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ITINERARY 8 - Basilica of the Santissimi Apostoli - Trevi Fountain - Spanish Steps - Pincio Gardens - Galleria Borghese - Valle Giulia Museum - Church of Sant' Andrea delle Fratte - Church of Trinità dei Monti - Villa Borghese Gardens - Borghese Museum and Gallery - National Gallery of Modern Art.

Starting out once again from Piazza venezia, we take Via Cesare Battisti, turning left into Piazza Santi Apostoli in which the Basilica of the Santi Apostoli (4th century) is situated. Modernised by Fontana and Valadier in the 18th century, the basilica contains some fine Renaissance tombs, the beautiful Chapel of the Crucifix and other valuable works of art. From the nearby Piazza della Pilotta, we take Via San Vincenzo Lucchesi which leads us to the spectacular Trevi Fountain. Erected for Clement XII by the architect Nicolò Salvi, it shows at its centre the statue of Ocean riding in a sea-chariot drawn by two Tritons. Into the basin below, symbolising the sea, it is the time-honoured custom to throw a coin to guarantee a return to this splendid city. Nearby, in the Palazzo Carpegna, is the Academy of San Luca, which now houses an interesting gallery with paintings by Guido Reni,Guercino, Titian, Van Dyck and others. We then emerge onto Via del Tritone, a bustling modern road, full of boutiques and crowded with shoppers at all the times of the day. Turning off to the left (along Via Nazareno) we can visit the church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, flanked by Borromini graceful brick belfry: it is nicknamed the campanile ballerino due to the slight oscillations it registers whenever the bells are rung.

PIAZZA DI SPAGNA (SPANISH STEPS): Elegant and scenic, Piazza di Spagna provides a welcoming point of encounter at the centre of Rome. Its peculiar fascination derives from a combination of colour, the 18th century buildings that surround it, the flowers that adorn the Spanish Steps, and the animated and cosmopolitan atmosphere that pervades it. From this piazza fan out such prestigious streets as the Via Margutta, famous because of the many painters who live and display their works; Via del Babuino, with its many antique shops, Via Condotti, with its sophisticated boutiques, and the celebrated Caffè Greco, dating back to the 18th century, a historic place of rendez-vous of great Italian and foreign artists; Via Borgognona, flanked by boutiques and couturiers; and the lively Via Frattina. At the centre of Piazza di Spagna is placed a marvellous fountain in the shape of a boat: the Fontana della Barcaccia, designed by Pietro Bernini, father of the more famous Gian Lorenzo, who was the architect, in part, of the nearby Palazzo di Propaganda Fide: he was responsible for the facade looking onto the piazza, while the lateral elevation was by Borromini. Yet the soul of the piazza consists of the Spanish Steps which rise from it. Designed by Francesco de Sanctis in the early years of the 18th century, this elegant staircase ascends in three ramps from the piazza, interrupted by terraces, the last and most scenic of which is the one with the balustrade on top: Piazza Trinità dei Monti with its obelisk, formerly in the gardens of Sallust on the Quirinal and set up here in 1789. Always thronged with young people, foreigners, musicians and artists selling their wares, Spanish Steps are enlivened each May by the vivid display of azaleas from the municipal glasshouses. At the top of the steps is the church of Trinità dei Monti, built in the 16th century on behalf of the french king Louis XII. The handsome facade, by Carlo Maderno, is approached by two converging flights of stairs by Domenico Fontana, and topped by two symmetrical belfries. The church contains some interesting paintings. We are now on the Pincio Hill. Turning left into Viale Trinità dei Monti we soon come (on the right) to the Villa Medici. Built in the 16th century, it passed into the hands of France during the Napoleonic period and later became the seat of the French Academy, established by Louis XIV for promising young Frenchmen wishing to develop their knowledge of art. We now enter the Pincio, the magnificent public park laid out by Valadier in the early years of the 19th century. From here we can enjoy marvellous panoramic views over the city, particularly lovely at sunset. Continuing our walk, we enter the extensive gardens of the Villa Borghese, full of soaring Roman pines and other trees, extensive lawns, little lakes and fountains. All this makes a wonderfulsetting for the Villa Borghese itself, which was built for Cardinal Scipione Borghese by Vasanzio between 1613 and 1615. It now houses the Borghese Museum and Gallery. On the ground floor we may visit the Borghese Museum distrinuted in various rooms, in which some of the greatest masterpieces of Italian sculpture of the 17th and 18th century are displayed, together with statues and marble fragments of antiquity. In the Great Hall we find 12 busts of emperors sculpted by Giovan Battista della Porta in the 16th century. In the other rooms: Canova enchanting Venus Victrix, a portrait of Pauline Borghese, the sister of Napoleon and wife of Prince C.Borghese; Gian Lorenzo Bernini youthful statue of David with the sling, sculpted for Cardinal Scipione Borghese when the artist was only eighteen; the Apollo and Daphne, another youthful work of Bernini; the group of Aeneas and Anchises, sculpted by Bernini in collaboration with his father Pietro; and the paintings of Saints Cosmas and Damian by Dosso Dossi. In the Gallery of the Emperors, adorned with 18 busts of Emperors dating to the 17th century, is another wonderful sculptural group by Gian Lorenzo Bernini: the Rape of Proserpine. The first floor houses the Borghese Gallery, which contains a fine collection of paintings by distinguished artists, including Raphael (Deposition from the Cross) Caravaggio (Madonna dei Palafrenieri), Titian (Sacred and Profane Love) Antonello da Messina (Portrait of a Man), Pinturicchio, Botticelli and Rubens. Leaving the villa in which the Borghese Museum and Gallery are housed, we find, situated close to it, the Zoological Garden, founded in 1911, and, on the Via Aldrovandi, the Civic Museum of Zoology and the African Museum. The latter contains some interesting exhibits illustrating the history and traditions of Africa. Continuing along the Via Aldrovandi flanking the American Ambassade of Rome, we come to the Valle Giulia in which the Palazzo delle Belle Arti is situated; it houses the National Gallery of Modern Art, founded in 1883. The gallery contains works by the greatest names in Italian and foreign painting and sculpture of the 19th and 20th century: among the neoclassical artists, Canova among the artists of the Romantic school, Hayez and Segantini; among the Macchiaioli (Italian impressionists), Fattori and Signorini; and then Dégas, Monet, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Modigliani, Mafai, De Chirico and Guttuso. We now take the Viale delle Belle Arti on which the Villa Giulia, Villa of Pope Julius III is situated. It now houses the National Museum of Villa Giulia, comprising rich and wide-ranging collections of archeological artefacts of the pre-Roman period, notably those of the Etruscans, found during excavations conducted in the territories of Central Italy. Among the various grave goods, statues and reconstructions of tombs on display, we find the wonderful Etruscan terracotta sculpture of a husband and wife recumbent on a sarcophagus lid: the Sarcophagus of the Married Couple.

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