4 Must See Places On A Rome Stop Off

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011 at 5:09 pm

When you are searching through the Western Mediterranean cruises, make sure that you check out the ones which will allow you some time to explore Rome. The port which serves Rome is Citavecchia so make sure that is an option on the cruise if you do not see Rome.

You will find it about half way down the west coast of Italy. Here are the top four places that you should see whilst you are there.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum is probably the most photographed site that you will find in any guide book to Rome. It is the largest amphitheater that was built by the Romans anywhere in the Roman Empire. It took around 8 years to build and had a capacity of around 50,000 spectators.

The entertainment would have varied from classical mythology drama through to contests between gladiators, public executions and throwing Christians to the lions.

Although it has not been used functionally for hundreds of years, there are still large areas of it intact which serve as a permanent reminder of the times when Rome controlled a vast amount of the world.

The Pantheon

This building was built a few years BC after being commissioned by Marcus Agrippa the Roman general. It seems however, that his original building was completely destroyed and a new one replaced it during the reign of Hadrian.

Although it is difficult to imagine when we visit today, it was very much on the outskirts of the city of Rome when it was first constructed.

The Trevi Fountain

Rome has always been a city with many fountains. Many were originally built for a practical reason such as supplying drinking water but lots are for adornment only.

The original Trevi fountain was built around the same time as the Pantheon and marked the end of the aqueduct which transported water to the thermal baths built alongside it. It was not used for many years and then restored in the eighteenth century.

In recent years it has been well publicized in films such as Three Coins In The Fountain and La Dolce Vita.

Vatican City

I would imagine that anyone of whatever recognizes the Vatican as the home of the Roman Catholic Church for many years. It is actually a walled city sovereign state in its own right, within the area of Rome.

Although it has only been in existence as such since the late 1920s, the Popes before that lived in the same area since the late 14th century. Prior to that they inhabited a few different areas in Rome.

The main feature is the enormous St Peters Square and Basilica. In this square the Pope presides over many religious services on a regular basis. The centerpiece is an enormous Egyptian obelisk which predates Christ himself. It had several resting places until it was moved to where it is now.

Although there have been many such structures in the life of Rome, this is the only one which has survived right from the glory times of the Roman Empire.

In this article we have only talked about four places but, because of the rich history of the city, there are literally hundreds more. It may well be worth your while to take a break from your Mediterranean cruise maybe for a week. You will need it to take in all the wonderful parts of Rome.