Rome

Newly Discovered Mussolini Bunker To Become Tourism Attraction

Statue of Mussolini © Erich Ferdinand A World War II bunker that was discovered in 2011 by workers during the restoration of another landmark has been revealed to have been intended for Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. The bunker’s existence was kept under wraps until recently, when plans were unveiled to open it as a tourist [...]

Rome: Unpeeling the Onion

Some cities were built all at one time, in one piece; they’re single visions, like St. Petersburg with its concentric canals and classical buildings, or Bath with its fashionable crescents and squares. But Rome has layer upon layer of history, of archaeology.

Sleeping Man Finds Himself on Luggage Belt at Rome Airport

Asleep ©CarbonNYC Security screeners at Rome’s Fiumicino airport were in for a surprise recently when something unexpected popped up on their screens–a Norwegian man. The man was fast asleep on a luggage carousel in the airport. According to an Italian newspaper, the man was drunk at the time, dropped his bag down and fell asleep [...]

Growing Number of Tourists Stealing Ancient Stonework in Rome

This will look great in my scrapbook! ©AJ Kelman Roman tourists hoping to scavenge ancient cobblestones, marble mile markers and mosaic pieces will be answering to Roman police, if they’re caught at the ancient capital’s airports. Over the weekend, police in Rome displayed a collection of those confiscated materials from the last six months. Police [...]

Recent Damage to Trevi Fountain a Sign of Much-needed Restoration

Seems there’s a good use for all those coins… ©budgetplaces.com Rome’s 250-year old Trevi Fountain is showing recent signs of aging. Over the weekend, pieces from the top of the fountain had fallen off. The pieces mark a terminal point of one of the aqueducts that once brought drinking water to the city. Barriers have [...]

Qatar Contemplates Building an Ancient Rome Theme Park

Leftovers ©eye of einstein Italian media reported Wednesday that Qatar might invest in a new ancient Roman theme park. The Gulf state’s emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani met with local officials in the Eternal City earlier this week. According to Rome’s mayor, Gianni Alemanno, the emir was presented with several investment opportunities, including a [...]

Gladiators and Police Clash at the Colosseum

Centurion ©keepwaddling1 It was like ancient times in Rome yesterday when police tried to remove costumed centurions and gladiators from the Colosseum. During a demonstration two men climbed up to the second tier of the 2,000-year-old Colosseum to protest a recent city council decision which prevents them from working at the site posing for photos [...]

Vatican Showcases Archives to the Public for the First Time

Aerial view of The Vatican ©rachmaninoff Documents in the Vatican’s Secret Archives date from the 8th to the 20th Centuries, and now these documents will be on view to the public for the first time. Among the featured documents are a letter to Pope Clement VII in 1530 urging him to annul Henry VIII’s first marriage [...]

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 [...]

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