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Touring Rome’s artistic masterpieces while staying clear of its hustle and bustle can be, quite literally, a walk in the park. Some of the city’s finest sights are tucked away in or next to green lawns and pedestrian piazzas, offering a breath of fresh air for weary sightseers, especially in the Villa Borghese park. One of Rome’s largest, this park can alleviate gallery gout by offering an oasis in which to cool off under the ilex, oak, and umbrella pine trees. If you feel like a picnic, have an alimentari (food shop) make you some panini before you go; food carts within the park are overpriced.
Getting Here
Electric bus No. 119 does a loop that connects Largo Argentina, Piazza Venezia, Piazza di Spagna, and Piazza del Popolo. The No. 117 connects Piazza del Popolo to Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum. The No. 116 motors through the Villa Borghese to the museum and connects the area with Piazza Navona, Campo de’ Fiori, and the Pantheon. Piazza del Popolo has a Metro stop called Flaminio.
Top Attractions
Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace).
This magnificent classical monument, with an exquisitely detailed frieze, was erected in 13 BC to celebrate Emperor Augustus’s triumphant return from military conflicts in Gaul and Spain. It’s housed in one of Rome’s newest landmarks, a glass-and-travertine structure designed by American architect Richard Meier. The building was opened in 2006 after 10 years of
delays and heated controversy concerning the architect’s appointment and design. Overlooking the Tiber on one side and the ruins of the dilapidated Mausoleo di Augusto (Mausoleum of Augustus) on the other, the result is a luminous oasis in the center of Rome. | Lungotevere in Augusta,
around Via del Corso | 00186 | 06/0608 | www.arapacis.it | €7.50 | Tues.–Sun. 9–7 (last admission 1 hr before closing) | Station: Flaminio (Piazza del Popolo).
Fodor’s Choice |
Galleria Borghese.
It’s a real toss-up which is more magnificent—the villa built for Cardinal Scipione Borghese in 1615 or the collection of ancient and 17th- and 18th-century art that lies within. The luxury-loving cardinal built Rome’s most splendiferous palace as a showcase for his antiquities collection. The interiors are a monument to 18th-century Roman interior decoration at its most luxurious, dripping with colored porphyry and alabaster, and they’re a fitting showcase for the
statues of various deities, including one officially known as Venus Victrix. There has never been any doubt, however, as to the statue’s real subject: Pauline Bonaparte, Napoléon’s sister, who married Prince Camillo Borghese in one of the storied matches of the 19th century. Sculpted by Canova (1757–1822), the princess reclines on a chaise, bare-breasted, her hips swathed in classical drapery, the very model of haughty detachment and sly
come-hither. Pauline is known to have been shocked that her husband took pleasure in showing off the work to his guests. This coyness seems curious given the reply she is supposed to have made to a lady who asked her how she could have posed for the work: “Oh, but the studio was heated.” Other rooms hold important sculptures by Bernini, including David and the breathtaking Apollo and Daphne. The picture collection has
splendid works by Titian, Caravaggio, and Raphael, among others. TIP
Entrance is every two hours, and reservations are required. Make sure to book online or by phone at least a few days in advance. | Piazza Scipione Borghese 5,
off Via Pinciana,
Villa Borghese | 00197 | 06/32810
information and reservations, | www.galleriaborghese.it | €10.50, including €2 reservation fee; audio guide €5, English tour €6 | Tues.–Sun. 9–7, with sessions on hr every 2 hrs (9, 11, 1, 3, 5). | Station: Bus 910 from Piazza della Repubblica, or tram 19 or bus 3 from Policlinico.
Piazza del Popolo.
Designed by Neoclassical architect Giuseppe Valadier (1762–1839) in the early 1800s, this piazza is one of the largest in Rome, and it has a 3,200-year-old obelisk in the middle. A favorite spot for café-sitting and people-watching, the pedestrians-only piazza is landmarked by its two bookend baroque churches, Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto. On the piazza’s eastern side, stairs lead
uphill to Villa Borghese’s Pincio, a formal garden that was highly fashionable in 19th-century Rome. Here you’ll find the magnificent park pavilion restaurant known as the Casina Valadier (Piazza Bucarest, Pincio Gardens | 00187 | 06/69922090 | www.casinavaladier.it). First designed in 1814, it has always attracted celebrities like King Farouk of Egypt, Richard Strauss, Gandhi, and Mussolini, all who came to see the lavish Empire-style salons and, of course, to be seen. At the north end of the piazza is the 400-year-old Porta del Popolo, Rome’s northern city gate, and next to it the church of Santa Maria del Popolo. The city gate was designed by Bernini to welcome the
Catholic convert Queen Christina of Sweden to Rome in 1655. At election time, it’s the scene of huge political rallies, and on New Year’s Eve Rome stages a mammoth alfresco party in the piazza. | Junction of Via del Babuino, Via del Corso, and Via di Ripetta,
Piazza del Popolo | 00186 | Station: Flaminio.
Santa Maria del Popolo.
This church next to the Porta del Popolo goes almost unnoticed, but it has one of the richest art collections of any church in Rome. Here is Raphael’s High Renaissance masterpiece the Cappella Chigi (which has found new fame as one of the “Altars of Science” in Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons novel and the 2009 Tom Hanks film), as well as two stunning Caravaggios in the Cappella
Cerasi. Each December an exhibit of Christmas Nativity scenes is held in the adjacent building. | Piazza del Popolo 12,
near Porta Pinciana,
Piazza del Popolo | 00186 | 06/3610836 | Mon.–Sat. 7:30–noon and 4–6:30, Sun. 7:30–1:30 and 4:30–7 | Station: Flaminio.
Worth Noting
MAXXI—Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo (National Museum of 21st-Century Arts).
Billed as a cultural space for the art of the 21st century, the museum—opened May 2010 and walkable from the Parco della Musica complex—contains 300 works from today and tomorrow’s hottest artists. Arguably the most impressive exhibit of all is the hyper-dramatic building designed by architect Zaha Hadid. Get to this museum
by taking Tram 2 from Piazzale Flaminia (near Piazza del Popolo). | Via Guido Reni 4,
Flaminio | 00196 | 06/39967350 | www.fondazionemaxxi.it | €11 | Tues.–Fri. and Sun. 11–7, Sat. 11–10 | Station: Tram 2 or Bus 53, 217, 280, 910.
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