Rome

Japanese Businessman Pays to Restore Ancient Pyramid in Rome

Pyramid of Gaius Cestius ©Alaskan Dude Japanese businessman, Yuzo Yagi, has donated about a million euros to restore a 2000-year-old pyramid in Rome. The pyramid was built in 18-12 BC as a tomb for the wealthy Roman, Gaius Cestius. The restoration project will include an investigation of the pyramid using probes to determine whether there [...]

Cats Amongst the Ruins at Roman Sanctuary

The cats of Torre Argentina © amosfar If you find yourself wandering in Rome past the Pantheon and notice a large number of stray cats, you have most likely encountered one of the world’s strangest sanctuaries. Torre Argentina has been home to hundreds of stray Roman cats for over 80 years. The Anglo-Italian Society for the [...]

Plans to Modernize Rome’s Cobblestone Streets

cobbles and fountain, piazza navona ©antmoose The eternal city might not be so eternal after all, or at least it’s cobblestones are not. Rome is ringing in the new year with plans to resurface a large majority of cobblestoned ancient Roman roads. The cobbled streets, known as sampietrini or ‘St Peter’s little stones,’ have been [...]

Rome Declares War on Chewing Gum

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy ©jonrawlinson This Tuesday a few fearless volunteers teamed up with the city of Rome to de-gumify their ancient city. The clean-up is part of a larger campaign to clean off sticky chewing gum from Rome’s priceless archaeological sites and cobblestone streets. Even with the help of the volunteers, who came from [...]

Corrupt Roman Gladiators Busted by Police

Roman Gladiators © Adam Kahtava In a scene straight from ancient times, Italian police disguised in centurion garb infiltrated and busted a corrupt ring of gladiators in Rome this week. The Daily Mail reports: The officers swooped on the men after reports from tourists and holiday companies that they were threatening and intimidating people into [...]

10 Cities with the Best Free Attractions

Pike Place Market Seattle, Washington © two gypsy hearts Broke ass budget backpackers can even afford these sites. From Seattle to Hong Kong, AOL Travel has a list of cities with attractions priced just right (free!).

Photo of the Moment: Another Bike on the Wall, Italy

Gorgeous 360-Degree Panorama of the Sistine Chapel

In case you missed it, The Vatican website offers this gorgeous 360-degree panorama of the Sistine Chapel. Complete with angelic soundtrack!

Exclusive Rome: Discovering The Vatican Necropolis

Kirsten Amor goes where few tourists ever venture for a rare glimpse into The Vatican Necropolis.

Postcards from Rome: Rome’s Eighth Hill

Michelangelo designed the dome and the Lantern for St. Peter’s – at the time the tallest dome ever built over the largest church ever built. Tickets for the Lantern are 6 € each, and an elevator takes you to the drum – the first layer where the dome rises out of the basilica. There you [...]

Postcards from Rome: There Are TWO Kinds of Pizza

Pizza-cut-with-scissors and “real” pizza. Pizza-cut-with-scissors – and yes, they do cut it with scissors – is the fast food pizza in Italy. It is pre-made. You tell the guy at the counter how much you want, and it is sold by weight. Once they have cut the right size piece for you, they throw it [...]

Postcards from Rome: Uncorking Rome’s Table Wine

Drink the table wine. It is cheap. It may even be produced by the restaurant itself. Many Roman restaurants are generations-old establishments that have little farms out in the countryside which help to supply the produce for the meals. And of course, they also supply the grapes for the wine and sometimes the olives for [...]

Postcards from Rome: Discovering Rome’s Hidden Gems

Michelangelo’s Sforza Chapel is just one of the hidden gems in Santa Maria Maggiore © Angela Nickerson Simplicity does not exist in Rome. Churches, museums, restaurants – they are layered with the art from generation upon generation. The artists and architects of each era competed to leave their stamp on prominent buildings in the city. [...]

Postcards from Rome: Michelangelo Slept Here. Or Was It Dante?

Michelangelo’s house is gone. The façade of one of the last homes he owned is now preserved as the front of a water storage building on Via Garibaldi. That’s the only existing building that we know he slept in. However, knowledge can be overrated in Rome. Everyone wants to claim that Michelangelo – or Raphael, [...]