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When Emperor Charles V visited Rome in 1536, Pope Paul III was so embarrassed at the Capitol’s state that he enlisted Michelangelo’s help. Work started 10 years later, but Michelangelo died long before its completion. True to his design, however, are the double flight of steps for the Palazzo Senatorio, the addition of Palazzo Nuovo, the fine façades and placement of ancient sculptures (see Campo de’ Fiori to the Capitoline).

This “field of flowers” bursts with colour during the morning market, and again after dark when its pubs and bars make it a centre of Roman nightlife. The dour hooded statue overlooking all is in honour of Giordano Bruno, a theologian who was burned at the stake here for his progressive heresies in 1600 during the Counter-Reformation.

This house under an ancient church belonged to two Constantinian officials, martyred in AD 362. There is also a series of buildings, including a frescoed nymphaeum, dating from the 1st to 4th centuries.

Lazy Tiber River vistas with the Ponte Sant’Angelo directly underneath (see Castel Sant’Angelo).

The burial tunnels of Rome’s early Christians are like a honeycomb beneath the consular roads out of Rome, especially along Via Appia Antica. Grave niches stacked like shelving along dark corridors are carved into the tufa, with some precious remnants of fresco and engraved marble slabs (see Beyond the City Walls).

A jumble of excavations from all eras, including a piece of 13 BC crypta (porticoed courtyard) attached to a destroyed theatre. The museum’s didactic panels, which are an excellent introduction to Rome’s layer effect, plus the medieval frescoes are more interesting than the rather plain excavations underneath.

The water spouting from Bernini’s Triton is puny compared to the gushes rising from Glaucus in this huge fountain and traffic circle. The fountain is surrounded by naiads and horses in this 1888 confection by Mario Rutelli (grandfather of Francesco, the city’s mayor from 1993 to 2001).

The Eternal City is laid out at your feet from a lover’s lane perch across the Tiber.

Climb the “Wedding Cake” for vistas across the Imperial Fora.