Once you’ve seen the main sights in Rome – Colosseum and Roman Forum, Vatican City, Trevi Fountain and Spanish steps – you might want to start exploring more deeply. This blog highlights some of the places which you could consider adding to your Rome itinerary which are beyond the main sights – an art gallery with a difference, an ancient baths complex and a church with a room of illusions. Read on to discover more…
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Centrale Montemartini Museum
Top of the list for your Rome Itinerary beyond the main sights, is the Centrale Montemartini Museum, a wonderful art museum with a difference. It housed ancient Roman artefacts from the Capitoline collection in an old electrical power plant building, therefore offering an array of ancient Roman sculptures in juxtaposition to a backdrop of industrial architecture. In fact, this was the first electrical power station in Italy.
As well as classic statues from Ancient Rome being displayed amongst turbines, diesel engines and steam boiler, you can see a huge Roman mosaic of hunting scenes from Santa Bibiana.
You can book a private tour of the Centrale Montemartini Museum on Get Your Guide if you want to get the most out of your visit:
The Centrale Montemartini Museum is a bit further out of town on via Ostiense on the left bank of the River Tiber.
We caught a taxi there and afterwards walked to the Terme di Caracalla which took about 40 minutes, passing the Pyramid of Caius Cestus along the way (see below).
Lunch – we grabbed lunch from a Tavola Calda (self-service cafeteria style) along the way but sadly I can’t remember what it was called. It had good pasta options served buffet style. Then we picked up a gelato from Gelateria La Roma further along the road.
Pyramid of Caius Cestus
After about 18 mins walk from the Central Montemartini Museum back towards the city centre, the next stop on this Rome itinerary brings you to a seemingly random pyramid by side of the road (see main blog photo).
The 36-meter-high Pyramid of Caius Cestus is Rome’s only surviving ancient Egyptian style pyramid, built in the first century BC as a tomb for a Roman magistrate, Caius Cestius. It’s an unexpected find in Rome!
Unfortunately, the pyramid wasn’t open when we found it, but apparently you can visit the interior of the pyramid on the 3rd and 4th Saturdays and Sundays of each month. Tours are in Italian, however you can book a private tour in English. The group rate is high at 130 Euros (taking up to 20 people), so only cost effective with a larger group really.
Terme di Caracalla
A further 20-minute walk brings you to the ruins of the ancient Roman baths, the Terme di Caracalla which were the 2nd biggest baths in Ancient Rome. The Baths of Diocletian were the largest.
Terme di Caracalla could accommodate up to 1,600 bathers between its 3 rooms – hot (caldarium), cold (frigidarium), lukewarm (tepidarium) rooms.
I wish we’d booked a tour of the baths such as the Caracalla Baths Express Small Group or Private Tour on Get Your Guide. Having someone explain the ruins and artefacts is useful and would help you get more out of the visit here.
Alternatively, you could listen to a broadcast on the App, Rick Steve’s Audio Europe as you walk around, so pack your earphones!
You can still see nautical mosaics on display around the site, and by the side of one of the pools are slabs of stone where you can see hollows where they used to play marbles whilst they relaxed in the baths.
Chiesa di Sant’Ignazio
On a different day, you could visit the Church of Perspective Illusions, or Saint Ignatius of Loyola which features frescoes that give. 3D effect on flat walls. They were created by Andrea Pozzo, described as a ‘visionary’ artist, between 1691 and 1694.
Andrea Pozzo also created a ‘fake dome’ in the church – whilst you think you are viewing a dome on the inside; you are actually looking at a canvas fixed in a space where the dome should be. His original painting from 1695 was destroyed in fire but was later reproduced by Francesco Manno.
Final thoughts…
As I love Rome so much, one of my travel goals is to return to Rome and spend a longer time immersing myself in the city and all it has to offer. Hopefully then I will be able to add to the Rome itinerary suggestions in this blog in due course.
To be continued…
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