ROME
Transcript
ROME
Italy Damien Simonis Abigail Hole, Alex Leviton, Alison Bing, Brendan Sainsbury Cristian Bonetto, Duncan Garwood, Gregor Clark, Josephine Quintero, Virginia Maxwell 00-prelims-ita9.indd 1 20/11/2009 2:18:35 PM Italy Highlights Italy is a feast of seemingly endless courses. Rome bristles with reminders of its imperial past; Florence and Venice are virtually outdoor museums; and Naples is full of baroque bombast. But Italy’s riches extend far beyond the obvious. Ski in chic Cortina or climb the Dolomites; take to the Tuscan hills or island hop around Sicily; sleep in converted farmhouses and dine in country kitchens on food so good you’ll swear no other cuisine compares. It’s difficult to know where to start. Anywhere will probably do! 1 JON DAVISON THE DUOMO I grabbed her by the hand and demanded she ‘Follow me! Don’t argue!’ A quick trail through the narrow streets and telling her to shut her eyes, I pushed her into the piazza and said, ‘Look!’. Florence’s Duomo (p481). Instantly Italy was in her blood. I’ll never forget that look on her face. mckellan (Thorn Tree name), traveller, Australia 00-colour-highlights-ita9.indd 6 20/11/2009 2:20:46 PM SUN, SAND AND SEA For glorious white sandy beaches head for Italy’s heel and the Salentine Peninsula surrounding historic seaside Gallipoli (p728). Josephine Quintero, Lonely Planet author, Spain 3 2 WALTER BIBIKOW / PHOTOLIBRARY TERENCE WAELAND / ALAMY MUSIC AND FIREFLIES Verona was magical. During the day it was so hot, too hot for me (travelling in July), but in the evening I went to see the opera in Arena di Verona (p393). The set design was beautiful, the music was magical and fireflies were flying in the spotlights. It was amazing. MsMrd (Thorn Tree name), traveller, Finland SON 4 JOHN ELK III THE DOLOMITES The Dolomites (p314). Scour the globe and you’ll find plenty of taller, more geologically volatile mountains. But, for me, that’s not the point. There’ll always be something magical about these pinkhued mountain monoliths. Maybe it’s their harsh, jagged summits and rich cache of Ladin legends; or perhaps it’s just the notion that this multifarious pocket of northern Italy has produced more daring alpinists than anywhere else on the planet. Brendan Sainsbury, Lonely Planet author, Canada 00-colour-highlights-ita9.indd 7 20/11/2009 2:20:55 PM IN PERUGIA My first visit to Italy was to Perugia (p564) in 1998. On a warm June evening along Corso Vannucci, hundreds of Perugini – university students, teenagers, young parents, grandmothers, grandfathers – were strolling the passeggiata, many arm-in-arm or hand-in-hand. At any one of the Corso’s outdoor cafes, groups of diners talked, smiled and laughed. The meaning of life in Italy suddenly seemed perfectly clear: La dolce vita, shared in the company of loved ones. Since deemed the world’s sexiest city, Perugia still embodies what I love about the Italian lifestyle. Alex Leviton, Lonely Planet author, USA 5 EDDY BUT TARELLI / PHOTOLIBRARY TRIESTE COFFEE BAR SCENE Here he comes, the smartly-dressed waiter, espresso cup balanced on a silver tray; past the grand mahogany bar, the dim art nouveau lamps, the nostalgic remnants of long vanquished Mitteleuropa, to the table in the corner where a melancholic old man sits staring into space, like a latter-day James Joyce waiting for his Ulysses moment. Brendan Sainsbury, Lonely Planet author, Canada 6 SIME/MEZZANOT TE SUSY 7 DALLAS STRIBLEY SUPRAMONTE Sardinia’s Supramonte (p865) is a wild, raw place often cloaked in mist. Trekking the limestone plateau you feel like you’ve stepped back in time; that’s the magic of the place, that otherworldly feeling where you half expect to chance upon a bunch of dark-clad bandits. Even better was the return to our hotel, Su Gologone (p866), where we hungrily devoured the spit-roast pork with deep slugs of Cannonau wine. Paula Hardy, Lonely Planet staff, London 00-colour-highlights-ita9.indd 8 20/11/2009 2:20:58 PM 13 Contents On the Road 4 Italy Highlights 6 Destination Italy 18 Getting Started 20 Festivals & Events Calendar 25 Itineraries 27 History 33 Italian Art 49 The Culture 60 Food & Drink 73 Environment 81 Rome & Lazio 89 ROME History Orientation Information Dangers & Annoyances Sights Walking Tour Courses Tours Festivals & Events Sleeping Eating Architecture Drinking Clubbing 00-contents-ita9.indd 13 90 90 92 93 111 112 140 140 142 143 144 150 157 165 168 Entertainment Shopping Getting There & Away Getting Around LAZIO Ostia Antica Tivoli Etruscan Sites Civitavecchia Viterbo Around Viterbo Castelli Romani Palestrina Along the Coast Isole Pontine 171 172 174 175 179 179 181 182 184 184 187 187 189 190 190 Liguria, Piedmont & Valle d’Aosta 192 LIGURIA Genoa Around Genoa Riviera di Levante Riviera di Ponente PIEDMONT Turin The Milky Way Southern & Eastern Piedmont Northern Piedmont VALLE D’AOSTA Aosta Aosta Valley Castles Courmayeur Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso Valtournenche Valle d’Ayas, Val di Gressoney & Valsesia Lombardy & the Lakes MILAN History Orientation Information Dangers & Annoyances Sights Tours Festivals & Events Sleeping 193 193 204 205 215 220 220 234 235 245 245 247 251 251 254 255 256 259 260 262 262 262 263 263 271 271 271 20/11/2009 4:08:26 PM 89 ROME & LAZIO Rome & Lazio In this country so blessed with exquisite cities, Rome is the daddy of them all. Italy’s capital is as addictive as a charming, exasperating lover. It will steal your heart, yet try your patience. There are just too many reasons to fall in love with Rome: the masterpieces around every corner – the Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon, the Colosseum, and countless Caravaggios, to name a few – the operatic piazzas; the shade-wearing, scooter-driving Romans; the cocktail of provinciality and sophistication; and the colour palette of blue sky, ochre palazzi (mansions) and deep-green umbrella pines. Rome’s sheer brilliance means that you can, most of the time, forgive its less endearing traits: the traffic, crazy parking and pickpockets. Once Caput Mundi (capital of the world), Rome is where Brutus betrayed Caesar, and where countless saints died horrible deaths. It’s where Michelangelo laid back and painted, and Bernini vied with Borromini in a battle of the baroque. Wagner, Goethe and Byron lingered here; Keats died here. In the 1950s and ’60s Rome oozed cool; Audrey Hepburn dallied with Gregory Peck at the Bocca della Verità, and Anita Ekberg frolicked in the Trevi Fountain. Rome is a focus of fervent faith as the capital of the Catholic world. It’s the seat of Italy’s government, with much of the population employed in paper-pushing state bureaucracy. It’s a busy city with arts festivals and a surprisingly alternative underground scene. Contemporary Rome is pulsatingly alive. Yet there are few other cities where the past is so present. To visit is to begin a love affair. But, to ensure it lasts, do as the Romans do: intersperse your days in the city with trips into the hills of Lazio, visiting the region’s extraordinary riches, from the ancient Roman port of Ostia Antica to azure volcanic lakes. You’ll discover a serene, green landscape that is as refreshing as fresh air. HIGHLIGHTS Gape at the grandeur of St Peter’s Basilica (p132) and the Vatican Museums (p133) Imagine the roar of the crowd at the Colosseum (p112) Peer at the heavens through the audacious oculus of the Pantheon (p119) Rome Check out ancient Roman interior decor at the Museo Nazionale Romano: Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (p128) Revel in ravishing Renaissance art at the Museo e Galleria Borghese (p125) POPULATION: LAZIO 5.3 MILLION AREA: LAZIO 17,202 SQ KM ROME 3.8 MILLION 10-rome-lazio-ita9.indd 89 19/11/2009 6:57:28 PM ROME & LAZIO 90 ROME •• History ROME HISTORY According to myth, vestal virgin Rhea Silva and Mars, God of War, was the dysfunctional coupling that spawned Romulus and Remus. Set adrift on the Tiber to escape King Amulius’ death warrant, the twins were found and suckled by a broody she-wolf. When Remus was captured by Amulius, Romulus killed the king and rescued his brother. They began to found a new town, but squabbles led to fratricide, and Romulus went on to take sole credit. Historians proffer a more prosaic version of events, involving Romulus becoming the first king of Rome (Roma) on 21 April 753 BC and an amalgamation of Etruscan, Latin and Sabine settlements on the Palatine, Esquiline and Quirinale Hills. Following the deposition of the last Etruscan king, Tarquin the Proud, the Roman Republic was founded in 509 BC, establishing itself as the dominant Western superpower until internal rivalries led to civil war. Julius Caesar wrested power in 49 BC, and began to dramatically reform the Republic. He was assassinated five years later, leaving Mark Antony and Octavian to fight for the top job. Octavian prevailed and, with the blessing of the Senate, became Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Augustus ruled well, and a period of political stability and unparalleled artistic achievement ensued, but his successors, rulers such as Tiberius, Caligula and Nero, were contrastingly corrupt and depraved. Their efforts, and events such as the Great Fire of AD 64, combined to leave Rome in tatters, yet the city bounced back. By AD 100, it had a population of 1.5 million and was the undisputed Caput Mundi (capital of the world). But it couldn’t last and when, in 330, Constantine moved his power base to Byzantium, Rome’s glory days were numbered. In 455 it was routed by the Vandals and in 476 the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed. By the 6th century, Rome’s population had shrunk to a measly 80,000. However God was on the city’s side. Christianity had been spreading since the 1st century AD thanks to the underground efforts 10-rome-lazio-ita9.indd 90 lonelyplanet.com of apostles Peter and Paul, and under Constantine it received official recognition. Pope Gregory I (590–604) did much to strengthen the Church’s grip over the city and, in 774, Rome’s place as centre of the Christian world was cemented when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor. The medieval period was marked by continuous fighting by just about anyone capable of raising an army. In the thick of things, the Papal States fought for their corner as ruthlessly as anyone. In 1309, however, Pope Clement V decided enough was enough and upped sticks to Avignon, leaving the powerful Colonna and Orsini families to contest control of the city. Once the waters had calmed, Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome in 1377 and, finding the city close to ruins, set up home in the fortified Vatican. Out of the ruins grew the Rome of the Renaissance. At the behest of the great papal dynasties – the Barberini, Farnese and Pamphilj among others – the leading artists of the 15th and 16th centuries were summoned to work on projects such as the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica. But the enemy was never far away, and in 1527 Pope Clement VII took refuge in Castel Sant’Angelo as Charles V’s Spanish forces ransacked Rome. Another rebuild was in order, and it was to the 17th-century baroque masters Bernini and Borromini that Rome’s patrons turned. Exuberant churches, fountains and palazzi sprouted all over the city, as these two bitter rivals competed to produce ever-more virtuoso masterpieces. The next makeover followed the unification of Italy and the declaration of Rome as its capital. Mussolini, believing himself a modern-day Augustus, left an indelible stamp, bulldozing new imperial roads and commissioning ambitious building projects such as the monumental suburb of EUR. Post-Fascism, the 1950s and ’60s saw the glittering era of la dolce vita and hasty urban expansion, resulting in Rome’s sometimes wretched suburbs. A cleanup in 2000 rendered the city in better shape than for decades, and in recent years some dramatic modernist building projects have given the Eternal City some edge, such as Richard Meier’s Museo dell’Ara Pacis (p124) and Centro Congressi ‘Nuvola’ (p139) by Massimiliano Fuksas. 19/11/2009 6:57:42 PM 925 Index A 33-index-ita9.indd 925 Alpe di Fanes 339-41 Alpe di Siusi 338 Alta Badia 339, 340 Alta Murgia National Park 85 alte vie hiking trails 316 Altipiano della Paganella 322-4 Alto Adige 313-16, 329-42, 318-19 Alto Lario 305 Altopiano del Golgo 869-70 Amalfi 685-7, 686 Amalfi Coast 87, 681-91, 12 Ampezzo 424 amusement parks Aquafàn 471 Aquaparadise 309 CanevaWorld 309 Delfinario Rimini 471 Fiabilandia 471 Gardaland 309 Italia in Miniatura 471 Movieland 309 Anacapri 663-4, 664 Ancona 601-5, 602 Andalo 322 animals 81-3, see also individual species Antey-St-André 255 Antony, Mark 37 Aosta 247-51, 248 aperitivi 76, 166, 274 Apennines 457 Appennino Lucano 739-40 Appennino Lucano – Val d’Agri National Park 85 Appennino Tosco-Emiliano National Park 85 Appian Way 136-9 Apuane Alps 519-21 Aquafàn 471 aquariums 200, 331, 648 Aquileia 402, 415-16 Ara Pacis 124 Arbatax 870 Arborio 245 Arch of Septimus Severus 115, 142 archaeological sites Agrigento 820 Aosta 248, 249 Baia 658 Benevento 660 Brescia 285-7 Cagliari 839 Catania 795 Catanzaro 750 Cuma 658-9 Fiesole 511 Filicudi 786 Herculaneum 671-2 itineraries 32 Lecce 723-4 Lipari 780 Metaponto 733 Naples 643 Nora 844 nuraghi 851, 852, 857, 859, 863, 865, 867, 868 Ostia Antica 179 Paestum 691-2, 11 Perugia 569 Pietrabbondante 632 Pompeii 674-5 Pozzuoli 657-8 Rimini 470 Saepinum 630-1 Selinunte 822 Sirmione 309 Spoleto 592 Syracuse 809-11 Tempio di Antas 846 Terme di Caracalla 130 Tharros 851 tours 142-3 Val di Magra 214 Valley of the Temples 820 Venosa 739 Ventimiglia 219-20 Villa Jovis 663 Villa Romana del Casale 818 architecture 157-64 terms 916 Arcipelago di La Maddalena National Park 85, 861-2 Arcipelago Toscano National Park 85 Arco 311 Arco di Settimio Severo 115, 142 area codes, see inside front cover Arena di Verona 70, 7 Arezzo 555-8, 556 Argegno 304 Armani, Giorgio 277 INDEX ABBREVIATIONS Abbazia di Pomposa 463-4 ACT di San Australian Capital Abbazia Galgano 544 Territory Abbazia di Sant’Antimo 550 NSW New South Wales Abruzzo 619-29, 622 NT Northern Territory Abruzzo Lazio e Molise National Qld Queensland Park 85 SA South Australia abseiling 800, 866 Tas Tasmania AC Milan 276 Vic Victoria Accademia Carrara 283 WA Western Australia accommodation 871-5 agriturismo 21, 22, 579, 872 B&Bs 872 camping 698, 872-3 convents 873 farmstays 579 hostels 873 hotels 873-4 internet resources 874-5 language 907 monasteries 873 mountain huts 874 pensioni 873-4 rental accommodation 874 villa rentals 874-5 Acquafredda di Maratea 740 Aeolian Islands 778-87 Agnone 632 Agrigento 86, 818-22, 819 agriturismo 21, 22, 579, 872 Agropoli 693 Aieta 745 air pollution 84 air travel to/from Italy 890-3 within Italy 896 Alagna Valsesia 257 Alassio 217 Alba 238-9 Alban Hills, see Castelli Romani Albanian influence 743 Albanian villages 633, 741-2 Albenga 216-17 Alberobello 713-14 albino donkeys 860 Alessi 272 Alghero 854-7, 855 Aliano 739 Alicudi 786-7 Alighieri, Dante 67 20/11/2009 5:25:39 PM 926 INDEX (A-B) Arona 298 Arquà Petrarca 386 art 49-59 ancient 49-50 Arte Povera 59 baroque 55-7 Byzantine 50 classical 49-50 contemporary 272 courses 878 Futurism 58 Gothic style 51-2 mannerism 55 Middle Ages 50-1, 51-2 museums, see museums & galleries Renaissance 53-5, 56, 57 Sienese school 52 art galleries, see museums & galleries Arte Povera 59 arts 65-71 books 22-4, 49, 53, 54, 65-7 cinema 23, 68-9, 127, 637, 759 dance 71 literature 22-4, 65-7 music 23, 68-71 opera 69-70, 357-8 poetry 67 theatre 71 websites 59, 66, 67, 70, 71 Arzachena 862-3 Ascoli Piceno 613-16, 614 Asinara National Park 85 Asolo 392 Aspromonte 85, 750-1 Assisi 580-6, 581 Asti 243-4 audiences with the pope 132 Auditorium Parco della Musica 171-2 Augustus 38, 90 Autodromo Nazionale Monza 276 Avellino 660 INDEX B B&Bs 872 Badia di Passignano 534 Baia 658-9 ballooning 239 balsamic vinegar 458 Barbaresco 241-2 Barga 519 000 Map pages 000 Photograph pages 33-index-ita9.indd 926 Bari 708-12, 709 Barletta 707-8 Barolo 240-1 Bartali, Gino 72 Barumini 850-1 Basilica di San Francesco (Assisi) 580-3 Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano 129 Basilica di San Giulio 294 Basilica di San Marco (Rome) 118 Basilica di San Marco (Venice) 355-6, 9 Basilica di San Paolo Fuori-le-Mura 86 Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli 126-7 Basilica di San Vitale 465 Basilica di Santa Caterina d’Alessandria 726 Basilica di Santa Cecilia in Trastevere 131 Basilica di Santa Croce (Florence) 493-4 160 Basilica di Santa Croce (Lecce) 723 Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore 127-8 Basilica Palladiana 388 Basilicata 695, 697, 731-42, 732 Bassano del Grappa 392 Baunei 869-70 Baveno 298 Bay of Naples 660-70 beaches Agropoli 693 Alghero 854, 857 Arcipelago di La Maddalena 861 Cagliari 839-41 Cala Gonone 868 Capo Vaticano 754 Cefalù 776 Costa del Sud 845 Costa Rei 844 Costa Verde 848 Erchie 689 Finale Ligure 216 Golfo Aranci 864 Grado 416 Iglesiente Coast 846, 799 Ischia 668 Lido 366 Lignano 417 Lipari 780 Marina del Cantone 680 Marina di Sorso 859 Mondello 773 Noli 216 North Oristano Coast 852 Otranto 727 Palau 861 Panarea 784 Pesaro 610 Pescara 627 Platamona 859 Porto Cervo 862 Porto Conte 857 Positano 682 Praia a Mare 745 Praiano 684 Procida 669 Rimini 470-1 Salina 783 San Domino 704 Santa Teresa di Gallura 860-1 Sant’Antioco 847 Sardinia 844 Scilla 754 Sinis Peninsula 852 Stintino 860 Stromboli 785 Syracuse 811 Taormina 791-2 Taranto 730 Tropea 754 Ustica 774 Vieste 701 Villasimius 844 Vulcano 782 bears 81-2, 323, 626 bella figura, la 61-2 Bellagio 302-4 Bellini, Giovanni 57 bell-making 632 Belluno 399-400 Benevento 659-60 Bergamo 281-5, 282 Berlusconi, Silvio 18, 19, 46, 47-8, 62, 63, 65 Bernalda 733 Bernini, Gianlorenzo 57, 125, 126 bicycle hire 897 bicycle travel, see cycling Biennale di Venezia 369 birdwatching 210 Comacchio 464 Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise 626 Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano 693 Po Delta 463 Riomaggiore 210 Sabaudia 190 black truffles 594 20/11/2009 5:25:53 PM