Rome Illuminated Guided Tours

03/03/2018

Rome has never been seen this way before!

19/01/2017

Ambitious restoration plans!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/16/giant-mausoleum-rome-held-remains-emperor-augustus-restored/

After decades of shameful neglect, the biggest mausoleum ever to be built by the ancient Romans is to be brought alive with a spectacular multimedia experience projected onto its 2,000-year-old walls.

09/10/2016

You say "anguria", I say "cocomero"... let's use our hands.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/world/what-in-the-world/italy-dialects.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&smvar=withw2&_r=0

The country has hundreds of local variations on language, each with its own quirks of pronunciation, inflection and vocabulary, which can make daily interactions confusing.

23/09/2016

After 18 months of cleaning (thanks Bulgari) the Spanish Steps are reopening today!
http://www.wantedinrome.com/news/romes-spanish-steps-to-reopen-on-23-september/

Rome mayor pledges more policing to avoid anti-social behaviour at Spanish Steps. The newly-restored Spanish Steps are to reopen to the public on the morning of 23 September following an 18-month restoration whose €1.5 million cost was sponsored by luxury jeweller Bulgari. The reopening is to be cel...

13/09/2016

It's a Roscioli morning.

31/08/2016

We love this initiative to help victims of the earthquake in central Italy. For every dish of pasta all'Amatriciana sold at participating restaurants €2 will go to earthquake relief in honor of the town of Amatrice which gave its name to the dish and which was gravely impacted by the earthquake last week. You can also donate directly.

25/08/2016

You've probably heard about yesterday's earthquake that devastated Matrice and neighboring towns. We went to Matrice earlier this month on a pasta pilgrimage (this cute little town in the mountains north of Rome is known as the birthplace of one of Italy's classic pasta dishes) and we are thrilled to hear that local creativity and love for food has spurred this very Italian fundraising and relief effort: when you're in Rome make sure to eat Amatriciana pasta for Matrice!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/25/italy-earthquake-restaurants-give-2-euros-each-serving-famous-pasta

15/08/2016

Hope everyone enjoyed this year's Ferragosto! This August 15th holiday derives from the Feriae Augusti, a festivity created by Rome's first Emperor in 18bc to link existing August holidays celebrating the end of the harvest to create a longer period of rest. Now it's a day for picnics, relaxing at the beach or going on a sunset passeggiata.

02/07/2016

A stroll on Via Margutta is like walking through a poem. Here's a short article on the history of one of my favorite streets in Rome.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/rome-very-short-street-180954580/?no-ist

Taste the food life on the Via Margutta, once home to Fellini and since 1953, the scene of Americans' sweetest Roman Holiday

21/06/2016

Rome has its first female mayor! “A new era begins with us,” says Virginia Raggi of the recently created anti-establishment Five Star Movement. “I will work to bring legality and transparency.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/world/europe/rome-mayor-virginia-raggi-five-star-movement.html?_r=0

An anti-establishment candidate also won in Turin, in major blows to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his governing Democratic Party.

14/06/2016

Let's take a walk :) Just down the street from the Colosseum and crowds of tourists is this quiet, inviting little street

02/06/2016

Happy Festa della Repubblica! On this day in 1946 Italians voted to abolish the monarchy and Italy became a republic.

23/05/2016

You might not be able to take a slice of your favorite pizza home with you on the plane but with these "commandments" you can certainly preserve the quintissential nature of Italian cuisine. My favorite? High quality ingredients rule.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/may/16/ten-commandments-of-italian-cooking

For this special issue of Cook, dedicated to the food of Italy, Britain’s doyenne of Italian cookery simplifies the cuisine into 10 commandments, prizing good ingredients, subtlety, and giving taste god-like status ...

16/05/2016

Despite the scattered showers this week, it's springtime in Rome and one of the city's most delightfully scented retreats is open for another month: the Rose Garden. This public garden, located across the street from the Circus Maximus on the slope of the Aventino Hill, boasts roughly 1,000 species of roses and may just win the prize for best aroma in Rome...after your local pizzeria of course :) Free entry to the Rose Garden from 8:30am to 7:30pm until June 14th.

12/05/2016

Exhibition on now: Alfons Mucha

Mucha's works intoxicated Paris at the close of the 19th century. Even his advertising banners weren't safe from thieves, who would cut them down in the middle of the night.

His most recognizable pieces present an almost dizzying sophistication that revels in the natural world and feels, at once, both familiar and exotic. Originally called “the Mucha style,” the Belle Epoque look that you know so well eventually came to be known as Art Nouveau.

Rome is hosting a major retrospective of Mucha's work this year, with more that 200 pieces on display, from paintings and lithographs to jewelry, original advertising posters, and even family photos from his visits to Rome. It is a wonderful chance to encounter the father of Art Nouveau and to see him draw inspiration from so many of the worlds great art traditions.

Location: Ala Brasini at the Vittoriano (downtown)
Hours: every day 9:30am to 7:30pm (with longer evenings on the weekends)
Cost: €14 adult ticket (some discounts available)
Dates: 15 April to 11 September 2016

05/05/2016

Good morning Rome!

25/04/2016

Winged victory on the Vittorio Emanuele monument. The April 25th holiday marks the proclamation of liberation from fascism at the end of World War II.

21/04/2016

Celebrate Rome's birthday with the official opening of renowned contemporary artist William Kentridge's "Triumphs and Laments", a 550-meter-long frieze honoring Rome's culture, identity, and 2768-year history. Each spectacular figure is up to 10 meters tall and was stencil-etched in the travertine embankment walls of the Tiber river. Events April 21 & 22 and details available at: www.triumphsandlaments.com

The frieze will open on the Natale di Roma holiday with the premiere of a theatrical program created by William Kentridge and his frequent collaborator, the internationally acclaimed composer Philip Miller. This once in a lifetime event will feature two processional marching bands — one for the Triu…

19/04/2016

How many of Rome's Renaissance mansions have you visited? Past its foreboding exterior on Via del Corso the Doria Pamphilj Gallery is an opulent testament to the powerful family that has been assembling and maintaining its treasure trove of art since the 16th century. The family still lives there ...even if they're not quite on speaking terms according to this article.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/6be0d498-e51f-11e5-a09b-1f8b0d268c39.html

Inconspicuously located along the Via del Corso, Rome’s grubby principal artery, the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj is accessed through an unadorned doorway. The visitor enters a porticoed courtyard of lemon trees — the antechamber to one of Italy’s richest

15/04/2016

Could this painting, found in a French attic, really be a long lost Caravaggio masterpiece? “Just look at the quality of the picture: the strength, the energy, the violence, the blackness," says one art dealer, "it cannot be made by anybody else other than Caravaggio.” Caravaggio experts remain divided.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/arts/art-dealer-says-painting-found-in-french-attic-is-a-caravaggio.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FCaravaggio&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0

A painting of “Judith Beheading Holofernes” found near Toulouse in 2014 could be worth $136 million, a dealer says. But experts are divided over its authenticity.

12/04/2016

The Sistine Chapel of the Middle Ages? Check out the frescoes of saints and martyrs, queens, popes and emperors in the newly restored medieval church of Santa Maria Antiqua now open in the Roman Forum and see for yourself!
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/mar/23/basilica-di-santa-maria-antiqua-reopens-in-rome-after-30-years

Sixth century Basilica di Santa Maria Antiqua, which houses rare collection of early Christian art, has undergone extensive restoration