Page 91 - Off The Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 2 of 2)

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Capitoline Museums ART AND CULTURE

vs Vatican Museums

Light and spacious, the Capitoline Museums make an elegant setting for some of the finest art of the antique world.
Across the Tiber, meanwhile, the exhibits at the Vatican Museums seem suffocated by the great press of visitors

As befits a modern European capital, Rome has An underground passageway then takes you to
NEED TO KNOW
its share of idiosyncratic museums, from one the Galleria Lapidaria, with its collection of
LOCATION The Capitoline dedicated to mental illness to another exploring epigraphs, and the Tabularium (the former records
Museums sit atop the most .JMBO 7FOJDF
sacred of ancient Rome’s seven the history of crime. But in truth these are only office), where the remains of the Temple of Veiovis
hills – the Capitoline Hill sideshows to the city’s unimaginably vast hoard of can be seen. Stairs lead back to the light, and at
*5"-:
VISITORS PER YEAR paintings and antique sculptures, which are the end of the long corridor is the museum’s
520,000 30.& "ESJBUJD
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DAYTIME /BQMFT exhibited in a hundred or more public and greatest surprise – not an exhibit, but the best
TEMPERATURES 5ZSSIFOJBO semi-public palaces. The Vatican Museums attract view of the Roman Forum. From this height, much
Jan: 50°F (10°C); Apr: 4FB the lion’s share of tourists to the city – more than of its confused archaeology falls neatly into place.
57°F (14°C); Jul: 79°F (26°C); *POJBO
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Oct: 66˚F (19°C) 1BMFSNP 4 million go there each year – leaving Rome’s other Returning to Michelangelo’s piazza, you pass
galleries in relative peace. The Capitoline Museums into the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori,
may not be quite so off the beaten track as the where you’re greeted by a jumble of fragments
A magnificent flight of steps (the Cordonata) leads Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica (see p260), but the from a colossal statue of Emperor Constantine. The
you up the gently rising Capitoline Hill. At the top number of visitors is never overwhelming. tour then heads upstairs to one of the museum’s
lies Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio, flanked The main entrance to the museums is in the most helpful exhibits – the story of Rome told in a
on one side by Palazzo Nuovo and on the other cool, white marble façade of the Palazzo Nuovo, on sequence of 16th- and 17th-century frescoes in
by Palazzo dei Conservatori. Together, the two the left of the Piazza del Campidoglio. Busts of the Hall of the Horatii and Curiatii. The picture
buildings form the main body of the Capitoline philosophers and statues of river gods lead you gallery is next and, after the acres of marble you’ve
Museums, home to exceptional collections of down the Hall of the Philosophers to an octagonal just seen, your eyes feast on the vivid reds of Titian’s
classical sculpture and paintings. The architecture of room, where Venus awaits you, modestly covering Baptism and Garofalo’s Annunciation. Also on show
the square is bold, geometric, and harmonious. And her marbled nakedness. In the Hall of the Galatian, are Caravaggio’s St John the Baptist, Veronese’s Rape
with no traffic, it’s relatively quiet here. The Vatican the dying Gaul, proud yet bowed by the pain of of Europa and some fabulous portraits by Van Dyck.
Museums across the river seem aloof and inhuman defeat, evokes genuine pathos. In the Hall of The visit finishes on a high, with the famous
in scale by comparison. Doves, mosaics from Hadrian’s Villa are on show. equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius.

FORGET THE VATICAN PRACTICAL INFORMATION
MUSEUMS? Getting There and Around Where to Stay
The nearest metro stop is The Inn At The Roman Forum
THE BUILD-UP The Vatican Museums not only have the two Colosseo, a 10-minute walk (www.theinnattheromanforum.
most beautiful rooms in the world (the Sistine Chapel and the away. Dozens of buses from com) has a quiet courtyard, a roof
Room of the Segnatura), their vast corridors also contain all Rome’s main station, Termini, terrace, and its own Roman crypt.
the vanity, devotion, and sheer financial clout of the greatest stop nearby. Get off at either the And, as the name suggests, it’s
Via dei Fori Imperiali or the Via
collectors the world has ever known. The picture gallery houses right next to the forum.
del Plebiscito.
one of the best art collections in Rome. When to Go
Where to Eat Rome has a mild Mediterranean
Swanky restaurants abound, but
THE LETDOWN The Vatican Museums can feel like purgatory. climate. May is the nicest month.
the real food of Rome is la cucina
They are positively overwhelmed with visitors, and the usual The period from December to
povera – the tripe, salt cod, beans, February is the nearest the city
start to a visit here is an hour lining up in the hot Roman sun.
and artichokes of the traditional has to a low season.
ABOVE Jostling for a better view, some of the 4.3 trattorias. The Asinocotto (www.
GOING ANYWAY? Book a group tour (www.myvaticantour. million visitors to the Vatican Museums each year asinocotto.com), just over the Budget per Day for Two
com) and you’ll sail past the long lines. With a good guide, you’ll river in Trastevere, is a great Resist the shops and you could
also get a better handle on the collection in 3 hours than you example. Stuffed zucchini flowers get away with US$300.
might in days of dazed wandering on your own. and veal tongue are just two of Website
the dishes on on the menu. www.museicapitolini.org

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