The Farnese Palace of Rome owns the equilibrium of its structure to the original project of Antonio da Sangallo the Young, called by Paolo III in 1514 after Christ to conduct the works of the palace that nowadays the Romans familiarly call "il dado" ("the dice").
The works, which were finished only in 1589 after Christ on the desire of the Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, were continued by Michelangelo, to whom is attributed the cornice delimitating the façade, the balcony and the arrangement of the internal court, and Giacomo della Porta who should have realised the posterior façade and the large loggia towards Villa Giulia.
In the original intentions of the prelate, this same terrace should have been the departure point for the connection through a bridge over the Tevere River of Palazzo Farnese to Villa Chigi, bought in 1580 after Christ, and from then called "Farnesina". A large part of the materials for to the ornaments were taken, as it was an habit at the time, from imperial palaces and in a particular way from the Villas of Tivoli, from the ruins of Ostia and, in town, from the Terms of Caracalla and from the temple of "Serapide sul Quirinale".
In addition to the architectonic particularities such as the atrium of access of Sangallo or the already mentioned cornice of Michelangelo, Palazzo Farnese preserves, as it is a due for the residence of a noble family with large political ambitions, precious ornamental works; it is the case of the refined decoration of a chimney with a couple of statues of Della Porta, but above all it is the case of the comprehensive collection of sculptures and paintings with mythological theme realised between 1597 and 1604 after Christ on a superficies of roughly 120 square metres known as "Gallery of the Carracci".
The residence was occupied since the moment of its inauguration by the Farnese family, then given to the Bourbons of Spain and from the beginning of the 1910's it is the siege of the French Embassy in Italy.

The church of The building of the "Palazzo della Cancelleria" along what is nowadays "Corso Vittorio Emanuele II" of Rome, was desired by the Cardinal Raffaele Riario with the contribution of the other nephew of Sisto IV, the Pontiff Giulio II della Rovere, and is probably dating back to the period going from 1483 to 1513 after Christ. For a long time considered as a work of Bramante, nowadays it is considered that more probably the overall project of the edifice is from Andrea Bregno who had already executed for the powerful roman family the tombs of the cardinals Cristoforo and Domenico located in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo.
According to this new critical position, Bramante would have contributed to the design of the "Palazzo della Cancelleria" with the definition of some prospects of the façade and the projects of the internal court and church; in addition to these architectonic elements having a particular interest, we should had the cardinal rooms on the noble floor, the gate in the internal loggia, the "aula magna" called "Riaria Room" or "Room of Riario" and the "Living room of the one hundred days" decorated by Vasari with the painting cycle of the "Facts of the life of Paolo III Farnese".
Concerning this area, whose name is coming from the fact that the artist would have claimed to have painted the frescoes in only one hundred days, it is said that Michelangelo gave his opinion about the work through a laconic "and one can see".
After the confiscation to Riario in 1517 after Christ, provoked by the participation of this one to the high treason against Pope Leone X, the palace was given to the vice-clerk of the Saint Church the Cardinal Giuliano de' Medici, becoming afterwards the definitive headquarter of the ecclesiastic institution that gives its name to the structure itself. Even though it was for short periods, the edifice has been allocated to host between 1809 and 1814 the Napoleonic Imperial Court, as it is testified by a writing on the façade, in 1848 the Roman parliament and, the year after, the headquarter of the Constituent Assembly of the Roman Republic, nowadays it hosts the Apostolic Registry with the tribunal of the Sacra Rota benefiting from the extraterritoriality right recognised by the "Lateranensi Pacts" to the Church for some residences far away from the Vatican City., located on the place of the same name of Rome, was ordered by Costanza Piccolomini of Aragona to the architects Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi and Giacomo della Porta.
The laying of the first rock was made in 1591 after Christ but the works continue during a great part of the 17th century with the interventions of Carlo Maderno, who in 1626 designs the cupola, second most important one in Rome for its height only after the cupola of the Basilica of St.Peter in the Vatican, and the interventions on the façade in travertine of Carlo Rainaldi in 1665 after Christ.
The front prospect of St. Andrew of the Valley, which arrangement is due to the economic intervention of the Pontiff Alessandro VII Chigi, presents a design of two superposed orders with semi columns with Corinthian capitals, false windows, statues and decorations of late baroque inspiration.
The internal map develops itself on a Latin cross design with a transept not very pronounced, an unique nave with barrel vault wit next to it a series of lateral chapels hosting the copy of the Pity of Michelangelo attributed to Giacomo della Porta and other statues of Francesco Mochi, Giulio Tadolini and Antonio Raggi.
The church welcomes the funeral monuments of Giovanni della Casa, and those transferred in 1614 from San Pietro in Vatican of the Pontiffs Enea Silvio Piccolomini, Pio II, and Francesco Tedeschini-Piccolomini, Pio III.
The rich painting decorations are made of the cycle called of the "Glory of the Paradise" realised in 1625 by Lanfranco on the internal superficies of the cupola, of the frescoes of Domenichino on the inferior part of the cupola and on the vault of the apse finished only three years later, of the "Martyr of St. Andrew" of Mattia Preti dating from 1651 and of diverse interventions attributed to Giovanni de Vecchi.

The church of St. Andrew of the Valley, located on the place of the same name of Rome, was ordered by Costanza Piccolomini of Aragona to the architects Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi and Giacomo della Porta.
The laying of the first rock was made in 1591 after Christ but the works continue during a great part of the 17th century with the interventions of Carlo Maderno, who in 1626 designs the cupola, second most important one in Rome for its height only after the cupola of the Basilica of St.Peter in the Vatican, and the interventions on the façade in travertine of Carlo Rainaldi in 1665 after Christ.
The front prospect of St. Andrew of the Valley, which arrangement is due to the economic intervention of the Pontiff Alessandro VII Chigi, presents a design of two superposed orders with semi columns with Corinthian capitals, false windows, statues and decorations of late baroque inspiration.
The internal map develops itself on a Latin cross design with a transept not very pronounced, an unique nave with barrel vault wit next to it a series of lateral chapels hosting the copy of the Pity of Michelangelo attributed to Giacomo della Porta and other statues of Francesco Mochi, Giulio Tadolini and Antonio Raggi.
The church welcomes the funeral monuments of Giovanni della Casa, and those transferred in 1614 from San Pietro in Vatican of the Pontiffs Enea Silvio Piccolomini, Pio II, and Francesco Tedeschini-Piccolomini, Pio III.
The rich painting decorations are made of the cycle called of the "Glory of the Paradise" realised in 1625 by Lanfranco on the internal superficies of the cupola, of the frescoes of Domenichino on the inferior part of the cupola and on the vault of the apse finished only three years later, of the "Martyr of St. Andrew" of Mattia Preti dating from 1651 and of diverse interventions attributed to Giovanni de Vecchi.

The theatre was begun by Julius Caesar, but finished by Augustus, the first of Rome's emperors, who claimed that he had found Rome in clay and left it in marble. He dedicated the theatre to his favourite nephew Marcellus. Instead of inheriting Augustus's empire, Marcellus died young and was the first to be laid in Augustus's mausoleum.
When the days of bread and circuses gave way to the days of raids and sackings, this big structure by the river had obvious strategic importance. The theatre was comandeered by the Fabi family, who built a fortress on top of the arches. Later the building passed through the hands of the Savelli and Orsini families; in the sixteenth century the former theatre was converted into a palazzo. Much more recently, the theatre saw yet another transformation: into luxury flats.
Today when you look at the Teatro di Marcello, you can see the high arches of the ancient theatre, medieval fortified walls and the more elegant additions of Baldassare Peruzzi, who undertook the conversion to a Renaissance palazzo.
You can't usually get inside the building unless you're lucky enough to know a resident. But the archeological area around the base is usually open (free) in daylight hours. You can walk past the great arches, by scattered archaeological finds, to the Portico of Octavia. In the summer piano recitals are held here.
The theatre is on Via del Teatro di Marcello, downhill from the Capitol, on the way to the Mouth of Truth.

Behind the theatre there is the Jewish Ghetto. This was the quarter, established in 1555 by Pope Paul V, where Jews were required to live until Rome became the capital of Italy. One of the first acts of the newly unified nation was to pull down the shameful walls of this ghetto.
In the beginning, 1750 people lived her but, over time, this number grew to 5000, resulting in harsh living conditions and dilapidation of the area. The ghetto came to be identified with the Portico of Octavia which, although going back to the 2nd century BC, was reconstructed by the Emperor Augustus and dedicated to his beloved sister, Octavia. This district had been a cultural hotbed of ancient Rome.
An incredible number of magnificent statues were used to decorate the area. Among these, the famous sculptor Lisippus carved 34 equestrian statues of Alexander and his generals in bronze. Here too was the first statue of a woman put on public display-the bronze statue of Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi.
After the 10th century, the portico and the theater of Marcellus became commercial and craft centers, many of which were managed by Jews who moved here as Trastevere became progressively impoverished during the Middle Ages. Here they were protected by powerful Roman families, the Matteis, the Cencis and the Pierleonis.
The ghetto was the scene of one of recent history's bitterest events: on the night of October 16th 1943, the Nazis rounded up and deported 1000 men, women, and children. Only 16 of these returned from concentration camps.

The Spada Gallery, located in one of the 17th century wings of the edifice of the same name "Palazzo Spada", is made of, as far as the original core of the collection is concerned, from the works collected by Bernardino Spada during the first decades of the 17th century.
To the outfit of the gallery, which was hosted in four rooms with frescoes, participated during the last decades of the 17th century and the first of the 18th century Virginio, Orazio and the Cardinal Fabrizio Spada. Still nowadays the Spada Gallery keeps in its rooms furnished with antique furniture, important works from the 17th century and the following ones among which we can underline:
- The "Portrait of the violinist" of Tiziano
- The "Portrait of the Cardinal Bernardino Spada" and "San Gerolamo" of Guido Reni
- The "Portrait of the Cardinal Bernardino Spada" and the "Death of Didone" of Guercino
- The "Landscape with windmills" of Jan Bruegel the Old
- "The Visitazione" of Andrea del Sarto
- The "Portraits" of Passerotti
- The "Fables" of the Mastelletta
- "David with the head of Goliath" of Orazio Gentileschi
- The "Madonna with the Child" and "Saint Cecilia" of Artemisia Gentileschi.
- "The Triumph of the name Jesus" and " Christ and the Samaritan" of Giambattista Gaulli called the "Baciccia"
- "The banquet of Marc Antonio and Cleopatra" of Francesco Trevisani
- "Allegory of the Massacres of the Innocents" of Pietro Testa
- The "Revolt of Masaniello" of Cerquozzi
- The "Christ attempted from Satan" and the "Christ and the adulteress" of Mattia Preti
- A "Burrasca" and a "Notturno" of Peter Van Laer called the "Bamboccio"
- A blue world map and a terrestrial one of the first decades of the 17th century from the Dutch W. Blaeu.
Piazza Capo di Ferro
Tel. +39 06 32810
Daily 9-19,mon closed

The collection hosted in the Barraco Museum was given to the city of Rome by the Barony Giovanni Barraco in 1902 and offers numerous examples of Egyptian, Assyrian, Cyprus, Greek, Etruscan and Roman sculpture.
The gallery of the "Museum of Antique Sculpture" is organised along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, inside the small palazzo called "Little Farnesina" and is presented in seven rooms mainly connected through loggia, atriums and vestibules where the works are disposed following a chronological order.
The exhibition has been hosted from 1905 near San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, in a structure having the form of a small ionic temple, destroyed in 1938 because of an urban arrangement due to the regulation projects of fascist inspiration of the beginning of the same decade.
Collezioni di arte antica
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 166/a
daily 9.00-19.00 sun 9.00-13.00 Mon closed
Tel. 0668806848