephew Scipione Borghese who bought a large vineyard in 1605, turning it into formally landscaped gardens and building the Villa Borghese to hold parties and house his art collection. He was a patron of the famous sculptor Bernini, so many of Bernini's pieces are held in the Borghese collection.

Raphael's Rooms (Stanze di Raffaello) are four interconnected rooms in the Vatican which have frescoes painted by the renowned Renaissance artist Raphael (1483 - 1520). These late Renaissance frescoes are the second-most famous in the Vatican's collection, only behind the fresco adorning the roof of the Sistine Chapel. Raphael's themes for his frescoes were religion and politics; he often swapped portraits of the incumbent pope for the faces of important figures. Originally commissioned by Pope Julius II in the early 1500s, the frescoes were patronized by Pope Leo X after Julius died in 1513. When Raphael also died in 1520, artists from his studio finished the paintings. The 'Segnatura' room was the first to be decorated and contains Raphael's most famous painting, The School of Athens. The other rooms are known as 'Constantine', 'Heliodorus' and 'Fire in the Borgo'.

St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro) is the grand colonnaded area in front of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. A visually imposing entry to this great church, the semi-circular colonnades on either side designed by the Roman Baroque sculptor Bernini, seem to reach out and enfold you in their arms. Within the colonnade lies the security-check for entry to St. Peter's and, on the other side, the Vatican post office, because the Vatican is its own municipality with its own stamps. During times such as the death of a pope or election of a new one, and at Easter and Christmas, the piazza is jammed with pilgrims from all over the world.

Fiumicino International Airport is the largest and busiest in Italy, serving nearly 40 million passengers a year. Situated in Fiumicino just outside of Rome, it is the major airport serving the Rome area. It is also known as Leonardo da Vinci airport, the inventor behind some of the earliest helicopters and aircraft. Fiumicino airport opened in 1961 to replace the smaller Ciampino airport for most major international flights. Today more than 160 airlines serving 150 destinations depart from the air travel hub. Domestic flights to other parts of Italy do depart from here, though the majority of shorter flights still leave from Ciampino. Terminals were upgraded in the 1990s and 2000s and the airport continues to grow and expand. It serves as the hub for Alitalia, Italy’s biggest airline, and is the eighth busiest airport in Europe.

The Catacombs of the early Christians are underground crypts filled with literally thousands of bones. These morbid wonders date back to the second century, a time when Christianity was considered a cult and whose members were executed as pagans and buried as martyrs. These tours invite you to descend into the Eternal City's subterranean burial chambers, winding catacombs and ancient crypts to discover the dark secrets of imperial and early Christian Rome.

If your Mediterranean cruise stops off in Rome, Civitavecchia will be your port of call. Only 80km (50 miles) north-west of Rome, this busy cruise port is geared to ship travel and is your gateway to many historic sights of the Eternal City, where most shore visitors grab the opportunity to take a Rome excursion. Getting to Rome from Civitavecchia requires about an hour's journey by train. The train station is a 10-minute walk from the port, or a short shuttle ride (alight at the Michelangelo Fort). Trains run half-hourly to Rome’s Termini station, taking around 75 minutes or under an hour if you catch an express. You could also organize a private transfer or shore excursion tour including return transport to Civitavecchia.

The Capuchin Crypt was once thought of as one of Rome's more offbeat attractions, but it has become increasingly popular and is now on many a must-see list. Underneath the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, there is a series of six small chapels that serve as the burial chambers for Capuchin friars. These are no ordinary graves, however. There were more friars to be buried in the crypt's sacred soil – brought directly from Jerusalem – than there was space, so older graves were dug up and the bones of the dead monks were used to decorate the chapel walls. Today, visitors can still see the incredibly intricate designs adorning the walls and curved ceilings of the chapels. A sign in the last chapel reminds us that we are just as the occupants of these chapels once were – and we will eventually be just like them, too. It's a slightly macabre stop, not necessarily recommended for children or the squeamish, but it's also not meant to be like a haunted house.

The Pantheon in Rome is a remarkable building architecturally. Basically a cylinder with the floating dome on top of columns, it is the largest masonry vault ever built. In the center of this dome is a hole bringing in a shaft of light to show the beauty of this building and its relatively simple, open interior. Being inside the Pantheon feels very special. Originally built in 27 BC and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in 120 AD, the temple has been damaged and plundered over time. In 609 AD it became a Christian church dedicated to the Madonna. In the 17th century some of its bronze ceiling was taken and melted down for use in St Peter's Basilica. Important figures such as King Victor Emmanuel II and the artist Raphael are buried in the Pantheon.

The Piazza Venezia defies many assumptions one might make from the name. It’s an open space, so it can be called a piazza, but it’s really a gigantic intersection and not a public square. And it’s in central Rome, not Venice. The name comes from the nearby Palazzo Venezia, in which ambassadors from the Venetian republic once lived. The enormous Vittorio Emmanuele Monument faces one side of Piazza Venezia, and the interchange is also at the base of the Capitoline Hill and next to Trajan’s Forum. In short, although this piazza isn’t one in which you’re likely to spend lots of leisure time, you’ll certainly pass through it on your way to and from other major attractions in central Rome. Those of you taking the bus around Rome will find Piazza Venezia to be a major transportation hub, which is useful for getting around the city. And if you’re ambitious enough to be driving in Rome, you’ll probably pass through the intersection a number of times.

Vatikanstaten har en rad imponerande historiska monument, däribland Sixtinska kapellet, Peterskyrkan och Vatikanmuseerna. Under de guidade turerna avslöjas hemligheterna och du får veta mer om dessa platsers historia. Du går dessutom förbi alla köer. Sixtinska kapellet är påvens residens och platsen där kardinalerna träffas i konklav för att utse en ny påve. Insidan är utsmyckad med praktfulla vägg- och takmålningar. Den mest kända är målad av Michelangelo och föreställer scener ur skapelseberättelsen. Kyrkan innehåller även flera verk av kända konstnärer som Bernini, Botticelli och Rafael. Vatikanmuseerna innehåller påvens privata konstsamlingar och flera verk från antiken till renässansen och framåt. Kyrkan var en viktig mecenat för renässanskonst, och därför finns det flera målningar, skulpturer, fresker, gobelänger och påveporträtt.

In the early years of his pontificate, Pope Urban VIII commissioned what is now called St Peter’s Baldachin (Baldacchino di San Pietro) over the saint’s grave. The project was designed by Bernini and turned out to be so enormous that the Pantheon’s beams had to be melted down to provide the massive amount of bronze needed. The Romans weren’t too happy with the damage done to their beloved Pantheon, and the project was thus on the receiving end of all sorts of mockery. A popular pun was an allusion to the Pope’s family name Barberini: "Quod non fecerunt Barberi, fecerunt Barberini"—a saying that roughly translates to “what even the barbarians didn’t dare to do, the Barberini did.” Located under the dome of Michelangelo where the nave and transept meet, the canopy is as high as a nine-story building. It is directly over the altar, which in turn lies over the supposed grave of St Peter, and is held up by four corkscrew columns that form a helix.

The term “piazza” is often translated as “square,” but when you arrive in Piazza Navona you’ll understand why that doesn’t always work. This oblong-shaped space was once a stadium, where citizens of Ancient Rome would come to watch games and races in the 1st century AD. The stadium may be gone, but the shape of the space remains. Today, the Piazza Navona is home to a selection of beautiful Baroque churches and fountains, some fabulously expensive outdoor cafes, and (often) vendors selling tourist trinkets. During the holidays, a Christmas market fills much of the piazza. At the center of the Piazza Navona is Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s famous Fountain of the Four Rivers, with an Egyptian obelisk sitting atop the sculpture. There are two other smaller fountains, one at each end of the piazza, both by Giacomo della Porta. The most prominent building lining the piazza is the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone, at the center facing one side of Bernini’s fountain.