Vatican City Things to Do

Via di San Pancrazio leads to a wide area known as Largo Giugno 1849. The Aurelia Antica begins here. There is an entranceway next to an old Baroque villa, which takes you to the Doria Pamphilj Villa. The Baroque villa faces on... more

Prati di Castello - or simply Prati - was built beside Castel Sant'Angelo at the end of the 19th Century. It was developed around Via di Cola di Rienzo which is cut by a number of smaller parallel streets to form a chessboard p... more

Palazzo Serristori stands on Via della Conciliazione between Palazzo Cesi and Palazzo dei Penitenzieri. The famous Duke Valentino, i.e. Cesare Borgia lived there. Built in the mid-16th Century, the palace belonged to Bartolomeo... more

The elegant Palazzo Torlonia was built for Cardinal Andriano Castellesi da Corneto, secretary to Pope Alessandro VI Borgia, but he never lived there. He let it before it was finished to Henry VIII of England who made it into th... more

Today this is a well-known cinema, but it used to be a palazzo. It was built in 1400 for Cardinal Domenico Capranica and is one of the few buildings of its kind still standing. At the end of the XV secolo, architectural additio... more

Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne was rebuilt after the previous building was destroyed by fire during the Sack of Rome. Its slightly curved form is caused by the fact that it was built on the ruins of the Domitian theatre. The arch... more

This institution was commissioned by Pope Paul III in order to defend private citizens from usury. The building was supplied for this purpose in 1603, and the institution moved there from its previous offices in Via dei Coronar... more

Palazzo Caetani stands at 32, Via delle Botteghe Oscure. It was built for Alessandro Mattei in the middle of the 16th Century in all probability by either Nanni di Baccio Bigi or Lippi. Before entering the possession of the Cae... more

The palace in which the hero of Gabriele D'Annunzio's most famous novel, Il Piacere (The Pleasure), lived was 14, Piazza Trinità dei Monti. The building is known as Palazzo Zuccari after its first owner, painter Federico Zuccar... more

Built in 1873, the Church of San Paolo entro le Mura (St Paul's Episcopal Church within the Walls) was the first non-Roman Catholic church to be constructed in the city. The mid-sized church features beautiful painted murals a... more