Rome accommodation #: 92Staying close to the Colosseum, even if you are in Rome for business, will enable you to visit the heart of archeological and historical route as well as to make short walk from the green of a sixteenth-century villa.
First you will find the Colosseum, the roman building world's most famous for its wonderful size, majesty, beauty and the solid structure, place of bloody events then you can admire the Arch of Constantine located on the Roman road used for the triumphal processions and considered a sort of museum of sculpture as it collects marble slabs of the age of Trajan, Hadrian and Commodus as well as the era of Constantine. The route takes you then across the Roman Forum, the political and religious center during the entire history of Rome from its origins to its decline. You will finally reach the Capitol hill with its Piazza from Michelangelo where stands the statue of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (a copy, the original is preserved nowadays in the Capitoline Museum) and where you can enjoy the view Roman Forum and the Palatine as a whole.
A hidden treasure is then made on the hill by the oasis of greenery of Villa Celio Celimontana, one of the more cultivated of Rome with entrance from Piazza della Navicella. The Mattei family purchased the vineyard in 1533 that covered the hillsides to turn it into a villa. The garden enriched by antique marble, bas-reliefs, palm trees, exotic plants became a stopping place for pilgrims. Interestingly, most of the sculptures that decorated the villa were sold and formed the nucleus of the Vatican Museums. The City took possession of the villa in 800, opening to the public in 1928.
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