Italy, more than thousand curiosities!

Hello everyone! After some long days, we arrived in Italy. The trip is becoming really exhausting, sometimes we stay for a few days and then we have to leave again to go to another country for conferences, meetings… But, I am not going to complain because we already visited some beautiful places and met some very friendly and interesting people! So, I am very happy to arrive here, because I always wanted to see Rome!

There was one thing I knew for sure, we had to visit the Colosseum in Rome! It was also the first thing I thought about when someone mentioned Rome: the beautiful and impressive amphitheatre. I could not wait to visit it, so we decided to visit it on our first day after a conference.

The Colosseum is a very famous building, and is still very intact since you know that is built nearly two thousand years ago. It was used to held violent gladiator games: a game where thousands of men and animals fight for their lives by killing each other. The basal area measures 188 by 156 metres and has a circumference of 527 metres. The building has a height of 48.50 metres and the external wall has three rows of 80 bows, separated by pillars. It was beautiful and I was so happy I saw it!

 

Now, I am going to mention some other buildings we visited in our free time:

The pantheon is another famous building in Rome. It was used as temple, built for Maria and her martyrs. Pantheon means ‘dedicated to all the gods’. The building has a dome, or a sort of roof, which has a height of 43 metres. This dome has an opening in its roof, the oculus, and was the only source of light. This building is placed at the Piazza della Rotonda.

 
Maybe you will think that it is not really a building, but it sure is worth mentioning! The Trevi Fountain is -well, according to me- the most famous fountain in Europe. It has a height of 26 metres and a width of 22 metres. It is very impressive but also very crowded when you want to stand close to the fountain. There is also a myth connected to this fountain. When you are standing with your back to the fountain with your eyes closed, thinking about Rome and you throw a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder into the water, you will return to Rome again. Nice, right?

And last but not least, we visited Vatican City. It is the smallest, independent city in the whole world. The pope is the head of State in this small village. There are a few curiosities that you have to visit while you are in Vatican city:

 

• The St. Peter’s Basilica is a catholic church at the St. Peter’s square in Vatican City. The church was built between 1506 and 1626. The first pope, Petrus, was crucified and buried in that church. The church has a length of 220 metres, a height of 138 metres and a width of 150 metres. This church is nowadays still very important, think about the appearance of the new pope in March. It was on that church that the new pope was announced.

• The Sistine Chapel is the most famous chapel in the Apostolic Palace and it is the residence of the pope. It is 40.9 metres long, has a width of 13.4 metres and is 20.7 metres high. It has some beautiful painting on the wall and on the ceiling.

• The Vatican museums, the Vatican gardens and the Apostolic Palace. This palace is the official residence of the pope; where he lives and works. It is a part of the Vatican palaces. It has more than 1.400 halls and has a surface of 55.000 square metres. It is the one of the biggest complex buildings in the world.

 

We could not visit some other places because we stayed in Rome for a few days and we soon need to leave to France. I am going to mention some other buildings and curiosities you have to visit when you are travelling to Italy:

• Forum Romanum in Rome
• Spanish steps in Rome
• Castello Sforzesco in Milan
• Ponto di Rialto in Venetia
• Ponto dei Sospiri in Ventia
• The ruines in Pompei, Naples
• The tower in Pisa
•   ...

So, I hope I have given you enough information about the many places in Italy. These are of course not all the buildings and curiosities you can find in Italy, because there are so many I could not mention! Italy is a beautiful country with a lot of culture, good food and friendly Italians. This was the third time I came to Italy and it is still one of my favourite destinations in Europe!

My colleague, Lauren, is going to give you some more information about the economy in Italy.

Have a nice day and keep reading our blog!

Liesbeth

Sources:

http://romancolosseum.org/

http://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/pantheon.htm

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevifontein

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint-Pietersbasiliek

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City

Three relevant real-life examples :

http://www.bezienswaardigheden.be/plaats/italie/page/6/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1358883/Rome-family-breaks-How-beat-queues-Eternal-City.html

http://www.rome.info/