Culture

1. Vatican City

Residence of the Popes for more than six centuries, a country within a country and the world's smallest independent nation (with fewer than 1000 citizens), home to some of the most famous pieces of art in the Western world, the Vatican City offers an astonishing experience on all levels - spiritual, cultural, political, anthropological. There is a great deal to do. The vast St Peter's Basilica was built over the place where St Peter was supposedly buried (having been put to death in about AD 64 during the reign of Emperor Nero), and is as grand and sumptuous as one might expect for the supreme church of the Catholic faith. Michelangelo's Pietà is perhaps its finest treasure. The ten collections that make up the Vatican Museums include the Sistine Chapel, famously decorated by Michelangelo in 1508-12, while Raphael was busy with his equally impressive murals in the apartments of Pope Julius II (the Raphael Rooms). Some of the most fabulous sculptures of the ancient world (such as Laocoön and Apollo Belvedere) can be seen in these museums, and the Pinacoteca (picture gallery) contains work by many of the great Italian painters of the Renaissance. There are also collections of ancient Egyptian, Etruscan and ethnological art and artefacts.

2. Villa Borghese

Rome's largest park, called Villa Borghese, owes its name to the magnificent 17th-century residence of Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1576-1633), patron of the arts. The villa now houses the Galleria Borghese, presenting the splendid - and agreeably compact - collection of art that he founded. Paintings by Italian masters such as Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio and Correggio, as well as Lucas Cranach and Rubens from northern Europe, share the sumptuous rooms with sculptures by Bernini and Canova. There are two other museums in the park, with a kilometre between them. The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna presents a good collection of 19th- and 20th-century work by Italian artists, such as the remarkable Futurists Balla and Boccione, as well as De Chirico and Burri, plus work by international artists such as Degas, Cézanne, Monet and Van Gogh. The Villa Giulia - a beautiful 16th-century villa designed for Pope Julius III - contains an outstanding collection of art and artefacts of the Etruscans, precursors of the Romans who - on this evidence - were clearly an inventive, imaginative and fun-loving crowd.

Other gems

3. Roman Forum

A jumble of ruins, columns, arches and statues lies scattered across the base of this green-cloaked valley - so it takes some imagination to appreciate how it once throbbed with the power that controlled one of the world's greatest empires. From its earliest history, and for twelve centuries, this was the administrative, religious, legal and commercial hub of Rome. Here stood the Temple of Saturn, which served as the state treasury; the Curia, where the Senate met; the House of the Vestal Virgins, who tended the Sacred Flame of the Temple of Vesta; the original Rostrum from which public speakers declaimed; the halls of lawyers and booths of moneychangers; the grim prison where Vercingetorix and (according to legend) St Peter were held; and the grandiose temples of various emperors. The Via Sacra formerly resounded to the processions of triumphant generals leading their captives and trains of booty. Residences of the rich and powerful overlooked the Forum from the Palatine Hill (the origin of our word 'palace'), now dominated by the extensive ruins of the Imperial Palace founded by Emperor Domitian (ruled AD 81-96).

4. Colosseum

The mother of all sporting stadiums, the Colosseum was a Roman amphitheatre built on an unprecedented scale - hence the name. It measured 57 m (187 ft) high, 156 m (512 ft) in diameter and 527 m (1729 ft) in circumference, and seated 50,000 people. Brilliant in concept, its design permitted the easy flow of large numbers of spectators between the entrances and their seats through the 'vomitoria' (the word has nothing to do with Roman eating habits, as often claimed), and it became the model for all modern stadiums. What you see today is just the bare bones of the project: the original building was finished to high standards of workmanship, and the exterior was decorated with statues of the gods. Inside, protected from the sun by a vast awning, spectators could revel in a broad range of grisly spectaculars, such as gladiatorial fights, contests between men and wild beasts, and mock sea battles staged by flooding the arena. To celebrate the inauguration, Emperor Titus held a massive festival of games lasting 100 days, and the Colosseum continued to serve as an 'Arena of Death' for the next 400 years.

5. Pantheon

One expects all Roman remains to be ruins. Not so the Pantheon. This astonishing temple was built by Emperor Hadrian in AD 120-124. Its dome, measuring 43 m (141 ft) in diameter, was the largest of the ancient world. What's more, it was made of concrete: no other dome was made of concrete on this scale until the 20th century. The harmonious proportions of the interior, with its patterned marble surfaces, reflect its original purpose as a temple to all the gods, taking its name from the Greek pan ('all') and theos ('god'). The fact that the centre of the dome, the oculus, is open to the sky, adds to the temple's unearthly mood. The Pantheon became a Christian church in the 7th century, and so it was preserved, and remained virtually unchanged. Side chapels contain the tombs of the kings of Italy, and the painter Raphael, who died in 1520 aged 37.

6. Church of San Clemente

Rome has a host of beautiful, historic churches, but if you had to limit yourself to just one, this might be it - cherished for its cool elegance and extraordinary historic continuity. One of the first churches in Rome, it dates back to the 4th century (Christianity became tolerated in Rome only in AD 313), but it was rebuilt in the 12th century, and has mosaics and marble surfaces dating from this period. Beneath the church, on the level of the 4th-century basilica, are frescoes dating from the 9th to 12 centuries, and, on a lower level still, the meeting place of early Christians in the 1st century AD and the remains of a 3rd-century temple of Mithras - the pagan cult that for a while was the main rival to Christianity.

7. Trevi Fountain

There is no other fountain quite like this one. The large white-marble statue of Neptune in his chariot drawn by seahorses led by Tritons slooshes gloriously in copious water - the elaborate outlet for one of Rome's ancient aqueducts. The architect Nicolò Salvi was responsible for designing this exuberant late-Baroque masterpiece, which took 30 years to complete (1732-62). Visitors are supposed to throw coins into the pool, over their shoulder, with their back turned: one coin will ensure a happy return to Rome; a second allows the thrower to make a wish, or to fall in love with a beautiful Roman - marriage with whom can be secured by throwing a third coin.

Soaking up the atmosphere

8. Piazza Navona

Rome is a layer cake of history, and there is no better place to see this than in the Piazza Navona, where ancient Roman vestiges link through Christianity, the Renaissance and the Baroque to modern cafés, street-hawkers and irreverent children kicking footballs about on their way home from school. The oval shape owes its origin to a stadium built on this site by Emperor Domitian. Now the flanks are lined by churches and palazzi, including the ornate Baroque church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, and the 17th-century Palazzo Pamphili (housing the Brazilian Embassy) next door. The centrepiece is the splendid Baroque 'Fountain of the Four Rivers' (1651) by Bernini. The area around the Piazza Navona is noted for its lively nightlife.

9. Spanish Steps

The magnificent Baroque 'Scalinata di Spagna' takes its name from the Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish embassy, which occupies the 17th-century Palazzo di Spagna. Splendidly broad and cunningly made more impressive by trompe l'oeil sightlines, the 138 steps lead up to the Church of the Trinità dei Monti at the summit. There are fine views from the top, and the Villa Borghese park lies just beyond. Tourist trap, universal meeting point, a place to hang out, the Spanish Steps nonetheless express the quintessential ebb and flow of Roman social life. There is nothing new about the swarms of foreigners: the English poets Shelley, Byron and Keats also hung out here two centuries ago. Keats lived in the house right beside the steps, and died of tuberculosis there aged just 25 in 1821; the house is preserved as a museum called the Keats-Shelley Memorial.

10. Trastevere

To get a flavour of how Rome is lived by the Romans, cross the River Tiber to the folksy quarter called Trastevere (the name means 'Across the Tiber'). The focal point is the lively Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, with its 12th-century church glittering with mosaics and its fountain by Bernini. But this is really a place to wander the narrow medieval streets, and to seek out the kind of family-run trattoria where you can sample the best of Roman cooking at prices the Romans are prepared to pay.