Explorer Rome

The Vittoriano is the white marble monument to Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of unified Italy, built between 1885 and 1935 to designs by Giuseppe Sacconi on Piazza Venezia. It holds the Altar of the Fatherland with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and lifts climb to a terrace beneath the bronze quadrigae, about 70 metres up.

Trajan's Column is a marble column completed in AD 113 to mark the emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars, about 35 metres tall with its pedestal. A carved frieze some 190 metres long winds 23 times around the shaft, and a bronze statue of Saint Peter has stood on top since 1587. It rises in Trajan's Forum, seen from the surrounding streets.

The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill, dedicated in AD 315 to mark Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge. It is 21 metres high, the largest Roman triumphal arch, and much of its sculpture was taken from earlier monuments to Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius.

The Colosseum is the elliptical amphitheatre of ancient Rome, begun under Emperor Vespasian around AD 72 and completed under Titus in AD 80. It held tens of thousands of spectators for gladiator fights and animal hunts. Visitors walk its travertine arcades and seating tiers, and some tickets include the arena floor and the underground chambers.

The Trevi Fountain is an 18th-century Baroque fountain built against the side of Palazzo Poli, designed by Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762. It is 26 metres high and 49 metres wide, with Oceanus on a shell-shaped chariot drawn by sea horses and tritons; since 2026 the area by the basin has a ticketed entrance.

The Spanish Steps are a stairway of 135 steps, built in the 1720s to designs by Francesco de Sanctis, that climbs from Piazza di Spagna to the church of Trinità dei Monti. At their foot stands the Fontana della Barcaccia, a boat-shaped fountain of 1627–1629; since 2019 a city rule forbids sitting on the steps.