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Piazza Navona has the most to offer as a square, lined with baroque palaces and boasting three fountains, including Bernini's Fountain of the Rivers. Once upon a time, the piazza was flooded to stage mock naval battles during festivals. Piazza di Spagna ( the Spanish square), at the foot of the Spanish Steps is another must see if only to enjoy the steps and the Barcaccia fountain by Bernini. Better still if you are on a shopping spree or hungry for a good cheap pizza. Beware of pick pockets though as they are rampant in this area. The Trevi Fountains in the quirinal district are the most famous in Rome. Made famous in Fellini films they comprise the central figure is Neptune, the god of the sea. The legend is that if you throw a coin into the fountain over your shoulder you will return to the eternal city. Because Piazza del Quirinale is on a hill it offers great of Rome and St Peter's, while the Piazza Venezia is blocked by the monstrously fascist wedding cake, or if you will as the Victor Emmanuel Monument. The Pantheon is worth seeing for a view of the world's most perfect floating dome that rests on the top of columns. It is an amazingf work of engineering having been built in 27 BC. The Baths of Caracalla are the best preserved imperial baths. They cover 10 hectares and when active could hold up to 1600 people. The Appian Way is the original roman road of which few examples remain. More than two thousand years old, it runs all the way from Rome to Brindisi. The road was originally lined with monuments of which a smattering still remain such as the Circus of Maxentius and the Tomb of Cecilia Metella. The route is also known for its catacombs, tunnels carved into the volcanic rock where the outlawed ewalry Christians met in secret to celebrate their faith. |