The history of Villa Medici has its roots in the republican age of Rome, when the Pincio hill on which it is located today housed the residence and gardens of the Roman tribune Lucullus, the so-called Horti Luculliani, the scene of luxurious parties that have become proverbial. Cardinal de' Medici turned the villa into one of the most elegant and fashionable places during the Renaissance in Rome. It is interesting to note that from the second half of the nineteenth century, while modern artistic currents spread in France and the rest of Europe from Realism, through Impressionism, to the avant-gardes of the early twentieth century, being linked to the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, Villa Medici remained substantially linked to academic art.

Photo: Laterbat, CC BY-SA 4.0

Porta Pia is a 16th-century gate in Rome’s Aurelian Walls, commissioned by Pope Pius IV and designed by Michelangelo as one of his final architectural works. Replacing the ancient Porta Nomentana, it marked the transition from Renaissance classicism to early Baroque style. Porta Pia is also historically significant as the site of the 1870 Capture of Rome, when Italian troops breached the nearby walls, leading to Rome’s annexation into the Kingdom of Italy.

Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0

In the heart of Campo Marzio lies Piazza Navona, one of Rome’s most evocative squares, renowned for Baroque masterpieces such as the Fountain of the Four Rivers and the Church of Sant’Agnese in Agone. Shaped mainly during the 16th and 17th centuries, the square features fountains designed by Giacomo della Porta and later enhanced by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Walking through Piazza Navona feels like stepping back into the height of Rome’s Baroque era.

Photo: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Barcaccia Fountain, located in Piazza di Spagna at the base of the Spanish Steps, is one of Rome’s most iconic meeting points. Commissioned in the 17th century by Pope Urban VIII and designed by Bernini, it was the first fountain conceived as a fully sculptural work. Shaped like a sinking boat, the Barcaccia combines practical water service with innovative artistic expression, becoming a lasting symbol of Rome’s urban and artistic life.

Photo: o2ma, CC BY-SA 2.0

The basilica stands on the Esquiline Hill and is ideally connected through Via Merulana to another stronghold among the Roman basilicas: the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. The reason why the church was built in this area is unknown. However, according to a legend, an unusual snowfall in August whitened the hill, and Pope Liberius, inspired by a dream in which he had seen the Madonna, decided to have a church built there, which he dedicated to Our Lady. The church is mentioned in the Liber Pontificalis (Book on the Lives of the Popes), which reports that the church was built near the Macellum Libiae, a large market of the imperial age named after the wife of Augustus. The mosaic decorations that enrich the naves and the apse of the church are masterpieces of art.

Photo: Maros M r a z (Maros), CC BY-SA 3.0

The Ara Pacis Museum was redesigned between 1996 and 2006 by architect Richard Meier, replacing the original 1938 pavilion with a modern structure of travertine and glass that echoes the altar’s form. The Ara Pacis itself was commissioned in 13 BC to celebrate Augustus’s return from Gaul and dedicated in 9 BC in the Campus Martius, near his Mausoleum and the Horologium Augusti. Notably, the sundial’s shadow reached the altar on September 23, aligning with both the autumnal equinox and the emperor’s birthday.

Photo: Miguel Hermoso Cuesta, CC BY-SA 3.0