Rome is Italy’s capital and Lazio’s largest city. For about 2,500 years, Rome was a hub of power, culture, and religion and influenced the world. UNESCO recognizes the city’s historic core, and there are a lot of places in Rome that have historic value. Rome has a rich history and cosmopolitan environment with majestic palaces, thousand-year-old cathedrals and basilicas, romantic ruins, opulent monuments, exquisite statues, and lovely fountains—one of Europe’s most visited, strong, and gorgeous capitals. Rome is a shopping and nightlife mecca.
Here are the Top 12 must-see places in Rome.
Places in Rome: the Colosseum in Rome
Vespasian built this 65,000-seat amphitheatre in 72 AD. Colosseum Rome’s Colosseum is one of the Seven Wonders. It is also known as Amphitheater Flavium—Roman history’s largest amphitheatre.
The Colosseum opens to history. This oval-shaped edifice in Rome’s city center hasn’t changed much over the centuries. It shows how ancient people built objects to withstand earthquakes and stone thieves. The Pope’s Good Friday “Way of the Cross” begins at the Colosseum, making it one of Rome’s most famous tourist attractions. It’s on the Italian five-cent euro currency, and you may stroll on gladiators’ battlefields and tunnels. Ancient Roman god museums exist.
- Address- Piazza del Colosseo Rome 1, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
- Metro- Metro stop Colosseo (line B)
- Open- Daily from 9 am to 4.30 pm.
- Phone- +39 06 3996 7700/+39 06 6988 3114
St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome
One of the best places in Rome to visit is St. Peter’s Basilica. Papal Basilica of St. Peter is a church in Rome, Italy, built in the Renaissance style. It is in Vatican City, which is where the Pope lives. It was first planned by Pope Nicholas V and then by Pope Julius II to replace the old St. Peter’s Basilica, built by Roman Emperor Constantine the Great in the fourth century.
St. Peter’s is the most famous piece of Renaissance architecture and the largest church. It was made mainly by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It has been called “the greatest church in Christendom” and “the only place in Christendom of its kind.” Tradition in the Catholic Church says that St. Peter, the most crucial apostle of Jesus and the first bishop of Rome, is buried in the Basilica.
- Address- Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City
- Metro – Stop Ottaviano (Line A)
- Open – Daily from 9 am to 6.45 pm
- Phone- +39 06 6982
The Pantheon
Out of the places in Rome, The Pantheon is a former Roman temple built in AD. A Catholic church in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier temple founded by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus, from 609. Emperor Hadrian rebuilt it. The building is cylindrical and has a portico of large granite Corinthian columns.
A rectangular vestibule connects the lobby to the rotunda, under a concrete dome with a central opening to the sky. Almost two thousand years later, the Pantheon’s dome is still the largest reinforced concrete dome in the world. The height of the eyes and the inner circle is equal to 3 4 meters. It is one of the best preserved ancient Roman artefacts. The 7th animal is dedicated to Saint Mary and martyrs.
- Address- Piazza Della Rotonda, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
- Metro – Stop Ottaviano (Line A)
- Open- Daily from 9 am to 6.45 pm
- Phone- +39 06 6830 0230
Places in Rome: The Roman Forum
The Roman Forum, also called the Forum Romanum, is a rectangular area where official buildings and markets show how Roman government and culture worked. The ruins here were the center of Roman civilization in the past. This was where official government business was done and where people could buy and sell things, talk, and do the work of daily life. Here, you can see many of the original city’s oldest and most important ruins, dating back thousands of years.
When you go to the Roman Forum, you can see shrines and temples, the old home of the King of Rome, religious and senate complexes, judicial buildings, and even an open-air market from the time of the Roman Empire. Here, you can find out what made Rome different in a world where cultures eventually copied each other in most ways. It is a beautiful place for adults and children to explore and learn.
- Address- Via Della Salara Vecchia, 5/6, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
- Open- Daily from 9 am to 4.30 pm
- Phone- +39 06 3996 7700
Trevi Fountain
One of the most famous places in Rome is The Trevi Fountain, a fountain in the Trevi neighborhood of Rome, Italy, built in the 18th century. Italian architect Nicola Salvi designed it, and Giuseppe Pannini and others finished it. The largest baroque fountain in the city is one of the most well-known fountains in the world. It is 26.3 meters high and 49.15 meters wide. Roman Holiday was one of the movies that used the fountain.
- Address- Piazza di Trevi, 00187 Roma RM, Italy
- Open- 24 Hours
- Phone- +39 06 0608
The Piazza Navona
Piazza Navona is a beautiful plaza where Romans have met for over 2,000 years. In 86 AD, a stadium with room for 30,000 people was built here, and one of the best places in Rome to visit. It was used for horse races, gladiator fights, and other events. The Romans filled the arena with ships and fought brutal naval battles there.
You can look at the old stadium’s ruins at the plaza’s north end. It’s now on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Today, the plaza has baroque architecture, three beautiful fountains, and a lively atmosphere from the outdoor cafes. The best time to go is at night when fewer people, and the fountains look even more magical.
- Address- Piazza Navona, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
- Open- 24 Hours
Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums are inside the Vatican. They have 54 galleries that show 20,000 works of art that the Catholic Church has collected over the years. People who like art and history will love it here. You can easily spend several days looking at Renaissance paintings, religious paintings, Roman sculptures, antiquities, and inscriptions in the ancient catacombs. The Sistine Chapel, the Nicoline Chapel, the Borgia Apartment, and the Map Gallery, which had maps made by Roman geographers in the 1600s, are the top things to see.
- Address- 00120 Vatican City
- Open- Monday to Thursday, 9 AM–5:20 PM
- Friday 9 AM–1:30 PM
- Phone – +39 06 6988 4676
- Tickets- m.museivaticani.va
Castel Sant’Angelo
Castel Sant’Angelo is a famous fortress on the Tiber River, a short walk from the Vatican and a must-see place in Rome. The massive castle was initially built in 130 AD as a tomb for Emperor Hadrian but was later converted into a papal palace and private residence. The fort was also used as a military headquarters and a gruesome prison. Today, the court is a museum that allows visitors to discover Roman history at their own pace. You can explore passages and dungeons, papal apartments and halls, and see a collection of sculptures from the Renaissance, medieval firearms, and preserved frescoes.
- Address- Lungotevere Castello, 50, 00193 Roma RM, Italy
- Open- Daily from 9 am to 7.30 pm
- Phone- +39 06 681 9111
Spanish Steps
In Rome, Italy, the Spanish Steps go up a steep slope from Piazza di Spagna to Piazza Trinità dei Monti, which the Trinità dei Monti church dominates. A French diplomat named Etienne Gouffier built a massive staircase with 135 steps. The architects Francesco de Sanctis and Alessandro Specchi made the stairs.
- Address- Piazza di Spagna, 00187 Roma RM, Italy
Sistine Chapel
The Pope lives in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, which has a Sistine Chapel chapel. Today, it is where the Conclave of the Popes takes place. This is where a new pope is chosen. Most of the fame of the Sistine Chapel comes from the frescoes on the inside, especially the Sistine Chapel ceiling and Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment.” During the reign of Sixtus IV, a group of Renaissance artists, including Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Cosimo Rosselli, painted a series of frescoes about the life of Moses and AD.
- Address- 00120 Vatican City
- Open- Monday to Saturday from 9 am to 4.00 pm
- Phone- +39 06 6988 4676
Galleria Borghese & Villa Borghese Rome
Cardinal Scipione Borghese’s Galleria Borghese holds one of the world’s largest private art collections. Antiques, sculptures, and paintings fill twenty museum rooms. The Bernini statue “Apollo and Daphne” and Renaissance paintings by Caravaggio, Rubens, Leonardo da Vinci, and Sanzio Raphael are in this gallery.
- Address- Piazzale Scipione Borghese, 5, 00197 Roma RM, Italy
- Open- Tuesday to Sunday from 9 am to 7.00 pm
- Phone- +39 06 841 3979
Capitoline Museums
The Capitoline Museums are a group of art and archaeology museums on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. They are in the Piazza del Campidoglio. The museum has been around since 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV gave the people of Rome an essential collection of ancient bronzes and put them on Capitoline Hill. The City Council of Rome, which owns and runs the museum, has added more and more Roman statues, inscriptions, and other artifacts to the collection over time.
- Address- Piazza del Campidoglio, 1, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
- Phone- +39 06 0608
Conclution
Tourists and Romans discover the history and progress of the Roman Empire from medieval Rome to present-day Rome by exploring the cultural landscape carved out by Rome. Also interesting is the transformation of the gods’ role through mythology and God’s role and influence through the Christian faith. Paintings also show thought and intellect developing chronologically. Rome is a story of triumph, defeat, and pain. We covered the best places in Rome which you should visit.
