Hotel Des Artistes Rome Travel Guide

“Disney On Ice” will turn your day into an extraordinary adventure! Is about to arrive in Italy “Disney On Ice – Let’s Party!”. The new production on ice of “Feld Entertainment”, with lots of Disney characters, over 50!

It’s an original Disney Show, with classic and modern Disney songs, a fabulous story with bright costumes on ice and with such infectious energy of Mickey Mouse and his friends for adults and children: these are the ingredients of the show that will take audiences to celebrate some of the most famous festivals in the world, all in one evening and in your own city – from “Halloween” with the “Disney Villains” to “Dance Royal Valentine’s Day” with the “Disney Princesses” to “Happy Birthday Do not” with Alice and the “Mad Hatter “.

A fun and exciting production that will accompany the audience in an ideal “world tour”, including exotic destinations like Brazil (with its Carnival parade) or Hawaii (for a “luau party”) and Japan (with the its “Festival of Flower”).

“Disney On Ice – Let’s Party! offers families a reason to celebrate at any time of the year, “says producer Kenneth Feld. “It ‘a wonderful show, unforgettable, and the audience will go home remembering to celebrate everyday joys and successes of life.” 

The tour will touch Rome from Novermber 29 to December 2 at “Palalottomatica”.

So hurry up, book your tickets and match it with the best accomodation in Rome!

Our Blogger: Rhodora

The flourishing of Piazza del Popolo beneath the Pincian Hill attracted an investor born with silver spoon in the mouth, a Roman Catholic cardinal and nephew of Pope Paul V. In 1605, Cardinal Scipione Borghese, patron of Bernini, started building a villa comprising a number of buildings, fountains, gardens and museums. In the 19th C much of the old garden was remade with English style landscape. Four centuries later his desire paid off. Today, Villa Borghese is one of the main tourist attractions in Rome.

Villa Borghese is a perfect refuge for tourists and locals alike in its splendid gardens, fountains, villas and museums. It is a large public park with great museum, the Borghese Galleria. It hosts artworks by Bernini, Caravagio, Raphael, Titian, Canova etc. The museum lost almost 700 artworks after one of the villa’s heirs sold them on pressure to Napoleon, now the masterpieces are in exhibition in Louvre. In 1903 the commune of Rome bought the Villa and started opening to public thereof.

To the south the Villa is surrounded by Pincian Hill , Piazza del Popolo gate to its south western entrance, Borghese Museum on its eastern section and Bioparco Zoo to the north east. The villa hosted 1960 Summer Olympics horse jumping, equestrian event and individual jumping in Piazza Siena with in its premises.

The museum allows limited number of visitors, 360 every two hours. Thus booking either by telephone or online is always advisable at least one day prior to visit.

For more info contact: www.galleriaborghese.it

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People’s Square, located between the Pincio hill and Tiber River is embellished with churches, monuments and fountains. The Via Flaminia highway constructed in 220 BC to connect Rome to the north starts from this square. In 1562 Pope Pius IV made enhancements to the old gate in order to improve the look and impress visitors.

Piazza del Popolo is featured by twin churches (St Mary of Miracles and St Mary in Montesanto), an Egyptian obelisk and three streets projecting from the square into the city center.

The similar churches, that lead to the heart of the city past Via del Corso, were commissioned by Pope Alexander VII in 1658. Though they look identical, one is slightly bigger than the other.

In 1589, Pope Sixtus V erected 23,2m high obelisk at the center of the square which was originally brought to Rome from the sun temple in Heliopolis (Egypt); by Emperor Augustus around 10 BC.

Giuseppe Valadier (1811-1822) once more did the necessary restyling of the old square made in 1572. Bernini again redesigned the massive gate to the north (opening to Via Flaminia), as a sign of gratitude by Pope Alexander VII to Queen Christina’s of Sweden conversion to Roman Catholicism.

The square is close to Villa Borghese, easily accessible by metro, walking distance from the Spanish Steps and Via del Corso (not-cheap shopping street).

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‘Virgin Mary’ – as the legend goes – indicated a rich couple to build a temple for her memory by covering an acre of land with snow in the middle of summer. The area indicated by the alleged miracle is on the Esquillian Hill. But the alleged miracle is only reported 1000 years late. The fall of snow is celebrated by throwing white petals atop of the church on August 5.

Led by Pope Liberius (350’s), the couple agreed to finance a temple in Mary’s honour. The couple then dedicated all their fortune to ‘Our Lady of the Snows’ – aka Santa Maria Maggiore/Santa Maria Liberiana or Liberian Basilica (after Pope Liberius).

In 431 the Council of Ephesus proclaimed Mary ‘Mother of God’ and Pope Sixtus III commissioned to make church on the site where ‘Our Lady of the Snows’ had already ordered a temple in her glory.

Since its first start by Liberius in 350’s, Santa Maria Maggiore went through various remodeling works. The apse was restored in 1200. The bell tower was built in the 1300’s. The back was replaced in 1600 and the facade in 1700.

There are many Santa Maria temples in Rome but the largest and important of all is Santa Maria Maggiore . This is one of the four Roman basilicas (St Paul outside the wall, St Peter’s and St John Laterine).

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Today the inauguration, tomorrow the opening to the public: we are talking about the International Photography Festival of Rome, which will be held in two locations of the Macro, that of Testaccio and the via Nice. The festival will last until October 28th.

Organised by Marco Delogu, the exhibition is supported by the Office of Cultural Affairs and the historic center of Rome Capital and produced by Zètema. For the first time, will be involved in some rooms and spaces of the headquarters of Macro Via Nizza and La Pelanda, always in Testaccio.

This year the theme is that of the change in work in the last century and their juxtaposition in the technological society of today. To develop the argument, sixty exhibitions, events and appointments, with the exposure of more than 2000 photos, and with the involvement of about 180 photographers. Among these, the two selected by the Commission Rome as guests of excellence: Paolo Ventura and Anders Petersen, with their free photographic interpretations of the capital.

The Festival is open from 16:00 to 22:00

Ticket prices: €12 per person

Location: Macro Museum of modern art  at Testaccio (Festival Internazionale di Fotografia al Macro
„Testaccio Municipio 1 Centro“)

It might be of interest: http://www.romatoday.it/eventi/mostre/festival-fotografia-al-macro-testaccio.html

The Colosseum is oval shaped arena measuring 187 by 155 meters and 50 meters high. This is the most important and biggest amphitheatre of the Roman Empire, capable of seating up to 50,000 spectators at a time. Originally it was called Amphitheater Flavio, but with time this structure came to be known as Colosseum.

The name derives from the bronze statua colossale di Nerone ( literally: colosal statue of Nerone) and also to the colosal dimention of the building (Amphitheater Flavio).

Construction of the Amphitheater began by Emperor Vespasian in 70 A.D.  Seven year in to the construction Vespasian died and his son Titus completed and inaugurated the Amphitheater in 80 A.D. The opening ceremony is said to have lasted 100 days and a number of animals ranging from 5000 to 10,000 were believed to have been slayed for this special occasion alone.

The main motive to construct the Amphitheater was to divert attention of people from the political quagmires which were fomenting the seat of the Roman Empire in the second half of the first century A.D. The arena hosted professional and deadly (gladiatorial) fights, sea battles, animal hunts, executions and dramas.

The Colosseum has 3 rows. The first row was for first class (senators, government representatives, military officials). The second row was for the middle class and the last row to the lower class. Colosseum was connected to other training facilities like the Ludus Magnus (the Great Gladiator school) by underground passageways.

The Colosseum was out of service since the Middle Ages and parts of the monument was destroyed by earthquakes, stone robbers, unawarenes, negligence. In the 21st century, this is one of the main sources of income in the Italian economy.

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Il Vittoriano, located in Piazza Venezia (Rome) is a massive white marble monument dominating the Capitoline Hill, erected as a tribute to the first King of United Italy -Victor Emanuel II. The construction of the site began in 1885, inaugurated in 1911 marking the 50th anniversary of Italian Unification but finalized in 1935.
 
The two quadrigae on top of building represent Unity and Liberty. Below the columns and midway climbing the stairs is the equestrian statue of Vittorio Emmanuel II made of bronze designed by Emilio Gallori and inaugurated in 1911.
 
Below this statue is the tomb of unknown soldier chosen on October 26 1921 by Maria Bergamas a mother who lost her only son in World War I. Eleven unknown remains were gathered and the woman was given the chance to pick one body. The randomly chosen soldier was then buried in a state funeral (November 4,1921) celebrating all those who died in the war.

Once inside the building there is kind of a museum narrating the history of Italian unification.

Since long Il Vittoriano was criticised by artists for various reasons. The first reason is, a medieval neighborhood was doomed to build this massive structure. The second reason is its color, the white Altar of the Fatherland doesn’t match with the old brownish buildings in the area.

Because of its unpopularity Romans have coined the building names like: the wedding cake, zuppa inglese or typewriter.

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St Peter’s Basilica is the most renowned renaissance architecture. Main architects of this religious-complex were Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Bernini. It took 120 years to complete the structure, works began on 18 April 1506 and completed on 18 November 1626.
 
St Peter’s Basilica has out-gone its religious purpose and been able to attract millions of people for entertainment, art, history, architecture and power (religious, political & economical).

St Peter’s Basilica can host over 80,000 people at a time. This is one of largest temples in the world. Contrary to what people perceive this Basilica is not the seat of a bishop, the seat to the bishop of Rome is located in St John Lateran.

Roman Catholics believe the site where St Peter Basilica stands is the burial place of Apostle Peter and his tomb is right below the altar. Not only, they also believe Peter to be number one in the papal line and infallible, since he was given the post by Lord and King Jesus Christ during his ministry on earth. Mathew 16:18

And many others find this papal line nothing but a means to power under religious cover and insult to the Living God of Israel, because Jesus neither appointed someone to be His substitute on earth nor named anyone infallible.

Anyway, no criticism has stopped St Peter Church from gaining popularity either as a tourist attraction or becoming a world powerhouse, thus this place is worth visiting.

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The word Pantheon is a Greek word and means ‘of all gods’. Since its edification in 27 before Christ, Pantheon has been a wander for every generation that comes to pass. It is believed to have been built for the seven Roman pagan gods and on the site where the body of Romolo, founder of Rome,  flew by eagle to heaven.

The structure was first built by Agrippa the son-in-law of the Roman Emperor Augustus in 27 B.C. And left his mark right on top of the entrance. The headline reads: M. AGRIPPA L. F. COS. TERTIUM FECIT translated, Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, in his third consulate, made it.

In the following century, fire damaged parts of the lower porch section and foundation. Later, Emperor Hadrian rebuilt the Pantheon from 118 to 128 A.D. without changes to the original pagan temple.

In 609 after Christ Roman Catholic intervened, brought in martyred Christians’ bones into the temple and changed the pagan temple to Church of Santa Maria and Martyres.

Every part of the structure is astonishing. That is the bronze doors (7 meters high), the interior, the oculus (opening of the dome), the decor and the diameter (43 m) of the dome equalling the height of the building bottom to top. What a story to unravel?

Michelangelo, one of the greatest artists of all time, has called Pantheon ‘Angelic and not human design.’ The artist seems to exaggerate in admiring the architects, even if he himself can’t tell what an ‘Angelic design’ is.

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Temprature in Rome during summer is too hot due to congested buildings, large number of people, climate change and more. Waiting outside the Vatican Museum under certain circumstances is boring.  Visitors run short of time before fully enjoying the museums, due to a large number of crowd waiting to enter the museum.

The new schedule gives visitors more romantic time and plenty of time to enjoy art with calm in a lovely cool night weather.

Since Vatican Museum started opening at night to the public three years back, the number of visitors has edged as much as thirty thousand visitors in last year alone.

The following museums are open by night: Pio Clementino, Egyptian, GallerieSuperiori (Candelabri, Arazzi e Carte Geografiche), Stanze Raffaello, Appartamento Borgia, Modern Religion Art Collection and Sistine Chapel. The schedule runs May 4th through July 13th but August is closed. And again restarting from September 7 to October 26.

The night visit is from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. every Friday. The last admission into the museum is 9.30 p.m.

Price vary from € 15 to  €22.

To book visit:

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html

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