rome italy attractions

Where else but in Rome could you admire a 17th-century colonnade designed by Bernini while resting against an Egyptian obelisk carried off from Heliopolis while Jesus was still alive? Or stand amid the splendor of Renaissance frescoes in a papal palace built on top of the tomb of a Roman emperor? Where else, for that matter, are vestal virgins buried adjacent to the Ministry of Finance? Rome went all out to spruce up for 2000 Jubilee, and when you visit in 2007, you'll benefit from all those improvements made at the end of the 20th century. For the Jubilee, decades' worth of grime from car exhaust and other pollution was scrubbed from the city's facades, revealing the original glory of the Eternal City (although Rome could still stand even more work on this front), and ancient treasures such as the Colosseum were shored up. Many of the most popular areas (such as the Trevi Fountain and Piazza Navona) are sparkling and inviting again. Whether they're still time-blackened or newly gleaming, the city's ancient monuments are a constant reminder that Rome was one of the greatest centers of Western civilization. In the heyday of the empire, all roads led to Rome, and with good reason. It was one of the first cosmopolitan cities, importing slaves, gladiators, great art, and even citizens from the far corners of the world. Despite its carnage and corruption, Rome left a legacy of law, a heritage of great art, architecture, and engineering, and an uncanny lesson in how to conquer enemies by absorbing their cultures. But ancient Rome is only part of the spectacle. The Vatican has had a tremendous influence on making the city a tourism center. Although Vatican architects stripped down much of the city's glory, looting ancient ruins for their precious marble, they created great Renaissance treasures and even occasionally incorporated the old into the new -- as Michelangelo did when turning the Baths of Diocletian into a church. And in the years that followed, Bernini adorned the city with the wonders of the baroque, especially his glorious fountains. Seeing the Sights at Night -- Some of Rome's most popular monuments, archaeological sites, and museums not only stay open until 8 or 10pm during summer, but are also part of a program called Art and Monuments Under the Stars. For these special summer schedules, they reopen one or more nights from around 8:30 to 11:30pm. Offerings include guided tours (often in English), concerts, or simply general admission to sights for night owls, with tours of some ancient areas usually closed to the public, such as the Tomb of Augustus and the Stadium of Domitian (under Piazza Navona). Check the events guides from mid-June to September. No More Lines -- The endless lines outside Italian museums and attractions are a fact of life. But reservation services can help you avoid the wait, at least for some of the major museums. Select Italy allows you to reserve tickets for the Colosseum, the Palatine and Forum & Museum, Palazzo Altemps, the Domus Aurea, the Galleria Borghese, and more, plus many other museums in Florence and Venice. The cost varies from 17€ to 35€ ($20-$42), depending on the museum, and several combination passes are available. Contact Select Italy at (tel. 847/853-1667), or buy your tickets online at www.selectitaly.com. Before & After -- To appreciate the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and other ruins more fully, buy a copy of the small red book Rome Past and Present (Vision Publications), sold in bookstores or by vendors near the Forum. Its plastic overleafs show you the way things looked 2,000 years ago. Rome from a Tiber Perspective -- Battelli di Roma (tel. 06-69294147; www.battellidiroma.it) runs tours aboard a "water bus" that passes under the bridges of Rome. You'll see such landmarks as St. Peter's Basilica (in the distance), Castel Sant'Angelo, and the little island in the Tiber, Isola Tiberina. If you want to use the bus as transportation, the cost of a one-way ticket is just 1€ ($1.20). For a 75-minute guided tour, you'll pay 12€ ($14). Children ages 6 to 12 pay 6.50€ ($7.80); under 6 ride for free. Tours start at Ponte Sant'Angelo near the Vatican and are conducted daily at 10am, 11:30am, 3:30pm, and 5pm. An evening tour that includes a four-course dinner departs nightly from Ponte Sant'Angelo at 8pm and lasts 2 1/2 hours. The cost is 53€ ($64) for adults and 51€ ($61) for kids. No More Lines The endless lines outside Italian museums and attractions are a fact of life. But reservation services can help you avoid the wait, at least for some of the major museums. Select Italy allows you to reserve tickets for the Colosseum, the Palatine and Forum & Museum, Palazzo Altemps, the Domus Aurea, the Galleria Borghese, and more, plus many other museums in Florence and Venice. The cost varies from 17€ to 35€ ($20-$42), depending on the museum, and several combination passes are available. Contact Select Italy at (tel. 847/853-1667), or buy your tickets online at www.selectitaly.com. Hollywood on the Tiber The days of the '50s and '60s when all of Hollywood seemed to show up in Rome, and the paparazzi mobbed such Hollywood stars as Elizabeth Taylor and Ingrid Bergman along the Via Veneto, are but lovely memories. Even if you didn't see these major films previewed below at the time of their release, you can catch all of them on the late show. Movie buffs are fond of visiting the actual sites where these films were shot. No street in Rome was more famous than the Via Veneto when Federico Fellini released his now classic La Dolce Vita in 1960. It's no longer chic, but there was a time you could see Shelley Winters and Vittorio Gassman battling each other here for the benefit of the paparazzi. The stars of La Dolce Vita, Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg, also frolicked in the rococo Fountain of Trevi. Tourists still come here to toss coins in the fountain, as the actors did in the 1954 film Three Coins in the Fountain, which is said to ensure their return to The Eternal City. It was on Via Margutta that Gregory Peck spent the night with his runaway princess, Audrey Hepburn, in Roman Holiday (1953). Fellini and his wife, Giulietta Masina, once lived on this street as well. In one of Roman Holiday's most memorable scenes, the Bocca della Verità, at Santa Maria in Cosmedin, 18 Piazza della Verità, is still standing. This ancient stone face is said to bite those who dare to lie while sticking their hand in the "mouth of truth." It was along Via Montecuccoli that Anna Magnani, playing Pina, was gunned down on her wedding day in one of the most unforgettable scenes from Roberto Rossellini's 1945 Rome, Open City. More recent films include 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley, starring Matt Damon as the Machiavellian Tom Ripley. Based on the Patricia Highsmith novel, this thriller features many gorgeous shots of Rome. In 1996, scenes from Jane Campion's Portrait of a Lady were shot at the Palazzo dei Conservatori, at Piazza del Campodoglio. In the courtyard here, Isabel Archer (played by Nicole Kidman) faces the cruel fact that her marriage is as fragmented as the pieces of Constantine's statue stacked against the wall.