Art & History in Rome

ROME is one of the ancient world’s greatest capitals, home to the Pope, and capital of modern Italy. Staying in a central location we will sample some of the city’s many treasures, archaeological, architectural, and artistic, from the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, through the complex history of the Vatican to Renaissance villas and Baroque architecture, to the great art collections of modern Rome.

There will also be a chance to explore the delights of the nearby countryside with a visit to Tivoli and a chance to explore the ancient ruins of Rome’s former port at Ostia. The location of the hotel means that delights and surprises are just a few minutes away.

This itinerary is provisional at the moment but will be finalised shortly.

We will spend a morning in the historic core of Rome, visiting the Colosseum and strolling gently through the ruins of the Foro Romanum (Roman Forum). In the afternoon we will walk in the area of the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona, one of the prettiest of Rome’s piazze, visiting the Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace) of Augustus, subject to it being open.

Time will be spent in the area of the Borghese Gardens. Initially we will visit the Villa Giulia, which was designed by such architects as Vasari and Vignola as a country retreat for Pope Julius III, and is worth seeing as a classic example of a Renaissance retreat. It now houses the National Museum of Etruscan Antiquities, and helps to show one of the strong influences on Roman artistic thought, and includes a full size replica of an Etruscan Temple in the gardens.

We will also explore the Museo e Galleria Borghese in the villa at the heart of the Borghese Gardens, built originally for Cardinal Scipione Borghese. It now houses an outstanding collection of art, including Canova’s sculpture of Napoleon’s sister, Pauline, as Venus, in the sculpture gallery, and Titian’s Sacred and Profane Love upstairs in the painting gallery.
If time permits we will also visit the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, also in the Gardens, and which houses important collections of Italian Futurists such as Balla and Boccioni, as well as works by Klimt, Mondrian, Duchamps, and other Modern Masters.

One of the days will be spent in and around the Vatican. A guided tour of the extraordinary art collections of the Vatican will be followed by plenty of free time to explore the Basilica of St. Peter’s at leisure.

A morning will be spent on a visit to the Palazzo Massimo, part of the Museo Nazionale Romano, where we will have our guide to take us around its exceptionally fine collection of Roman wall paintings. Following this we will further explore the collections of the Museo Nazionale Romano housed, appropriately, in the nearby Baths of Diocletian. The afternoon will independent.

We will travel to Tivoli some 30 kilometres north-east of Rome, its clean air and its beautiful location on the slopes of the Tiburtini Hills have made it a favourite out of town residence since the days of the Roman Republic. Here we will see the Villa d’Este, built for Lucrezia Borgia’s son Ippolito d’Este in the Sixteenth Century. Today it is famous for its terraced gardens and its fountains.

Lunch will be taken independently in the town, after which we will visit Hadrian’s impressive villa just outside the town. Built as the Emperor’s private summer retreat, between 118-134 A.D., it remains a splendid open-air museum of Roman architecture at its finest, displayed in a series of complexes, all set in a huge estate of some 120 hectares.

On another morning we will visit the gallery of the Palazzo Doria Pamphili, housing such masterpieces as Velázquez’ portrait of Pope Innocent X (1650), and works by Caravaggio and Titian. From here we will go to the Palazzo Spada, a Baroque masterpiece designed by Bernini and Borromini for Cardinal Spada. In the Galleria here we can see works by Rubens, Dürer, and Guido Reni.

After an independent lunch we will return to the heart of ancient Rome and visit the museums on the Capitoline Hill, which overlooks the Forum. The Palazzo Nuovo, designed by Michelangelo, holds classical sculpture, mostly Roman copies of Greek originals, and was the world’s first public museum. The Palazzo dei Conservatori holds works by Veronese, Guercino, Tintoretto, Rubens, Caravaggio, Van Dyck, and Titian, as well as original sixteenth and seventeenth century frescoes.

The last day we head for the original coastal port of Rome, Ostia Antica, 25 kms. south-west of Rome at the mouth of the Tiber. The silting of the port, the gradual decline of trade, and late endemic malaria, meant the gradual death of the town and its eventual abandonment. Fortunately for us the site was buried under sand and lay untouched for centuries. Although, perhaps not as spectacular as Pompeii and Herculaneum, it gives a more complete picture of life in roman times. There are shops and taverns, theatres and temples, apartments and houses, offices and baths. Apart from Rome Ostia is unique in having its own vigiles, the local watch cum fire-service, showing the importance of the grain shipments that came into the port to feed the masses of Rome.

After we have wandered the streets of the ancient town and had lunch in the cafe, it will be time to return to the coach and head for the airport, and our flight back to England.