Things to do in Artena

Originally completed eighty years after the birth of Christ, the Colosseum was the largest of the amphitheatres constructed by the Roman Empire, at one time regularly hosting 50,000 spectators for the sort of brutal entertainment that was depicted in the film “Gladiator”.

Though the Roman Empire covered over 6.5 million square kilometres at its peak, the Roman Forum was at its very heart. Today, it’s a crumbling but preserved monument to the power once wielded by the likes of Caesar, and the immense military power he commanded.

Discover Via Veneto, Rome’s elegant street filled with cafés and luxury hotels. The great Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini made this sophisticated street famous in the 1960s. See the Piazza Barberini, a square featuring a 17th-century fountain. Tour a 17th-century church and see a crypt housing the bones of many monks. Follow Via Veneto north to a gate of the Aurelian Walls. This street is located near one of Rome’s largest public parks, filled with historic attractions. Spend a day outside in this delightful spot.

Now a long grassy expanse, Circus Maximus was once a colossal sporting venue providing entertainment to the inhabitants of the ancient capital. Stand in the middle of this vast open park and imagine the speeding chariots that once raced around the track.

Walk along Via del Corso and see the residence of the Italian prime minister and several Roman churches. Shop in designer stores for fashionable clothing and shoes. With the Pantheon and other spectacular historic buildings nearby, the Via del Corso is an excellent place to start a tour of Rome’s historic center.

As soon as you step into the Piazza Venezia, you will be struck by its breath-taking beauty. The first thing that’ll catch your eye is the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (locally referred to as Altare della Patria), a staggering white marble creation that has lost none of its beauty in the decades since its construction in 1935. The building was originally designed to mark the unification of Italy, but wasn’t completed until some fifty years after it was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi.

Via Nazionale is a major street linking Piazza della Repubblica, near Rome’s Termini Station, to Piazza Venezia in the center of the city. Visit St. Paul’s Within the Walls, an important place of worship filled with stunning artworks.