Matching Headings About Rome

Rome is an important historic city of Italy. Rome is located in the central part of the Italian peninsula, on the Tiber River about 15 miles (24 km) inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea. Once the capital of an ancient republic and empire whose armies were so powerful, now it is the spiritual and physical seat of the Roman Catholic Church and the site of major pinnacles of artistic and intellectual achievement. The city area is 496 square miles; the population is more than 3 million people.

For well over a millennium, Rome controlled the life of all civilizations known to Europe, but then it fell into dissolution and disrepair. Physically, economically, politically and militarily helpless by the late Middle Ages, Rome nevertheless remained a world power as an idea. The force of Rome as a lawgiver, teacher, and builder continued to radiate throughout Europe. Rome found glory as the head of Christianity and the capital for arts and eventually won back its power and wealth.

The ancient centre of Rome is divided into 22 districts, the names of most dating back to Classical times, while surrounding it are 35 urban sectors that began to be officially absorbed into the municipality after 1911. Within the city limits on the western and northwestern fringes are six large suburbs. About 6 miles (10 km) out from the centre of the city, a belt highway makes a huge circle around the capital, tying together the antiquated roads that led to ancient Rome.

Rome’s hot, dry summer days, with high temperatures often above 24 °C, are frequently cooled in the afternoons by a west wind that rises from the Tyrrhenian Sea. The city receives roughly 30 inches (750 mm) of precipitation annually; spring and autumn are the rainiest seasons. Frosts and occasional light snowfalls punctuate the otherwise mild winters, when high temperatures average just above 10 °C. A cold, dry wind from the north frequents the city in the winter.

The main street in central Rome is Via del Corso, an important thoroughfare since Classical times, when it was the Via Flaminia, the road to the Adriatic. Its present name comes from the horse races that were part of the Roman carnival celebrations. From the foot of the Capitoline Hill, the Corso runs to the Piazza del Popolo and through a gate in the city wall, the Porta del Popolo, there to resume its ancient name. It’s a must to see for any visitor to Rome.

Rome is as much a city of fountains as it is of churches or palaces, antiquities or urban problems. The more than 300 monumental fountains are an essential part of Rome’s seductive powers. They are points of personal, often sentimental attachment to the city and have been a source of inspiration for many people of art throughout the history of mankind. They also provide a sense of luxury. One cannot turn them off as they flow all the time.

The Roman countryside, also known as the Campagna, was one of the last areas of central Italy to be settled in antiquity. It is important to mention that Rome was built on a defensible hill that dominated the last downstream, high-banked river crossing. This hill, Palatine Hill, was one of a group of hills, traditionally counted as seven, around which the ancient city grew. The other hills are the Capitoline, the Quirinal, the Viminal, the Esquiline, the Caelian, and the Aventine.