Piazza Navona is a city square in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the ancient Roman Stadium of Domitian, built in first century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. IT was where the Romans came to watch the agones ("games") and was known as 'Circus Agonalis' (competition arena). It is believed that over time the name changed to 'in agone' to navone' and eventually to 'navona'. Defined as a public space in the

last years of 15th century, when the city market was transferred to it from the Campidoglio, the Piazza Navona is now the pride of Baroque Roman architecturaland art history. It features sculptural and architectural creations: in the center stands the famous Fontana deiQuattro Fiumi or Fountain of the Four Rivers (1651) by Gian Lorenzo

Bernini; the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone by Francesco Borromini and Girolamo Rainaldi; and the Pamphilj palace also by Rainaldi and which features the gallery frescoed by Pietro da Cortona.

Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona has two additional fountains: at the wouthern end is La Fontana del Moro with a basin and four Tritons sculpted by Giacomo della Porta (1575) to which in 1673 Bernini added a statue of a Moor, or African, by Bernini, wrestling with a dolphin, at the northern is the Fountain of Neptune, Rome (1574) created by Giacomo della Porta. The statue of Neptune in the northern fountain, the work of Antonio Della Bitta, was added in 1878 to make that fountain more symmetrical with La Fontana del Moro in the south. At the south west end of the piazza is the ancient 'speaking' staute of Pasquino. Erected in 1501, Romans could leave lampoons or derogatory social commentary attached to the statue.During its history, the piazza has hosted theatrical events and other ephemeral activities. From 1652 until 1866, when the festival was suppressed, it was flooded on every Saturday and Sunday in August inelaborate celebrations of the Pamphilj family. The pavement level was raised in the 19th century and the market was moved again in 1869 to the nearby Campo de' Fiori. A Christmas market is held in the piazza.

Altare della Patria

Altare della Patria or "Il Vittoriano" is a monument to honour Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy, located in Rome, Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. The monument was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1895; sculpture for it was parceled out to established sculptors all over Italy. It was inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1935. The monument, "chopped with terrible brutality into the immensely complicated fabric of the hill", is built of pure white marble from Botticino, Brescia, and features majestic stairways, tall Corinthian columns, fountains, a huge equestrian sculpture of Victor Emmanuel and two statues of the goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas. The structure is 135 m (443 ft) wide and 70 m (230 ft) high. If the quadrigae and winged victories are included, the height is to 81 m (266 ft). The base of the structure houses the museum of Italian Reunification.

Roman ForumThe Roman Forum (Latin: Forum Romanum, Italian: Foro Romano) is located between the Palatine hill and the Capitoline hill of the city of Rome. It is the central area around which the ancient Roman civilization developed. The oldest and most important structures of the ancient city are located in the forum, including its ancient former royal residency, the Regia, and the surrounding complex of the Vestal virgins. The Old Republic had its formal senate’s Comitium there. The forum served as a city square and central hub where the people of Rome gathered for justice, and faith. The forum was also the economic hub of the city and considered to be the center of the Republic and Empire.TemplesTemple of Saturn Temple of VestaTemple of VestaTemple of Venus and of Rome Temple of Venus and of Rome Temple of Antoninus and FaustinaTemple of Antoninus and FaustinaBasilicasBasilica AemiliaBasilica JuliaBasilica of Maxentius and Constantine

• Arches• Arch of Septimius Severus• It is situated at the northeast end of the Roman Forum is a triumphal arch dedicated in AD

203 to commemorate the Parthian victories of Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, in the two campaigns against the Parthians of 194/195 and 197-199.

• Arch of Titus• It is a Pentelic marble triumphal arch with a single arched opening, located on the Via Sacra

just to the south-east of the Forum in Rome. It was constructed by the emperor Domitian shortly after the death of his older brother Titus (born AD 41, emperor 79-81), commemorating the capture and sack of Jerusalem in 70, which effectively terminated the Jewish War begun in 66. The Arch of Titus has provided the general model for many of the triumphal arches erected since the 16th century; perhaps most famously it is the inspiration for the 1806 Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.

• Arch of Tiberius • It was built to celebrate the recovery of the Roman standards that had been lost to Germanic

tribes by Varus in 9 CE. Germanicus recovered the standards in 15 or 16 CE. The arch spanned the Vicus Jugarius between the Temple of Saturn and the Basilica Julia.

• Arch of Augustus• It was the triumphal arch of Augustus. Dedicated in 29 BC, it commemorates the great battle

of Actium (31 BC) against Anthony and Cleopatra. The arch spanned the road between the Temple of Castor and Pollux and the Temple of Caesar, near the Temple of Vesta.

• Other structures• Tabularium, the records office of Rome. • Gemonian stairs steps situated in the central part of Rome, leading from the Arx

of the Capitoline Hill down to the Roman Forum. • Clivus Capitolinus was the street that started at the Arch of Tiberius, wound

around the Temple of Saturn, and ended at Capitoline Hill. • Umbilicus Urbi, the designated centre of the city from which and to which all

distances in Rome and the Roman Empire were measured. • Milliarium Aureum After Augustus erected this monument, all roads were

considered to begin here and all distances in the Roman Empire were measured relative to that point.

• Lapis Niger, a shrine also known as the Black Stone. • Atrium Vestae, the house of the Vestal Virgins. • A processional street, the Via Sacra, linked the Atrium Vestae with the Colosseum.

By the end of the Empire, it had lost its everyday use but remained a sacred place. • Column of Phocas, the last monument built within the Forum. • Tullianum, the prison used to hold various foreign leaders and generals. • The Lacus Curtius, the site of a mysterious pool venerated by Romans even after

they'd forgotten what it signified.

Villa D’Este• The Villa d'Este is a villa situated at Tivoli, near Rome. It's a fine example of

Renaissance The Villa D'Este was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este. He had been appointed Governator of Tivoli by Pope Julius III, with the gift of the existing villa. But it was an old and ugly building, so he decided to reconstruct it to plans of Pirro Ligorio. He was responsible for the iconographic programs and was also commissioned to lay out the garden for the villa, with the assistance of Tommaso Chiruchi.

• So Cardinal d'Este created a palatial setting surrounded by a spectacular terraced garden in late-Renaissance style. Cascades, pools, water jets and fountains were built, too.

• The result is one of the great Seventeenth century villas with water-play in the hills surrounding Rome.

• Unfortunately the Cardinal Ippolito II died three months later the open of the villa, so Cardinal Luigi d'Este bought it and in 1586 Cardinal Alessandro d'Este bought the villa. He repaired and extended the gardens.

• Later Villa d'Este declined, but after the World War I, it was purchased for the Italian State, restored, and refurnished with painting from Galleria Nazionale, in Rome.

• So today Villa d'Este has become a wonderful villa. The most important part are the fantastic garden and the numerous water-plays. In fact there are more of five hundred pools, fountains and water troughs in all Villa d'Este.

• Castel Sant’Angelo• The Mausolem of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant’Angelo, is a towering

cylindrical building in Rome, initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum.

• Hadrian’s tomb• The tomb of the Roman emperor Hadrian, also called Adrian’s mole, was erected on the

right bank of the Tiber, between 135 and 139. Originally the mausoleum was a decorated cylinder, with a garden top and golden quadriga. Hadrian's ashes were placed here a year after his death in Baiae in 138, together with those of his wife Sabina, and his first adopted son, Lucius Aelius, who also died in 138. Following this, the remains of succeeding emperors were also placed here, the last recorded deposition being Caracalla in 217. Also buried there were the bones of Julia Domna and her son Publius Septimius Geta. The urns containing these ashes were probably placed in what is now known as the Treasury room deep within the building. Hadrian also built the Pons Aelius facing straight onto the mausoleum.

• Legend holds that the Archangel Michael appeared atop the mausoleum, sheathing his sword as a sign of the end of the plague of 590, so lending the castle its present name.

Castel Sant’Angelo

• Papal fortess, residence and prison• The popes converted the structure into a castle, from the 14th century;

Pope Nicholas III connected the castle to St. Peter's Basilica by a covered fortified corridor called the Passetto di Borgo. The fortress was the refuge of Pope Clement VII from the siege of Charles V's Landsknecht during the Sack of Rome (1527), in which Benvenuto Cellini describes strolling the ramparts and shooting enemy soldiers.

• Leo X built a chapel with a fine Madonna by Raffaello da Montelupo. In 1536 Montelupo also created a marble statue of Saint Michael holding his sword after the 590 plague to surmount the Castel. Later Paul III built a rich apartment, to ensure that in any future siege the Pope had an appropriate place to stay.

• The Papal state also used Sant'Angelo as a prison; Giordano Bruno, for example, was imprisoned there for six years. Executions were made in the small interior square. As a prison, it was also the setting for the third act of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca from whose ramparts the eponymous heroine of the opera leaps to her death.

• The Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana di Trevi) is a fountain in the Trevi rione in Rome, Italy. Standing 25.9 meters (85 feet) high and 19.8 meters (65 feet) wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city . In 1629 Pope Urban VIII, finding the earlier fountain insufficiently dramatic, asked Gian Lorenzo Bernini to sketch possible renovations, but when the Pope died, the project was abandoned. Bernini's lasting contribution was to resite the fountain from the other side of the square to face the Quirinal Palace (so the Pope could look down and enjoy it). Though Bernini's project was torn down for Salvi's fountain, there are many Bernini touches in the fountain as it was built. An early, striking and influential model by Pietro da Cortona, preserved in the Albertina, Vienna, also exists, as do various early 18th century sketches, most unsigned, as well as a project attributed to Nicola Michetti one attributed to Ferdinando Fuga and a French design by Edme Bouchardon.

Fontana Di Trevi

• Competitions had become the rage during the Baroque era to design buildings, fountains, and even the Spanish Steps. In 1730 Pope Clement XII organized a contest in which Nicola Salvi initially lost to Alessandro Galilei — but due to the outcry in Rome over the fact that a Florentine won, Salvi was awarded the commission anyway. Work began in 1732, and the fountain was completed in 1762, long after Clement's death, when Pietro Bracci's Oceanus (god of all water) was set in the central niche.

• • The asso di coppe• Salvi died in 1751, with his work half-finished, but before he went he made

sure a stubborn barber's unsightly sign would not spoil the ensemble, hiding it behind a sculpted vase, called by Romans the asso di coppe, "the "Ace of Cups".

• The Trevi Fountain was finished in 1762 by Giuseppe Pannini, who substituted the present allegories for planned sculptures of Agrippa and "Trivia", the Roman virgin.

• Coin throwing• A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the

fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. Among those who are unaware that the "three coins" of Three Coins in the Fountain were thrown by three different individuals, a reported current interpretation is that two coins will lead to a new romance and three will ensure either a marriage or divorce. A reported current version of this legend is that it is lucky to throw three coins with one's right hand over one's left shoulder into the Trevi Fountain.

• An estimated 3,000 euros are thrown into the fountain each day. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy.However, there are regular attempts to steal coins from the fountain

Piazza Di Spagna• The monumental staircase and Spanish Steps The Fountain of

BarcacciaPiazza of Spain, with steps of Trinita dei Monti, one of the most famous squares of Rome. It owes its name to the palace of Spain, Embassy of the Iberian was the Holy See.

• The plaza At the center of the square is the famous Barcaccia Fountain, which dates to the early baroque, sculpted by Pietro Bernini and his son, the most famous Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Right corner of the staircase is the home of English poet John Keats lived and died in 1821, now a museum dedicated to his memory and that of his friend Percy Bysshe Shelley, full of books and memorabilia of English Romanticism . Left corner there is, however, the Babington's tearoom founded in 1893. The side of Via Frattina rises the Palazzo di Propaganda Fide, owned by the Holy See. In front of its facade, designed by Borromini, stands the column of the Immaculate Conception, which was erected two years after the proclamation of the dogma (1852).

• The staircase The monumental stairway of 135 steps, was inaugurated by Pope Benedict XIII on the occasion of the Jubilee of 1725, it was realized (thanks to the funding of the French 1721-1725) to connect the Bourbon Spanish Embassy (where the square owes its name) to Church of Trinita dei Monti. It was designed by Alexander the mirrors is that by Francesco De Sanctis after generations of heated discussion over how the steep slope on the side of Pincio would be urbanized to the church. The final solution chosen was that of Francesco De Sanctis, a grand staircase decorated with many garden terraces, which in spring and summer, is beautifully decorated with many flowers. The sumptuous, aristocratic staircase, placed at the apex of a long street that led to the Tiber, was designed so that approaching the stage effects were increasing gradually. Typical of the great Baroque architecture was in fact the creation of long, deep perspectives culminating with fifth or backgrounds are monumental. The staircase was restored in 1995.

Pantheon The first thing that strikes the Pantheon is the large inscription in Latin with

bronze letters dedicated to Marcus Agrippa. What you see today is the Pantheon completely rebuilt by Hadrian in 118-125, but wanted to keep the front of the building's original entry. The Pantheon, in Greek, is the place where gather all the gods. The function was to act in ancient Rome is still uncertain. According to historians was built to house the statues of many deities of pagan Rome, but the name may derive from the fact that the dome drew the sky. Almost certainly Agrippa may make it a temple dedicated to the worship of the protectors of the Julian family, especially Mars and Venus. What amazes the visitor of the Pantheon is the contrast between (Pronaos) the entry square, typical of the temples, and the immense space round the interior, typical of structures in ancient Rome had a function spa. The massive portico is adorned with 16 granite columns 13 meters tall gray and pink. The walls of the rotunda and dome are brick, the largest ever built in masonry, concrete, in fact, was built according to a pioneering technique that he used lighter materials so as you move from bottom to top. A curiosity on the oculus is in the 'chimney effect ": when it rains, the air flow upward leads to fragmentation of the drops of water, so it seems it does not rain inside and also to avoid standing water inside, were made of both the central and side holes to drain off water.

Ara Pacis Augustae• The Ara Pacis Augustae (Latin, "Altar of Augustan Peace"; commonly

shortened to Ara Pacis) is an altar to Peace, envisioned as a Roman goddess. It was commissioned by the Roman Senate on 4 July 13 BC to honor the triumphal return from Hispania and Gaul of the Roman emperor Augustus, and was consecrated on 30 January 9 BC by the Senate to celebrate the peace established in the Empire after Augustus's victories. The Ara Pacis stood within an enclosure elaborately and finely sculpted entirely in gleaming white marble, depicting scenes of traditional Roman piety, in which the Emperor and his family were portrayed in the act of offering sacrifices to the gods. The Altar was originally located on the northern outskirts of the city, on the west side of the Via Flaminia, in the northeastern corner of the Campus Martius, a formerly open area that Augustus developed as a complex of monuments; the Ara Pacis Augustae stood in the flood plain of the river Tiber, where it became buried under four metres of silt over the centuries.

Basilica di San Pietro• INTRODUCTION:• The Papal Basilical of Saint Peter, officially known in Italian as the Basilica

Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City. St. Peter's Basilical has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world.

• THE PAPAL BASILICAL:• The costruction of the current Papal Basilical of Saint Peter begun on 18

April 1506 by papa Giulio II and concluded in 1626, during the papa Urbano VIII’s pontificate, while the square’s arrangment concluded only in 1667. It is a rebuilding because in the same site, before the today’s basilical, came up another who date back to IV century, had built by the Roman Emperor Costantin I where there was the Nero’s circus and where San Pietro, one of the Jesus’ apostles, had buried after his crucifixion. Some of the artists who took part in the costruction of the Papal Basilical of Saint Peter are : Raffaello, who painted a fresco on, Michelangelo, who made the famous sculpture “La pietà” and painted a fresco on, (“the crocifissione di San Pietro”) in the Paolina’s chapel.

• SAINT PETER’S SQUARE:• Saint Peter's Square is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in

Vatican City. The open space which lies before the basilica was redesigned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini from 1656 to 1667, under the direction of Pope Alexander VII. The colossal Tuscan colonnades, four columns deep, frame the trapezoidal entrance to the basilica and the massive elliptical area which precedes it. The obelisk, of the 13th century BC, was moved to Rome in AD 37 by the Emperor Caligula to stand in the central spina of the Circus Gai et Neronis, which lay to the left of the present basilica.

Il Colosseo• The Colosseum or Roman Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre

(Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Italian Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo), is an elliptical amphitheatre in the center of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering.

• Occupying a site just east of the Roman Forum, its construction started between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign (81–96). The name "Amphitheatrum Flavium" derives from both Vespasian's and Titus's family name (Flavius, from the gens Flavia). Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. As well as the gladiatorial games, other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology.

• The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.It has been estimated that about 500,000 people and over a million wild animals died in the Colosseum games.

• Although in the 21st century it stays partially ruined because of damage caused by devastating earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome and its breakthrough achievements in earthquake engineering. It is one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions and still has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum. The Colosseum is also depicted on the Italian version of the five-cent euro coin.

Tiramisù• Required time (in minutes): 45

Ingredients (serves 8): 500 grams of mascarpone cheese, 4 eggs, 50 grams of cocoa, 100 g sugar, 6 cups of strong coffee, a pack of pavesini. Preparation: In a bowl, mix the mascarpone with the sugar and egg yolks. Whip the egg whites and steadfast the compound. Coat the bottom of a rectangular mold (20 * 30 approx) with pavesini quick bath with coffee, taking care not to wet or too little. Pour half the cream and dusted with cocoa produced, dropped from a sieve. Make another layer with pavesini available in the opposite direction to the previous. Pour the remaining filling and dust with cocoa. Let rest in refrigerator at least the tiramisu 12 hours.

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Bucatini all’Amatriciana• Ingredients for 4 people: - 400 g of spaghetti;

- 400 g of tomatoes; - 100 g of streaky bacon cheese; - 60 g of pecorino cheese; - Dry white wine; - Salt and pepper; - Hot peppers (optional); Preparation: Cut the lard into cubes and cook over low heat in a frying pan of 28 cm, when the fat becomes transparent, add half a glass of dry white wine and let evaporate, then add the chopped tomatoes and chilli and cook for 5 minutes over high heat. Boil the pasta in abundant salted water, then combine it with the grated pecorino cheese and sauce, mix well to season the pasta evenly and serve. If desired, the pillow can be removed before adding the tomatoes and put them in a pan first to season the pasta, to avoid becoming too brittle and take the unpleasant aroma of burning. Calories per serving: 530Ingredients for 4 people

• Put lightly salted water to boil in a large pot edged higher. When you put the water will boil to cook pasta. Meanwhile, the cloves of garlic, peeled and cut into two parts. If using fresh peppers cut into small pieces, but if you use the dry cut it slightly.  

• Take a very large pan, which you can then turn the dough, and rub the bottom with a piece of garlic. Pour oil in frying pan and lift it by the handle, so that all the oil is concentrated in the opposite side .Put all the garlic in oil, making sure that the cloves are completely immersed in oil.  

• Now turn the flame and let the garlic brown, leaving the pan up, so that the garlic is submerged during cooking. When the oil starts to tease add the chilli, all in case it's probably dry, about half in the case of the fresh. Turn off the heat when the garlic will become gold.  

• Drain the spaghetti well to the tooth and then pour into pan. Add the parsley and sauté the paste for a while. Finally pour the spaghetti in a bowl, if necessary add the high oil, and what is left of fresh chilli. Take another mixed and serve.

Spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino

Penne all’arrabbiata•  • Ingredients for 4 servings: 320 g penne rigate, 400 g of peeled canned

tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, parmesan 20 gdi, 100 g of bacon, 1 clove of garlic, 1 hot pepper, salt. 

• Preparation: • Dice the bacon, peel a clove of garlic.. Heat the 2 tablespoons in a pan

with oil over high heat and lightly fry the garlic and bacon for 5 minutes. Lower the heat, then add the peeled tomatoes, drained after their liquid. United a bit of hot pepper, salt and cook for about three quarters of an hour. In the meantime put to boil 4 gallons of water back into an pot and when the water boils, add 2cucchiai coarse salt, then pasta, stir, lower the flame and cook, stirring occasionally. When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain it, pour into a bowl and season with the sauce and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Stir to mix all ingredients well. Serve hot.

Spaghetti alla carbonara • Ingredients for 4 people: • - 400 g of spaghetti; - 150 g of bacon;

- 30 g pecorino romano - 2 whole eggs - Salt and pepper

• Preparation: Cut the bacon into cubes and cook over low heat in a nonstick saucepan of 18-20 cm, until it becomes transparent and did not release its fat. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and mix well with the grated cheese and abundant pepper . Boil pasta in abundant salted water, then put it in a large bowl and season it with the pillow with her fat, then add eggs and mix quickly until the dough is evenly seasoned. Serve immediately. Calories per serving: 560