This tour includes an English-speaking Guide for the 3-hour tour of Rome
THE ENTRANCE FEES FOR THE ROMAN FORUM AND THE COLISEUM ARE NOT INCLUDED
This is a private walking guided tour of three hours in Rome including the visit of the Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains, the Coliseum and the Roman Forum.
You’ll meet you professional English-speaking guide by the entrance of the church of Saint Peter in Chains: from there this great walking in Rome starts.
The Basilica of St. Peter in Chains is due to the generosity of an imperial matron, Eudoxia, daughter of Theodosius the Younger and wife of the Emperor Valentinian III. Her mother sent her the chains donated by the Bishop of Jerusalem and that were used by Herod to chain S. Peter. To keep the chains, the young Eudoxia erected this basilica. On the front of the basilica is remarkable especially the five-arched portico. But what makes this church especially famous is the Michelangelo’s Moses that lies within. This is in fact one of seven statues that make up the mausoleum of Julius II. It was the most ambitious project in the career of Michelangelo. In fact it lasted about 40 years and was deeply scaled down compared to the initial idea. Finally, after endless vicissitudes and quarrels with the client and his heirs, the monument was placed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains) instead of the St. Peter’s Basilica as originally planned. Also instead of the 40 statues included in the original project, only seven were made. Of these seven statues, only three were carved by Michelangelo, the most famous of which is certainly the famous Moses (1513-15). In the mausoleum there are other works by Michelangelo, though of lesser intensity of expression, including the Rachel and Leah sculptures.
We’ll continue our Tour on foot as far as the Coliseum, one of the greatest wonders of Roman history. The Coliseum , or Flavian Amphitheatre, is one of the most impressive monuments of the Eternal City. The great French writer Stendhal said: The world has not seen most wonderful thing than this monument. The Coliseum is 57 meters high, equivalent to a 18-storied-building, while its outer circumference is 527 meters. The Emperor Vespasian began the construction of this amphitheater in 72 AD , on the site of an artificial lake , the stagnum Neronis, that the emperor Nero had wanted in the grounds of the Domus Aurea. About 12,000 Jewish prisoners of war were used to construct it, but it was completed by his son Titus , who made the opening in the year 80 AD, with festivities that lasted one hundred days. Vast and impressive is the interior of this building. The immense steps, which rise above the stands now destroyed, housed about fifty thousand spectators.
The last stop on our Tour is the Roman Forum, although the Romans were referring to it just as the Forum. The Forum was the commercial, religious and political centre of the city of Rome. The Roman Forum was located on a ground (that was originally marshy but later it was dried up) between the Palatine and the Capitol, two of the Seven Hills of Rome. The first buildings on the Forum date back to the VII century B.C. The final arrangement of the Forum, initiated by Julius Caesar, was completed under Augustus: the square took a greater symmetry with the construction of the two great basilicas (Emilia and Giulia) on the long sides, the new Rostra on the side of the square in the direction of the Capitol and the new temple of the Divine Julius, in 29 BC dedicated by Augustus after his death and deification to Julius Caesar. The recovery and restoration of these ancient buildings have been started since the XVIII century and new artefacts and ruins continue to be discovered even today.
