Rome: the timeless city

Arrival in Rome by train around noon and check-in at the hotel. Lunch in a restaurant. In the early afternoon, guided tour of the excavations of San Pietro. Visit to the Vatican Necropolis, located 10 meters deep in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, under the current level of the Vatican caves, in correspondence with the central nave of the same basilica. The visit takes place through the internal guides of the Vatican City. The duration of the visit is about an hour and a half. After the visit you will have the opportunity to stroll through the streets of the characteristic district of Borgo Pio or freely enter the basilica of San Pietro. Free return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. Morning dedicated to visiting the main places of power in ancient Rome starting from the Colosseum (ticket not included). From the Colosseum we will move towards the Palatine Hill, the hill where Rome was born in the 8th century BC. and which also became the official residence of the emperors. Our guided tour will continue crossing the Roman Forum and its ruins, symbol of political, religious and economic power as well as the starting point of all measurements from Rome to the cities of this immense empire. The tour of Ancient and Archaeological Rome will continue with a walk along Via dei Fori Imperiali, where we will discover the evolution of architecture and taste from the 1st century BC. until the second century AD. The tour will end on the Capitoline Hill where there were the most important temples of the Roman religion connected to the Capitoline triad, and where today it is possible to find the seat of the mayor of Rome. Lunch in a typical restaurant of the area. In the afternoon we continue with the visit of the main squares of Rome. A pleasant walk will allow you to discover the most elegant Roman squares, the “salons” of the city. The tour begins in Piazza di Spagna, one of the most monumental urban scenographies of the Roman Baroque: we will admire the famous Barcaccia fountain and we will climb the Staircase leading to the Trinità dei Monti church. From here, continue towards the Trevi Fountain, the most spectacular of the fountains, and Piazza Sant’Ignazio, one of the most representative places of the Baroque city, dominated by the church of the same name, with its “false dome”. We come to the Pantheon, a temple once dedicated to all the gods, today a church dedicated to all the Martyrs. Continuing towards Piazza Navona, we stop briefly in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, where we can admire the three paintings of the cycle of San Matteo by Caravaggio. Finally, in Piazza Navona, we admire the masterpieces of the geniuses of the Roman Baroque: Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers and the elegant church of Sant’Agnese by Borromini. Free return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. Visit of Trastevere. We will walk the narrow and winding streets of the district, which still retain a medieval atmosphere, of other times, and we will stop to visit the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, considered the oldest church dedicated to the Mother of God. The guide will lead you towards the Tiber Island, connected to the city by two Roman bridges, the Cestio and the Fabricio. In Roman times, the temple dedicated to the god of medicine Aesculapius stood on the island, and the island’s medical vocation has been handed down to this day, thanks to the presence of one of the oldest hospitals in Rome, the Fatebenefratelli. From here, we proceed towards the Jewish quarter, the former Ghetto of Rome, one of the oldest ghettos in the world; in fact, it was born 40 years after that of Venice which is the first ever, Lunch in a restaurant. Return to the hotel for baggage claim and return to the city of departure.