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The “Field of Flowers” occupies what was, in ancient times, the open space in front of the Theatre of Pompey. Since the Middle Ages, it has been one of Rome’s liveliest areas, a backdrop for princes and pilgrims alike. On the darker side, it was also the locus of the Inquisition’s executions, as attested to by the statue of the hooded philosopher Giordano Bruno, burned here in the Jubilee celebrations of 1600.

The basic principle for comprehending Rome is that everything is built on top of something else. For example, the Capitoline (see Capitoline Venus) was originally two peaks: one, called the Arx, graced by the Temple of Juno, and the other, the Cavo, with the Temple of Jupiter, now mostly occupied by the Palazzo dei Conservatori (see Palazzo dei Conservatori Exhibits). The huge Tabularium (Record Office) was built between them in 78 BC, thus forming one hill, called the Capitol; and over that the Palazzo Senatorio was built in the 12th century.

The “Fountain of the Tortoises” is the work of three artists. First created in the late 1500s for the Mattei family, it was designed by Giacomo della Porta. The four bronze boys, however, were sculpted by Taddeo Landini. The crowning touch came almost a century later, when an unknown artist (some say Bernini) added the tortoises and gave the fountain its name.

The name refers to the ancient cattle market that was once here. Now the area is a mini-archaeological park, with two 2nd-century BC temples and a later Arch of Janus. If not for the ferocious traffic, it would be a wonderful place to linger. Dating from the reign of Constantine or later, the arch is unprepossessing, but the temples are amazingly well preserved. The rectangular shrine is to Portunus, god of rivers and ports, while the circular one is a Temple of Hercules.

A windy piazza hosts the prototype Counter-Reformation church. Enormous and ornate, it’s meant to convince the wayward of the pre-eminence of the Jesuit faith. The façade is elegant, but the interior is the major dazzler – first impressions are of vibrant gold, bathed in sunlight. Then there’s the vision of angels and saints being sucked into heaven through a miraculous hole in the roof. The tomb of Ignatius, the order’s founder, is adorned with the world’s largest chunk of lapis lazuli.

The important ruins of four Republican temples (one dating back to the 4th century BC) were uncovered here in 1925. On the northwest side is the pleasing façade of the 18th-century Teatro Argentina, with its inscription to the Muses. Many operas received their debuts here in the 19th century, including Rossini’s Barber of Seville . It was a crashing flop on its first night, but only because his enemy, Pauline Bonaparte, had paid a gaggle of hecklers.

The 6th-century church stands on the site of the ancient Temple of Juno Moneta (Juno the Sentinel), but it was also the Roman mint – and the origin of the word “money”. Superstition claims you can win the lottery by climbing on your knees up the 14th-century staircase leading to the unfinished façade – but what you will definitely gain is a fine view. Inside, the nave’s 22 columns come from various ancient structures; the third one on the left is inscribed “a cubiculo Augustorum” (“from the emperor’s bedroom”).

Originally a bread distribution centre, the site became a church in the 6th century and, 200 years later, the focus of Rome’s Greek exile community. The Greek epithet “in Cosmedin” means “decorated”. Very little of the earliest ornamentation remains; most of it is from the 12th and 13th centuries, although there is a graceful altar screen characteristic of Eastern Orthodox churches. The most popular element, however, is the “Bocca della Verità ” (“Mouth of Truth”), an ancient cistern cover. Legend has it that the mouth snaps shut on the hands of liars.

How could one of the most impressive 17th-century Baroque churches have been left with an asymmetrical façade? The answer is artistic temperament. Looking at the grandiose pile, it is quickly apparent that only one angel, on the left, supports the upper tier. Upon its completion, Pope Alexander VII dared to criticize the work, and sculptor Cosimo Fancelli refused to produce an angel for the right side. “If he wants another he can make it himself!” was his rejoinder to His Holiness.

One of three ancient theatres in this district, dating back to the 1st century BC, and probably the most frequented of all Imperial theatres until the Colosseum captured the public’s favour. The lower archways once housed picturesque medieval shops, until cleared away by archaeologists in the 1920s. To the right of the theatre stand three columns and a frieze fragment that belonged to a Temple of Apollo, also dating to the 1st century BC.