Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A visit to the port of Ostia, which opened in 380 B . C . to bring supplies into Rome
via the Tiber River, is a wonderfully educational day trip.
Today Rome continues to make history. It was the site of the signing of the
Treaty of Rome, in 1957, establishing the European Economic Community, and
it is where the same member states signed a draft European constitution in 2002.
Papal deaths and elections still capture the world's attention, and events in Rome
rarely go unnoticed.
LAY OF THE LAND
Rome is divided in many ways. Officially it is cut up into 22 rioni, or central dis-
tricts, which extend out from the historical center. In modern-day Rome, though,
most residents describe locations as either “inside the walls” or “outside the walls,”
referring to the ancient fortification walls that surround the city's core. Zones are
more often divided loosely, mostly owing to real-estate definitions such as:
Inside the Walls
u The historical center (from Piazza del Popolo to Piazza Venezia)
u Campo de' Fiori and the Jewish Ghetto (bordering the Tiber River on the east)
u Trastevere (bordering the Tiber River on the west) and adjacent Testaccio
(bordering the Tiber River on the east)
u The Colosseo (including Monti and Esquilino)
u The Vatican and Prati
u San Saba and Aventino (the area between Circus Maximus and Testaccio)
Outside the Walls
u Monteverde Vecchio and Monteverde Nuovo
u The Appian Way
u San Giovanni
u San Lorenzo
Historically speaking, Rome is divided into time frames, and every geographic
zone has at least a small sampling of the vast array of historical offerings. High-
lights from each era include:
u Ancient Rome (the Forum, Ara Pacis, Colosseum, Pantheon, Castel
Sant'Angelo, Baths of Caracalla and Diocletian, and the walls)
u Early-Christian and Medieval Rome (Catacombs, churches of San
Giovanni, Santa Maria Maggiore, and San Clemente)
u Renaissance Rome (Raphael, St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel)
u Baroque Rome (Caravaggio, Bernini, Trevi Fountain)
u Modern Rome (tends to include everything built from the late 1800s to the
present)
GETTING THERE & AROUND
Rome has two international airports: Leonardo da Vinci (FCO) in Fiumicino,
26km (16 miles) from the city center, and the smaller GB Pastine (CIA) in
Ciampino, located 15km (9 1 3 miles) from the center. Both are run by Aeroporti
di Roma ( % 06-65951; www.adr.it). Visitors coming from North America gener-
ally arrive in Fiumicino and those arriving via European budget carriers land at
Ciampino, though bad weather and strikes have been known to divert major
flights to Ciampino.
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