Image by Sabrina Favoriti

Churches are a popular attraction for tourists and there are so many that it is almost impossible to see all of them in one visit. Of course there are the more popular ones and the Sistine Chapel, but there are also lesser known ones like this on in the piazzale of Ponte Milvio with great architecture from the early 1930′s. This chapel was requested by Pope Pius XI in 1931.

I like visiting Churches mainly for their art and architecture. Each church has a different story inside. Once you go inside this one, you will notice right in front of you a statue of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus and in front of the statue to your left Jesus on the Cross.

This Church is not a popular tourist attraction but it is worth it. Afterwards, you can go to one of the many bars that surround the area for either a cup of coffee or a glass of wine!

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Gran Madre di Dio | Art & culture | Free
Via Cassia 1 | Parioli & Flaminio
Open daily

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Image by Sabrina Favoriti

This is one of Rome’s unknown gems because not many people know that the tower that is on the bridge is actually a small museum/art gallery.

You are able to see different types of arts and sometimes there are special events or a different variety of artists, but in the cases of events you may even find that every Sunday during a specific month you can enjoy wine tasting, not to mention the fantastic view from up there!

When I have visitors from out of the country or even the city I make sure to bring them here because it is such a surprise for people to know that the tower is also a museum. As a matter of fact, I actually recently went to a wine tasting event with a friend that has been living in Rome all her life and she did not know about it.

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Torretta Valadier | Art & culture | Free
Piazzale di Ponte Milvio | Parioli & Flaminio
11:30 – 20:00 daily

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Image by Sabrina Favoriti

Il Papiro is a neat bookstore next to my house in the north area of Rome. I like to come here because they have a vast selection from the new bestsellers to any genre you can find.

I am an avid and fast reader so I like to come and check out the books and I always find something such as thrillers, mystery and real life stories, plus I like the feel I get when I enter the store it has a nice feel to it and very relaxed with bar stools in front of the registrar and in the back a nice little corner for children.

I also was able to buy different books for my ninety four old grandma who loves to read mystery novels and was also satisfied with the readings! The owners, which are brothers, are very friendly and helpful too if you cannot find what you are looking for they will go out of their way to get it.

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Il Papiro | Art & culture, Shopping | Mystery Novel Book € 9.40
Via Cassia 901/G | Cassia & Montemario | +390630316424
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 13:00 & 16:00 – 20:00

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Image by Annalaura D'Errico

Are you Protestant, Jewish, or Christian Orthodox? If so, and if you happened to die while visiting Rome in the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries, perhaps of ‘mal-aria’ in the summer months, chances are that you would be buried in the Cimitero Acattolico near Piramide, aka as the Protestant Cemetery.

Catholic law in fact used to prohibit any non-Catholic from being buried in Catholic churches or cemeteries. Given that there were growing numbers Danes, Germans, English, Americans, Russians and Swedes who came to visit, study or live in Rome during in the 1800′s, the Cimitero Acattolico became the designated area to bury these ‘stranieri’.

Now, it is the place where you can get away from it all while contemplating the graves of the Great. In what seems like a peaceful garden just meters away from the bustle of the Piramide area, you will find the tombs of Shelley, Keats, and Gramsci, to name the most famous of the many poets, historians, archaeologists, painters, sculptors, diplomats and intellectuals buried here. For a complete listing please visit the Cemetery’s website or the Cemetery’s Information Center.

In addition to Keats’ gravestone where you will be able to read the famous ‘here lies one whose name was writ in water’, a lovely gravestone is that of sculptor William Wetmore Story and his wife with the statue of the grieving angel.

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Cimitero Acattolico | Art & culture, Relaxing | Donation € 2.00
Via Caio Cestio 6 | Testaccio & Ostiense | +39065741900
Mon – Sat 09:00 – 17:00, Sun 09:00 – 13:00 (last entrance 16:30 & 12:30)

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Image by Fabio Fontanella

I have been told about the Magic Door when I was a child and its mysterious inscriptions and its odd placement in Piazza Vittorio had always intrigued me while growing up. I had almost forgotten about its existence until recently when I went to watch a movie in the open-air cinema which each summer occupies the piazza.

There it was, with its two guardians, pasted to a wall among some ancient ruins and closed off by a gate. Somehow, it looked less grand and mysterious than when my mother would take me to see it. Nonetheless, it is quite a curious thing and people who are intrigued by mysteries and esotericism might like take a look at it while strolling in the piazza.

Who knows, perhaps you can decipher its formulas and become rich, immortal or omniscient! The formulas on the door, in fact, are said to contain the secret to the philosopher’s stone. Yes, the Stone!

If you have seen the first Harry Potter movie, the philosopher’s stone is that which is guarded by that charming, loving three-headed dog. If you haven’t watched the movie, it is a substance that is allegedly capable of turning cheap metals into gold as well being an elixir of life to beat disease and achieve immortality and omniscience. It might well be worth trying. Why not give it a shot?

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Porta Magica | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Piazza Vittorio | City center
Sunrise – sunset

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Image by Fabio Fontanella

If you are a contemporary architecture buff, you may want to visit the Church of Dio Padre Misericordioso. This is the church that American architect Richard Meier designed for the Jubilee year 2000. It is in the Tor Tre Teste neighborhood or, for most of us, in the middle of nowhere (Tor Tre Teste inhabitants please forgive me). Yes, it may indeed be a tad difficult to get to this isolated neighborhood but the real architecture buff knows no obstacles!

Once there, you will be able to witness a true masterpiece of engineering and architecture. Meier, also creator of the controversial building enclosing the Ara Pacis, designed it as part of a 1995 international architecture competition. The first stone was laid in 1998 and the church was inaugurated in 2003. The structure is composed of three white sails, evocative of a boat and symbolizing the Church navigating into the third millennium.

There is lots more symbolism of course: three sails as in the Trinity, five bells as in the five continents… While the church has lots of glass, it is designed so as to never allow direct sunlight inside. Supposedly though, there is a period in the summertime when sun-rays can filter through to the altar through a small opening in the back.

A note of interest: the church is built with a special coating which is supposed to have self-cleaning and smog-eating properties. Perhaps most buildings in Rome’s historic center should be redone with this material!

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Dio Padre Misericordioso | Art & culture | Free
Via Francesco Tovaglieri | Outskirts | +39062315833
07:30 – 12:30 & 15:30 – 19:30 daily

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Image by Lalupa

“Sfigata” — the term in colloquial Italian means with no luck, a bit unfortunate, an underdog. Well, certainly the little Church of Santa Bibiana qualifies for this term. Its location and size sure don’t help. Yet, I can’t help but write about this little church which would probably go unnoticed in one’s short tour of Rome.

Sandwiched in between the main station’s railway tracks and the tram tracks, this small jem of a church is Bernini’s first architectural work. He remodeled it into a baroque church when he was just 26. Additionally, inside, the statue of Saint Bibiana, an early Christian martyr, is also by him.

If you’re around the railway station and have some time to spare, pay this little church a visit. Its humility and simplicity will warm your heart.

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Santa Bibiana | Art & culture | Free
Via Giovanni Giolitti 154 | City center | +39064461021
07:30 – 09:45 & 16:30 – 19:15 daily

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Image by Annalaura D'Errico

The Tiber is not an impressive river by all means. Any other river in other European capital is much more striking in terms of sheer size or width. Yet, the Tiber is an interesting river. It is not a boring river that simply flows slowly through its city without doing anything! No, the Tiber is an eclectic little river which surprises you with rapids, low points, a small waterfall, vegetation on its sides, an island and lots of different bridges, including a broken one.

Yes, Ponte Rotto (a.k.a. Pons Aemilius), literally Broken Bridge, is one of the small peculiarities which make the Tiber such an interesting little river. What other city river has a fragment of a bridge standing in its course? I am told that the river in Genova does but that’s besides the point. Ponte Rotto is a small gem, often disregarded in Rome’s treasure trunk with more important jewels. Romans go by their busy day and rarely look at it, tourists have more important sites to visit in their two-day tour of the city.

Yet, Ponte Rotto is well worth a small pause. It is there, useless, yet beautiful in its decadence. Stones at its feet, weeds springing from its cracks, it sits proud and glorious, even if younger, stronger, more efficient bridges have taken over the job. It is powerless, injured, yet alive and willing to speak to anyone bothering to take a moment to admire it.

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Ponte Rotto | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Best admired from Isola Tiberina | City center
Best time to admire: sunset

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Image by Annalaura D'Errico

Villa Doria Pamphilj is the “green lung” of Rome. It is Rome’s largest park and a shot of oxygen when life in Rome gets too stressful and smoggy. Indeed, Villa Pamphilj is an all-time favorite for Romans to go running, go for a bike ride, take a stroll, walk their dog, or have a picnic.

Like many other city parks, Villa Pamphilj was originally the countryside estate of a noble Roman family, which in more recent times became property of the Rome Council. It is an interesting, diversified park, with beauties of historical and artistic interest, as well as areas of naturalistic interest. An intriguing, curved bridge over the busy traffic of the Via Olimpica connects the two spirits of this park.

On the eastern side, you will find the civilized, historical part with the villa, its statues, fountains and landscaped gardens. On the western side, you will find the wilder and more natural section with its striking vegetation and unexpected fauna.

Additionally, Villa Pamphilj has one of the most active runners’ communities in Rome. I keep telling myself that it would be nice to join the groups of joggers of all ages who run here daily. There is even a gathering point with showers and dressing-rooms. Needless to say, this thought remains one of my resolutions and, for now, I will join the myriads of other Romans who simply lie in the sun.

Park entrances: Via Aurelia Antica, Via Leone XIII (Olimpica), Via della Nocetta, Via Vitellia & Via di Porta S. Pancrazio

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Villa Doria Pamphilj | Art & culture, Relaxing
Via Leone XIII (Olimpica) | Vatican & Prati
Sunrise – sunset

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Image by Annalaura D'Errico

Tom Harrell, Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, Mark Turner, Joe Locke, Eddie Gomez. If you are a jazz lover, Rome’s Casa del Jazz is the place for you.

Inaugurated in 2005, by then mayor of Rome Walter Veltroni, this is now one of the best venues in Rome to get a chance to listen to world-renowned jazz musicians.

In the winter months, you can attend concerts in the indoors auditorium, cozy yet large enough to seat about 150 people. Great acoustics, great experience. In the summertime, concerts take place outdoors, al fresco, in the villa’s beautiful park close to the Aurelian Walls.

Many events are free while others cost only €10-15. Casa del Jazz also houses a restaurant and a bookstore. To get to it with public transportation you can either take bus 714 from Termini or get off at subway station Piramide on line B and walk a little.

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Casa del Jazz | Art & culture, Music | Concert from € 10
Viale di Porta Ardeatina 55 | Testaccio & Ostiense | +3906704731
Check website for opening times

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