Hidden in the heart of the city, the Jewish Ghetto is one of the best attractions in Rome and also one of the least known. Being the oldest Jewish community in all of Europe, this beautiful and thriving neighborhood is the hub of the city’s history and of the Jewish faith.

The Ghetto was founded in 1555 in the Sant’Angelo district, near the river Tiber in the southern part of Campo de ‘Fiori. Its borders were established in a papal bull along with various discriminatory laws on which professions Jews could and could not do. One of the accepted professions, that of selling fish, still lends its name to the streets in the area of the old fish market.

Although the neighborhood now has some of the highest property prices in Rome, the original Jewish Ghetto was walled up and crowded. It was built on a low malarial land subject to regular floods from the Tiber: life was hard until the walls of the Ghetto were demolished in 1888.

Jewish culture grew and prospered in the Roman Ghetto, but the district also witnessed one of the most excruciating episodes of Nazi occupation during the Second World War when the Nazi soldiers, October 16, 1943, entered the neighborhood and deported among the 1,000 and 2,000 people. Only 16 survived.

Over the years the area has become a beautiful neighborhood full of kosher restaurants, churches and synagogues that combine Jewish culture with the grandeur of Roman architecture.

The ruins of the enormous ancient Portico, the Portico d’Ottavia, rise from below 20 feet below street level, at the same time a testimony to the history and times of change.

The appointment with the prestigious Six Nations tournament is back to the Olympic Stadium in Rome, in a calendar featuring the four National British Isles (Wales, England, Ireland and Scotland) to which France and Italy will join.

There are three internal matches that mark the 6 Nations calendar for Italy: at the Stadio Olimpico the Azzurri will challenge Wales (9 February), Ireland (24 February), defending champions of the Six Nations 2018, and France (16 March).

Here the complete Six Nations calendar:

To buy tickets for the games click here

For more information about the Six Nations 2019 visit the official website

The historic 42.195km race will take place on April 7th with the Colosseum as the main protagonist: the departure is scheduled at 8:30 am from Via dei Fori Imperiali and the arrival also in the imperial road coming from Via di San Gregorio.

The route, which includes most of the heart of the Eternal City and its magnificent monuments as backdrop, makes the Rome International Marathon a unique sporting event in the world!

Here is the race course

To the competitive race of 42.195km is combined the Stracittadina non-competitive 5km, which offers citizens and tourists the opportunity to experience the historic center of Rome by participating in a major international event. It will start also from via dei Fori Imperiali, a few minutes after the marathon, with a route that will unfold through the imperial Rome, passing from Piazza Venezia and Teatro di Marcello and arriving at the Circus Maximus where the final party will take place.

If you need more information or if you want to register for the race, go to the official website of the 25th Rome International Marathon

Christmas is the right time to get lost in the alleys full of decorations of the historic center discovering churches and cribs. It would not take a lifetime to visit all the thousands of churches in Rome and see the cribs that each church hosts during the holidays, but here are some you can’t really miss:

100 Presepi:

The 2018 edition of 100 Presepi, Rome’s international nativity crib exhibition, has moved to Via della Conciliazione in the Vatican. Each year 100 Presepi hosts some 150 Nativity scenes from Italy and more than 40 other countries. In addition to contemporary reproductions of traditional 18th-century Neapolitan and Sicilian cribs, and 19th-century Roman mangers, there are modern versions made from wood and terracotta, as well as unconventional materials such as sand, rice and metal. The 43rd edition of 100 presepi is being held at Sala S. Pio X on Via della Conciliazione until 13 January.

Vatican Nativity scene:

This year the Vatican’s giant Nativity scene at St Peter’s Square was built using 720 tons of compacted sand from Jesolo near Venice. Professional sand artist Rich Varano was the artistic director of the project and he spent two weeks constructing the life-size scene, accompanied by three sand sculptors from the Czech Republic, Holland and Russia.

Living Nativity at Porta Asinaria:

There is a presepe vivente, with real people, at Porta Asinaria, in Piazza di Porta S. Giovanni, beside the basilica. The living Nativity scene can be visited every afternoon from 16.00-20.00 from 23 December to 13 January. Highlights include the arrival of an expectant Mary with camel on 23 December, with Baby Jesus making an early appearance on 24 December, while the Magi are expected on 6 January in time for the Epiphany.

S. Maria in Via:

A traditional-style crib can be found each year in the church of S. Maria in Via off Largo Chigi, in the city centre, which for the last six decades has housed the work of Italian members of the global crib-building association Amici del Presepio.

The exhibition entirely dedicated to the Warhol myth continues until 24 February 2019 in the spaces of Complesso del Vittoriano, on the occasion of the ninetieth anniversary of his birth.

To celebrate it on show more than 170 works which tell the revolutionary artistic path of his author. From the first serigraphs to the series on Elvis, Marylin Monroe and Coca-Cola without forgetting the inevitable Campbell’s Soup, canned soups become timeless icons.

For more information visit the Vittoriano website 

Rome goes back in time to highlight one of its most iconic places: the Baths of Caracalla revive in all their splendor, in the era that consecrated them in the eyes of the Romans and of the world, becoming the first large Italian archaeological site entirely visitable in 3D. Filtered through virtual reality, the Spas will be offered to visitors as in 216 d.C, the year of their inauguration. For the public the unique opportunity to read and interpret the remains of the Terme during the dynasty of Severi emperors, in a compelling confrontation between physical and virtual reality.

If you want to buy tickets or just need more info click here

The first of the districts of Rome is Monti, so called because it once included the Esquilino, Viminale, part of the Quirinale and Celio hills (IT. “monti”)

The current appearance of the most significant area of Monti district has narrow streets almost never in plains, which affect the urban fabric composed of tall buildings of various eras, buildings with plasters worn out by time and blackened by smog, where the artisan shops open, nightclubs, art galleries: it is the ancient Roman Svbvra, today Suburra (the name means “area under the city”)

It is the most authentic and popular area of Rome, the place of the social and human contradictions of the capital of the Empire, crowded, dirty, noisy and dangerous above all, also due to the numerous fires and collapses involving the insulae (tall buildings up to five floors where an unlimited number of plebeian families lived amassed in rented apartments) in the noise and colors.

Appointment at 20:30 for tomorrow, Friday 29 June: the historical re-enactment of the Girandola at Piazza del Popolo comes back again. It’s about the traditional fireworks show that celebrates the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

The Saints Peter and Paul are the patrons of Rome and, for this reason, always in the capital is a day of celebration. In addition to the religious celebrations for the liturgical memorial of the two saints, on the same day numerous festivals and events are held.

The most awaited event in the city is the Girandola for the Saints of Rome. Starting at 10 pm on Friday 29 June, the pyrotechnic show will be staged with classical music at the Pincio, above piazza del Popolo. The sky of Rome is filled with new colors, phantasmagoric, shows, of ancient history.

For more information on tomorrow’s events click here

Until Sunday, September 2, the Roman summer nightlife returns along the Tiber as every year. From 18.00 the capital, thanks to the event Lungo il Tevere Roma 2018, the nightlife comes alive: the river docks are lit up to party and you can taste the popular side of the city between stalls, cultural events, restaurants shows and events .

To find out about all the scheduled events, consult this website

Once again Rome unveils its hidden treasures. Thanks to the excavations to construct the C line of the subway under the Eternal City, a splendor of mosaics, frescoes, gold rings and dagger handles emerge: it is the domus of the Commander.

After the remains of the dormitory of a Roman barracks, emerged in the spring of 2016, it is now the turn of the centurion’s house. It is a rectangular building of about 300 square meters of Hadrianic age (beginning of the second century after Christ), consisting of 14 rooms arranged around a central courtyard with fountains and tubs.

This station has archeological relevance because the excavation of barracks in Rome had never been done.

Here all the archaeological finds during the construction of the metro C line