DK Travel : Rome : History & Culture

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Theatre of Marcellus

The theatre was inaugurated by Augustus in 23 BC and dedicated to his nephew and son-in-law Marcellus, who had just died, aged 19. Not much remains of the once huge structure, which held up to 20,000 people. In later ages, what was left of it was used as support for medieval and Renaissance fortresses and palaces.
Theatre of Marcellus

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.
Trajan

One of the most just rulers and successful generals, Trajan (98–117) pushed the Empire to its furthest reaches.
Trevi Fountain

Tradition holds that if you throw coins into this 1732 Nicola Salvi fountain, you ensure a return to Rome. Ingeniously grafted on to the back of a palazzo (even the windowsills mutate into rough rocks), the Trevi marks the end of the Acqua Vergine aqueduct, built by Agrippa in 19 BC from a spring miraculously discovered by a virgin.
Trevi Fountain

Anita Ekberg bathed in it in La Dolce Vita ; Three Coins in a Fountain taught us to throw coins backwards over our shoulder to ensure a return visit to Rome (healthier than the original tradition of drinking the water for luck) – thanks to the world of cinema this beautiful fountain is one of the most familiar sights of Rome. The right relief shows a virgin discovering the spring from which Augustus (left relief) built the Acqua Vergine aqueduct, which still feeds the fountain. Nicola Salvi paid homage to these ancient origins by grafting his exuberant Baroque confection onto the Classical architectural framework of a triumphal arch.
Trinità dei Monti

This church, crowning the French-commissioned Spanish Steps, was part of a convent founded by Louis XII in 1503. The twin-towered façade (1584) is by Giacomo della Porta; the double staircase (1587) by Domenico Fontana. Unfortunately, the Baroque interior is divided at the third chapel by an iron grille opened only during services. Daniele da Volterra frescoed the third chapel on the right and painted the Assumption altarpiece (which includes a portrait of his teacher Michelangelo as the far right figure), as well as the Deposition in the second chapel on the left. The nearby 16th-century Villa Medici (open for special exhibits) has housed the French Academy since 1803.
Unification of Italy

Piemontese King Vittorio Emanuele II and his general, Garibaldi, spent years conquering the peninsula’s kingdoms and principalities to create a new country called Italy. In 1870, Garibaldi breached the Aurelian walls and took the ancient capital, completing Italian Unification.
Vatican City

One of the great museum complexes of the world includes Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and the extensive Raphael Rooms.
Vatican Gardens

Typical 16th-century Italianate gardens of lawns, woods, grottoes and fountains. Structures include the first Vatican radio tower, designed by Marconi in 1931, Pier Luigi Nervi’s shell-shaped audience hall (1971) and the Mannerist Casina of Pius IV (1558-61), home to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
Vatican Grottoes

The famous Red Wall behind which Peter was supposedly buried was discovered under the Vatican in the 1940s (see Crypt).