Area Activities
ROME
GIRDED BY SEVEN HILLS - THE PALATINE, ESQUILINE,
AVENTINE, CAELIAN, QUIRINAL, CAPITOLINE AND
VIMINAL - THE SUPERB CAPITAL IS, OWING TO THE
EXCEPTIONAL NATURE OF ITS ARTISTIC HERITAGE AND
TO THE FUNDAMENTAL ROLE ITS ILLUSTRIOUS HISTORY
PLAYED IN THE GROWTH OF THE RELIGIOUS AND
CULTURAL CIVILISATION OF THE ITALIAN PENINSULA,
THE MOST FAMOUS AND PRESTIGIOUS AMONG ITALIAN
CITIES.
LEGEND HAS IT FOUNDED IN 753 BC ON THE BANKS OF
THE TIBER, WITHIN THE SPAN OF A FEW CENTURIES
ROME BECAME THE CAPITAL OF THE GREATEST EMPIRE IN
THE ANCIENT WORLD, EXTENDING ITS DOMINION FIRST
IN THE ITALIC PENINSULA, THEN THROUGHOUT THE
WHOLE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN.
AN EXTRAORDINARY DEVELOPMENT IN THE FIELD OF ART
AND ARCHITECTURE RADICALLY TRANSFORMED THE ASPECT
OF THE CITY IN THE IMPERIAL AGE, BETWEEN THE
FIRST AND THIRD CENTURY BC, ENDOWING IT WITH
SUMPTUOUS BUILDINGS, MONUMENTAL TEMPLES, SPLENDID
GARDENS, VILLAS, THERMAL BATHS, TRIUMPHAL ARCHES
AND OBELISKS, STILL VISIBLE TODAY IN THE
MAGNIFICENT HISTORIC CENTRE, BOUNDED BY THE
CAMPIDOGLIO, AVENTINE AND CAELIAN HILLS.
INVADED IN THE FIFTH CENTURY AD BY VISIGOTHS AND
VANDALS, THE CITY SUFFERED A LONG PERIOD OF
DECLINE, ALTHOUGH IT KEPT THE PONTIFICAL SEAT,
ALMOST UNINTERRUPTEDLY.
WITH THE AFFIRMATION OF PAPAL POWER, DURING THE
MIDDLE AGES, RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE PERIODS,
ROME FLOWERED AGAIN FROM THE ARTISTIC AND
CULTURAL POINT OF VIEW, AND THANKS TO THE WORK OF
THE GREATEST ITALIAN ARTISTS, BETWEEN THE
SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, TOOK ON THE
LAVISH APPEARANCE THAT IS STILL THE OBJECT OF
UNMITIGATED ADMIRATION. CAPITAL OF THE ITALIAN
STATE SINCE 1870, AND NERVE CENTRE OF
CATHOLICISM, THE CITY IS BREATHTAKING FOR ITS
INNUMERABLE GEMS AMONG THE ROMAN MONUMENTS,
OUTSTANDING ARE THE FLAVIAN AMPHITHEATRE, THE
PANTHEON, THE IMPERIAL FORUM, SYMBOL OF ROME,
AMONG THE SQUARES, THAT OF THE CAMPIDOGLIO,
DESIGNED BY MICHELANGELO, MONUMENTAL PIAZZA S.
PIETRO, A BAROQUE MASTERPIECE AND PIAZZA NAVONA,
PIAZZA DEL POPOLO, AND PIAZZA VENEZIA* AMONG THE
OLD PALAZZOS, MONTECITORIO, NOW THE BUILDING
DEDICATED TO THE PARLIAMENTARY DEPUTIES, THE
QUIRINALE, THE HISTORIC RESIDENCE OF THE ITALIAN
ROYAL FAMILY AND TODAY THE HOME OF THE PRESIDENT
OF THE REPUBLIC AND, AMONG THE INNUMERABLE
MAGNIFICENT CHURCHES, THE BASILICA OF ST. JOHN IN
LATERAN, THE CATHEDRAL OF ROME, AND THE GRANDIOSE
BASILICA OF ST. PETER*S, SYMBOL OF CHRISTIANITY
AND A TREASURE TROVE OF ART.
THE CITY ALSO CONTAINS A GREAT NUMBER OF MUSEUMS,
INCLUDING THE BORGHESE GALLERY, THE VATICAN
MUSEUMS, AND THE CAPITOLINE MUSEUMS, WITH
PRESTIGIOUS COLLECTIONS RENOWNED THROUGHOUT THE
WORLD.
A RICH INDUSTRIAL, ADMINISTRATIVE AND
BUREAUCRATIC CENTRE, AS WELL AS THE HOME OF THE
HIGHEST INSTITUTIONAL ORGANS, ROME IS ALSO AN
IMPORTANT COMMUNICATIONS NODE FOR ROAD, RAILWAY
AND AIR TRANSPORT.
THE CAPITAL, IN EVERY PERIOD OF THE YEAR, ALSO
HOSTS THE MOST IMPORTANT CULTURAL EVENTS IN THE
ITALIAN PENINSULA, AND BOASTS ONE OF THE MOST
PRESTIGIOUS CINEMATOGRAPHIC CENTRES IN THE WORLD
CINECITTA.
ROME, FINALLY, IS FAMOUS FOR ITS TASTY GASTRONOMY
- THE PECORINO CHEESE IS RENOWNED - AND FOR ITS
LONG-ESTABLISHED CRAFT WORK, WOOD AND METAL
WORKING, POTTERY, AND GOLDSMITH RESTORATION WORK
AND MANUFACTURE.
|
