Page 63 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Rome

ROME THROUGH THE Y EAR  61

Average Daily Hours of Sunshine Sunshine Chart
Hours Hours Rome is famous for its
10 10 light. June is the
sunniest month but it
8 8 is also very dry, and
without the odd
6 6 shower the bright
heat can feel intense.
4 4
In the fall, Rome’s
southerly position
2 2
means that the sun
0 0 can still be enjoyably
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec warm at noon.
Lungo il Tevere (end
Summer June–mid-July), along
In June a season of concerts the Tiber. Crafts, food
begins, with performances in and wine, music,
some of the city’s most and fireworks.
beautiful palaces, churches, and Festa de’ Noantri (last
courtyards. In July and August two weeks in July), the
opera and drama are staged at streets of Trastevere.
Ostia Antica (see pp272–3) and Food and entertainment
in various outdoor locations. (see p345 and p347).
During the summer there are Alta Roma Fashion
also contemporary cultural Show (usually mid- to
events – movies, music of all late July), Spanish Steps
kinds, dance, and theater. On (see p345).
midsummer evenings there are Estate Romana (July/
vendors and amusements on August), Villa Ada,
the Tiber embankments by Ostia Antica, in parks,
Castel Sant’Angelo, while in the by the Tiber. Opera,
last two weeks of July Trastevere concerts, drama, dance,
becomes an open-air party as and cinema.
the Noantri festival is celebrated Festa della Madonna
with trinket vendors, dining in della Neve (5 August),
the street, and fireworks. The Flower-carpeted streets in Genzano Santa Maria Maggiore
sales (saldi) begin in mid-July, (see pp174–5). Fourth-
and the Alta Moda Fashion other attractions are packed century snowfall re-enacted
Show is usually held mid- to late out. In August, when the with white flower petals.
July at the Spanish Steps. temperature often soars above Ferragosto (15 August), Santa
Many Romans leave the city 104° F (40° C), virtually all Maria in Trastevere. Midsummer
at the end of June, when Romans flee the city for the holiday; almost everything closes
schools close, but as June and coast, meaning that many cafés, down. Celebrations are held for
July are peak tourist months, stores, and restaurants close for the Feast of the Assumption.
hotels, cafés, restaurants, and all the entire month.
the main places of interest and
Events
Flower Festival (June, the
Sunday after Corpus Domini),
Genzano, Castelli Romani, south
of Rome. Streets are carpeted
with flowers.
Festa di San Giovanni (23–
24 June), Piazza di Porta San
Giovanni. Celebrated with snails
in tomato sauce, suckling pig,
amusements, and fireworks.
Festa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo
(29 June), many churches.
The heat of an August afternoon in front Celebrations mark the feast Display of Roberto Cavalli’s fashion
of St. Peter’s of saints Peter and Paul. collection on the Spanish Steps

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