THE GREAT BEAUTY

Jump on stage and grab the spotlight from Jep Gambardella, the protagonist of Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar-award-winning movie. Marvel at every scene, as you retrace his footsteps and perform against the most breathtaking backdrops in the world. Your private guide will lead you past the beauty spots featured in the Italian cinematographic triumph and open the curtain to reveal Rome’s lesser-known treasures.

Your first stop is the Ancient Appian Way, but you may call her by her stage name: Regina Viarum, “Queen of Roads”. As the Latin expression goes Omnes viae Romam ducunt – meaning “all roads lead to Rome”. Have you ever wondered how this saying originated? This is where it all began. Running from Rome to the port of Brindisi, the Via Appia Antica was the earliest, widest and strategically most important road in the ancient Roman Republic. Flanked by extraordinary monuments, including mausoleums, ruins of patrician villas and traces of a thermal complex, today this 2,300-year-old cobblestone path keeps winning the audience’s applause and holds the record for the best-preserved surviving Roman road.

Next, you will appear on one of the largest and most imposing monumental sets of ancient Rome – the Baths of Caracalla. Built in the 3rd century AD at the request of Emperor Caracalla, these fascinating remains were once a public bathing facility. What you see today is still sensational and evidence of the Romans’ brilliant construction skills and innovation in the fields of technology and hydraulic engineering. Your guide will throw light on the history behind these remarkable buildings and explain how citizens used to spend their leisure time. Did you know that within these walls ancient Romans used to swim in an “olympic” pool, practise boxing and wrestling and play ball games just like we do today?

After some free time for lunch drive up to the Aventine, the southernmost of Rome’s seven hills. Here, take a peek through the keyhole of a garden door… which world-famous VIP can you espy? A secret view of a path lined with hedges leads the eye to the majestic dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, a superstar dominating the cerulean Roman skyline.

Don’t forget to take an autographed snapshot in Piazza Navona, another of Rome’s magnificent settings crafted by Baroque designers – and sworn rivals – Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini. As your guide will explain, the enmity and competition between these two visionary talents marked Rome’s 17th century saison d’or. Established as an entertainment venue in ancient Roman times, when the site hosted the long lost Stadium of Domitian, Piazza Navona is still today a living spectacle replete with eye-catching details. A number of elegant palazzi as well as the Church of Sant’Agnese in Agone lend an air of grandeur to the piazza but it is the Fountain of the Four Rivers that occupies centre stage with its lofty obelisk, powerful sculptures and the sound of rushing water.

The last stop on this star-studded trip will bring you to Janiculum Hill where you will take in the stunning panorama of the Eternal City and then encounter two more magnificent members of the cast: the Tempietto del Bramante, a fine example of High Renaissance Italian architecture, and the Fountain of Acqua Paola, bearing the coat of arms of one of Rome’s wealthiest sponsors.

Long before the final curtain falls, you will have realised that The Great Beauty is much more than just a movie.