Truth is, it was bound to happen. Church officials at Santa Maria in Cosmedin, site of Rome’s “Mouth of Truth” (Bocca della Verita), have decided to charge visitors €2 for the pleasure of taking one (just one!) photo with the ancient sewer cover.
The Spanish Steps have finally re-opened after a lengthy refurbishment project funded by Bulgari. But will the steps be fenced off at night to keep “barbarian tourists” from trashing them?
Will you be in Rome in August? Here are some reasons to rejoice and lament your stay in the Eternal City during the hottest month of the year.
How do you spend one year in Italy? Here’s a month-by-month, personal account of my first year living and traveling in Italy.
A short profile of Roman artist Rachele del Nevo and her fun art project The Drawing Bike.
While hundreds wait in lines in the harsh sun to get into Saint Peter’s, the Archbasilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, also known as the Cathedral of Rome, is practically empty. San Giovanni is the oldest and largest papal basilica in Rome, although it has gone through many reconstructions over the years due to earthquakes,…
In the mornings after I’ve sent the kids off to school and tidied up the house I go down and have my morning cappuccino.
La Pioggia di Petali di Rose, or the Rain of Rose Petals, brings religious Rome and ancient Rome together in a moving and colorful spectacle.
Roman hoteliers, who write that Rome’s 25 million annual tourists is only a quarter of the number that go to London, are less concerned about how tourists are affecting the city than how the city is affecting tourists.
The city of Rome was born on April 21, 753 BC. In Italian, it is known as the Natale di Roma—the birthday of Rome.
![Visiting the Colosseum Dungeons on a Guided Tour [Review]](https://www.italofile.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_4780-768x576.jpg)
My review of the tour: Colosseum “Dungeons, Third Level and Arena Floor,” Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill.
The Vatican Museums welcome up to 25,000 visitors per day. Is it time for them to limit the crowds?
We admire Italy’s art and monuments for color, style, and the skillfulness of their creators. But the gruesome stories that many of these famous works depict are a reminder of real human suffering.
Rome is changing. Rome has changed. You hear those phrases around Rome all the time these days. Crime, corruption, unemployment, immigration, unreliable public transit, trash collection, the euro – Italy is in crisis and the prevailing mood among its citizens is one of resignation and exhaustion. This was most recently expressed cinematically with La Grande…
Learn more about the ancient and contemporary history of the Jewish people in Rome with a tour through the ex-Ghetto.
Each day, as many as 20,000 visitors pay up to €16 per person to enter the Vatican Museums, the highlight of which is the Sistine Chapel. This coming weekend, reports Crux, approximately 40 fans of German automaker Porsche will get to pay up to €5,000 each to take a private tour of the Vatican, which includes dinner…
Rome boutique hotels—here are six exceptional places to stay on your Roman holiday.
See photos and read tips about visiting the Capitoline, one of Rome’s seven ancient hills.