Rome Walking Tour 2h40 and 23 audio commentary

We are heading, you guessed it, towards the famous Colossus of Rome, but if you are also interested in visiting major churches in Rome, know that if you continue on the Via Cavour you have on your left, you will arrive at the famous Basilica of St. Mary Major

Yes, it’s huge! Here you are, facing the man known as the Colossus of Rome! The Flavian amphitheatre, which stands before you, is the largest ever built by the Romans! That said, its name Colossus comes not from its size, but from the colossal statue that adorned its entrance.

Right next to the Coliseum, we are now in front of the Arch of Constantine. It was commissioned by the Senate to celebrate 10 years of Emperor Constantine’s reign, recalling his great victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvius Bridge.

We are now bypassing Mount Palatine. You can, of course, take an entrance and visit the legendary hill from the foundation of Rome.

You now pass under an arch of the old Aqua Claudia aqueduct, which supplied Rome with drinking water. The Aqueduct was built during the reign of Claudius, you would have guessed, who is the 4th Roman Emperor, and was inaugurated in 55.

If you haven’t cut through Mount Palatine, then you have the opportunity to discover the Circus Maximus. So, yes, you will have to use your imagination, because there is not much left of the past grandeur of the site.

We arrive at Piazza della bocca della verita. You don’t need to have made Italian LV2 to understand that there’s a truth mouth story around here! Get close to the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin.

You can’t take two steps to Rome without stumbling upon a vestige of antiquity. Crossing the square, you find yourself on the old Boarium Forum, literally the old Beef Point of Sale.

Anyone who loved Rome will tell you, a visit to this immortal city is not complete without crossing the Tiber and wandering around the picturesque Trastevere district.

You arrive at Piazza Mastai, named after Pope Pius IX whose real name was Giovanni Mastai. The square took its name because it was here that the pope decided to build, in 1860, the papal tobacco factory that you see in front of you.

Here you are in the heart of the Trastevere district facing a rather interesting basilica! It is believed to be the first official place of Christian worship.

Just a note on the door you see on your left. It is the gate of Settimiana. It is part of the remains of the ramparts built by Emperor Aurelian in the 3rd century.

You cross the Tiber again thanks to the Sisto Bridge facing Trilussa Square. This bridge, rebuilt by Pope Sixtus IV in the 15th century, replaces an ancient bridge probably destroyed during a major flood of the river in 791.

You will certainly have noticed these plates marked SPQR and scattered all over Rome. It is the motto of the Roman Republic, then of the Roman Empire.

We now arrive at a small, lesser-known square in Rome, which is, however, home to one of the city’s most beautiful fountains: the Fountain of Turtles.

You see on your left, the remains of the columns that once belonged to the Temple of Nymphs. In ancient Greek folklore, nymphs are personifications of nature, represented as young girls and often linked to a particular place.

Before diving into the Roman Empire and rubbing shoulders with Caesar and Augustus, it is perhaps important to salute the main character of reunited Italy. The one called the Father of the Fatherland.

You have here on your left, some rather interesting remains since it is the only example of a Roman insula that we have access to today. An insula, which in Latin means island, is the ancestor of our buildings.

Here you are in the heart of Rome. At the top of the smallest of its seven hills. Capitol Hill. In antiquity, there was a fortified square, symbol of the political and religious power of the city, open to the Forum.

Here, from the top of her column, is the famous She-Wolf of Romulus and Remus. The original, from the Middle Ages, is in the Capitoline Museum, but at least if you didn’t intend to enter, you can admire the replica!

So here, be ready to make a real good in time. Try to imagine yourself around the 10th century BCE. It is a marshy and inhospitable terrain that you have before you, it serves as a necropolis for the villages of the seven surrounding hills.

You now have a breathtaking view of the Arch of Septimius Severus and its superb bas-reliefs. Built in 203 AD, it is dedicated by the Senate to Emperor Septimius Severus and his sons, to commemorate his military victory over the Parthians.

This small walkway, which appears in front of you, offers a beautiful unobstructed view of the Forum of Trajan. It is the last imperial forum erected in Rome, in the first century AD.