Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TERME DI DIOCLEZIANO
MUSEUM
( 06 3996 7700;
www.coopculture.it
;
Viale Enrico de Nicola 78; adult/reduced €7/3.50; 9am-7.30pm Tue-Sun;
Termini)
The Terme di Diocleziano was ancient Rome's largest bath complex, covering
about 13 hectares and with a capacity for 3000 people. Today its ruins constitute part of
the impressive Museo Nazionale Romano, which supplies fascinating insight into the
structure of Roman society through memorial inscriptions and other artefacts. Outside, the
vast, elegant cloister was constructed from drawings by Michelangelo.
It's lined with classical sarcophagi, headless statues and huge sculptured animal heads,
thought to have come from the Foro di Traiano.
Elsewhere in the museum, look out for exhibits relating to cults and the development of
Christianity and Judaism. Upstairs there are exhibits of tomb objects dating from the 11th
to 9th centuries BC, including jewellery and amphora.
As you wander the museum, you'll see glimpses of the original complex, which was
completed in the early 4th century as a state-of-the-art combination of baths, libraries,
concert halls and gardens - the Aula Ottagona and Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli
buildings were also once part of this enormous endeavour. It fell into disrepair after the
aqueduct that fed the baths was destroyed by invaders in about AD 536.
AULA OTTAGONA
( Piazza della Repubblica; adult/reduced €7/3.50; 9am-7pm Tue-Sun; Repubblica)
The Octagonal Hall
was part of the ancient structure of the Terme di Diocleziano, and today form a beautiful
vaulted space that houses temporary exhibitions, often of sculpture.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
BASILICA DI SANTA MARIA DEGLI ANGELI
BASILICA
(
www.santamariadegliangeliroma.it
;
Piazza della Repubblica; 7am-8.30pm Mon-Sat, to 7.30pm Sun; Repub-
blica)
This hulking basilica occupies what was once the central hall of Diocletian's baths
complex. It was originally designed by Michelangelo, but only the great vaulted ceiling
remains from his plans.
CHIESA DI SAN PAOLO ENTRO LE MURA
(
www.stpaulsrome.it
;
cnr Via Nazionale & Via Napoli; 9.30am-4.30pm Mon-Fri; Via Nazionale)
With its
stripy neo-Gothic exterior, Rome's American Episcopal church has some unusual 19th-
century mosaics, designed by the Birmingham-born artist Edward Burne-Jones. In his rep-
CHURCH
