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Rome, “The Eternal City”

Nicknamed “The Eternal City,” Rome is home to some of the most world’s most recognizable structures.

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Image: Coliseum Newly Opened Areas Press Preview

Open for business

Tourists walk in the Colosseum near the hypogeum (underground) on October 14, 2010, in Rome. The underground, never before available to the public, is now open for visitors.

Franco Origlia / Getty Images Europe
Image: Colosseum in Rome

Underground tour

Gladiators, wild beasts and ... tourists? Yep. People visiting the Colosseum can now walk around the underground chambers where lions and tigers were caged and gladiators waited to hear their fate.

Ettore Ferrari / ANSA
Image: Tourists visit the Colosseum in Rome

Roman hot spot

More than 18,000 people visit the amphitheatre every day. The newly opened areas will be accessible to guided tours of a maximum of 25 people at a time.

Gregorio Borgia / AP
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Colosseum

The Colosseum is one of the most recognized structures not just in Rome, but in all of Europe. The building, which was inaugurated in 80 A.D., is visited by several million tourists each year.

Alberto Pizzoli / AFP
Image: Italy Awaits The Arrival of G8 World Leaders

Papal Basilica of St. Peter

The Papal Basilica of St. Peter is illuminated in Vatican City, an enclave of Rome. The basilica, until recently, was the largest church ever built. The holy place stands where St. Peter was crucified and buried.

Miguel Villagran / Getty Images Europe
Image: Roman Forum, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum is located between the Palatine Hill and Capitoline Hill. The ancient city's most important and oldest structures were situated in or near the Forum, including many shrines and temples.

Doug Pearson / JAI
Image: A general view of  Piazza del Campidogli

Piazza del Campidoglio

The Piazza del Campidoglio was designed during the 16th century by Michelangelo Buonarroti. The piazza is located atop Capitol Hill in Rome. The structure seen today dates back to 1560.

Filippo Monteforte / AFP
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City hall

Two tourists rest next to a statue in front of the Campidoglio, Rome's city hall. The statue, one of a set of two, was built by Italian artist Matteo Bartolani in 1588 and is meant to represent Rome's Tiber River.

Gregorio Borgia / AP
Image: Castel Sant'Angelo and Tiber River

Castel Sant'Angelo

Castel Sant'Angelo, sitting above the Tiber River, was built by the Emperor Hadrian as a tomb for himself and his successors. The Mausoleum was later completed by Antoninus Pius in 139 A.D.

Robert Harding World Imagery
Image: A view of the Trevi fountain in Rome

Trevi Fountain

Legend has it that if a visitor throws a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome, he or she is ensured a return. About 3,000 euros are tossed into the fountain each day, according to the BBC.

Staff / X01095
Image: Picture taken 10 March 1998 of a Rome Antique stat

Capitole Museum

Antique statue fragments sit inside the Capitole Museum yard, located at the Square of Campidoglio, in Rome. The Capitole Museum contains an antique collection began in 1471 by pope Sixte IV.

Gerard Julien / AFP
Image: Shafts of Light Inside St. Peter's Basilica

Basilica's interior

Shafts of light fill the interior of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Tourists who plan to visit the basilica should take note of a strictly enforced dress code, which includes no shorts, bare shoulders or miniskirts.

Kazuyoshi Nomachi
Image: Ceiling Fresco Cycle at Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo Buonarroti

Sistine Chapel

The ceiling of Sistine Chapel was painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti. Images on the ceiling depict scenes from the book of Genesis, and the walls are covered with Renaissance frescoes created by other artists.

Jim Zuckerman
Image: Main Staircase, Musei Vaticani, Vatican City, Rome, Italy

Vatican Museum

The main staircase of Vatican Museum forms a tightening spiral as it descends. The museum is located in the Vatican Palace, which popes have called home since the 1300s.

Peter Adams / JAI
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The Pantheon

The Pantheon, according to the Web site italyguides.it, is the Roman monument that holds the most and best preserved records, and is "the most copied and imitated of all ancient works."

© Glenn Beanland / Lonely Plane
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Museo D'arte Contemporanea Di Roma

The Museo D'arte Contemporanea Di Roma (MACRO) houses a permanent art collection that includes "some of the most significant expressions characterizing the Italian art scene since the 1960s," its Web site claims.

© Paolo Cordelli / Lonely Plane
Image: Frederic Mitterrand Portrait Session

Villa Medicis

Villa Medicis is a 16th Century garden located on the Pincian Hill at the top of the Spanish Steps. The gardens are complemented by statues and fountains.

Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images Europe
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Villa Borghese

The area now known as Villa Borghese was originally started as a vineyard in the 1500s, but was purchased by cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V, in 1605 and turned into a park. Rome obtained Villa Borghese in 1903, and it was opened to the public.

© Will Salter / Lonely Planet I
Image: People take a freshly brewed espresso at

Piazza Navona

People take a freshly brewed espresso at a cafe terrace on Piazza Navona in Rome during the "Espresso Italiano day 2009." Italians drink some 70 million cups of coffee at the bars every day, according to the figures given by the National Institute of Italian Espresso.

Alberto Pizzoli / AFP
Image: An aerial view of Rome with the Vittoria

Rome from above

This aerial shot of Rome shows the Vittoriano Monument, dedicaded to the Italian king Vittorio Emmanuelle II, in the background.

Patrick Hertzog / AFP
Image: Italians Browse Rome's Top Boutiques For Christmas Gifts

Via Condotti

Italian shoppers browse at Via Condotti, which is the home to some of the world's most famous designer boutiques, in Rome.

Franco Origlia / Getty Images Europe
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Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps connect Piazza di Spagna to Trinita dei Monti, a French church. Once a gathering place for beautiful men and women hoping to be chosen as artists' models, the Spanish Steps are now used as a catwalk for an annual summertime fashion show.

© Tony Burns / Lonely Planet Ima
Image: People walk by the Ara Pacis on November

Altar of Peace

The Ara Pacis Augustae, or Altar of Peace, dates back to 9 B.C. The altar was built to celebrate the advent of peace under the reign of Augustus, Rome's first emperor.

Filippo Monteforte / AFP
Image: Views of Rome The Eternal City

Vittorio Emmanuele II monument

The Vittorio Emmanuele II monument is seen at sunset. With nearly 3,000 years of history, Rome continues to live up to its motto of "The Eternal City," being one of the founding cities of Western civilization.

Christopher Furlong / Getty Images Europe
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