Ancient Heart of Rome

What to expect

Where the glory of the Roman people resounded
You will go where gladiatorial combat spectacles and triumphal processions of heroes took place - to the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum, to the gladiators' barracks and the Arch of Constantine. In the Middle Ages, papal palanquins swayed gently through this area on their way to coronations, followed by hundreds of pilgrims carrying bundles of bread, onions, and sheep cheese. In the 18th-century Grand Tour era, ladies with cavaliers specifically made their way across Europe to these historical ruins to write poetry, paint landscapes, and make new acquaintances, and today we will follow in their footsteps.

An engaging history lesson
Under the arches of the Colosseum, you will learn all about the traditions of gladiatorial combat and the main heroes of those days, about engineering achievements and ancient sponsors, about training and battle rules. You will see the ruins of the gladiators' barracks, which were silent witnesses to love stories. On the Palatine Hill, among the excavations of the remains of the hut of Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of the city, you can lose yourself in time and space among orange trees and the ruins of imperial palaces. I will tell you about conspiracies, marriages of convenience, about elevation to divine status and oblivion. On the Roman Forum, you will see where the 'soul of Rome' was cherished, where Romulus perished, and where the 'navel of the earth' was located; you will learn about the golden 'rain' that poured on the heads of ancient forum visitors, about priests and rituals, about the 'black stone,' and why after all '…Caesar's wife must be above suspicion.'

And here Byron's words will come to mind: 'Rome, my mother, the land of my dreams, whoever is poor in heart, whose days have become a burden, look at the mother of fallen empires, and you will understand how trivial all your sorrows are…'.