The Eternal City: the back story

About The Eternal City: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Rome Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

UNESCO lists the Historic Centre of Rome, with the properties of the Holy See in the city and San Paolo fuori le Mura, as a World Heritage site (1980, extended 1990), and Vatican City separately (1984). In 2024 it added the Via Appia, the “Regina Viarum”. Few cities let you walk through so many centuries in a morning.

Ancient Rome

The Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine form the Parco archeologico del Colosseo, one ticketed site. The Pantheon, still a church, stands in the heart of the Centro Storico, and the Baths of Caracalla and the Appian Way lie to the south.

The Rome of the popes

Across the Tiber, St Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums with the Sistine Chapel fill the world’s smallest state. Castel Sant’Angelo, built as Hadrian’s mausoleum, guards the bridge to the city.

Book the Colosseum, the Vatican Museums and the Galleria Borghese on their official sites before you travel.

The Baroque city

Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers on the Piazza Navona, Borromini’s churches, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps belong to the city of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Appian Way

The Via Appia Antica runs south from the Aurelian Walls past catacombs and tombs, and is best explored by bike on a Sunday.

Our advice: walk the centre early in the morning or late in the evening, and take the Metro C to the new Colosseo station.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with The Eternal City: the back story before you go.