ONE WEEK IN ROME - PART 10

Circus Maximus and the Imperial Palaces on the Palatine Hill

FROM THE FICTIONAL DIARY OF A BRITISH TRAVELER

Did you read part 9? If not click here

Visiting Rome requires good legs and good shoes. Ponits of interest are so many and so diffused that the best way to see them is to walk.
San Lorenzo Guest House is an excellent starting point for walks. I already did one going north to Villa Borghese, the nex one was on the opposite direction, with the final destination at the Circus Maximus.

This was rather longer, 7 kilometers, so I left early from my room. There is everything along that; history, religion, monuments, archeology.

Porta Maggiore

Santa Crooce in Gerusalemme

Porta Maggiore, is just few hundreds meters away from San Lorenzo Guest House.

Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme with the relics of the Holy Cross and Amphiteatrum Castrense are next.

St. John Lateran

Lateran Obelisk

Archbasilica of St. John Lateran is teh cathedral of Rome, mother of all the chirches of the world and Holy Seat. Next to it there are the Scala Sancta and the Lateran Obelisk, the tallest .


Going to the Colosseum, I first passed aside of the Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano, a church having three different levels.  Steps away from the Colosseum, there is the Arch of Constantine.

Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum

Clivus Scauri

Baths of Caracalla

After walking between the Palatine hill and the Caelian hill, just before reaching the Circus Maximus, I turned left to climb on the Caelian hill along the Clivus Scauri, a street that has kept its original name since the II century BC. The Roman houses under the Basilica of Saints John and Paul on the Caelian Hill are really worth a visit. The houses still keep the original frescoes on the walls and the mosaic floors. After crossing the Arch of Dolabella, I went down to the Baths of Caracalla, the second largest imperial baths in Rome.

From there, walking along the Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, and leaving on my left the FAO building, I reached the Circus Maximus.
And, from there I took the tramway line nr. 3 to easily get back to San Lorenzo Guest House, having the opportunity to look again to some of the places I saw during my walk. Indeed tramway nr. 3 in combination with nr. 19 allows you to see a lot of Rome for a cheaper price than the hop on - hop off buses.

THE FAN

Link to part 9