132 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in Rome - Atlas Obscura

Unusual Attractions in Rome

Santa Maria della Concezione Crypts

The crypts of Capuchin friars decorated with the bones of over 4,000 friars, including an entire "crypt of pelvises."

Torre Argentina (Roman Cat Sanctuary)

Hundreds of lucky felines haunt the ruins where Caesar was murdered.

Quartiere Coppedè

Architectureal fantasy quarter of Rome.

Galleria Sciarra

This hidden Art Nouveau courtyard is an opulent feast for the eyes.

The Dome Illusion

A master of trompe-l'oeil creates a stunning, tourist-fooling dome out of a flat ceiling.

Porta Alchemica

An alchemist's "magic door" stands in the middle of a Roman park.

The Aventine Keyhole

Rome's semi-secret peephole vista is also a former Crusader stronghold.

The Mouth of Truth

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.

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Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Rome

Servian Wall at McDonald's

Inside this McDonald's you can dine on your Big Mac and fries next to a 2,500-year-old Roman wall.

Passticeria il Boccione

In Rome’s Jewish ghetto, a 200-year-old bakery still makes the neighborhood’s historic sweets.

Garum Biblioteca e Museo Della Cucina

Rome is now home to a stunning food museum and library.

Museo Nazionale delle Paste Alimentari

This delightful little museum is dedicated to only one thing: pasta.

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From Chocolate to Truffles: Italian Culinary Adventures

Taste your way through Italy’s northwest region of Piedmont, sampling sweets, sipping local wine, and foraging for truffles.

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Stories About Rome

One of the olive trees at Hadrian’s Villa dates back to the 13th century.

A Roman Emperor's Villa Is Now Producing Olive Oil

Hadrian's estate has trees found nowhere else on Earth.

by Vittoria Traverso

Pages with etchings from 16th-century cookery books.

The Roman Museum With a Taste for Historical Cookbooks

A former pâtissier's culinary collection is now available to the public.

by Eric Millman

Astronomer Gianluca Masi captured this image of the International Space Station passing directly over Rome's Colosseum.

A View of the Space Age From the Classical World

This mesmerizing image brings the International Space Station and Rome's ancient Colosseum together.

by Gemma Tarlach

January 4, 2022

An early inspiration for macabre banquets was a story about a hellish feast hosted by a Roman emperor.

Before Haunted Houses, There Were Hell Banquets

The macabre feasts have their roots in ancient Rome.

November 17, 2021

Podcast: The Capitoline Wolf

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.

by The Podcast Team

November 3, 2021

Children at the edge of Lago Ex SNIA, an accidental lake in eastern Rome that resulted from a construction error in the 1990s.

Rome’s Accidental Lake Is an Urban Refuge and Catalyst for Activism

The body of water, which shouldn’t even exist, has a long history as a source of both controversy and comfort.

by Lidija Pisker

A 17th-century Swiss etching of Emperor Tiberius on horseback, by Matthäus Merian the Elder.

Tiberius, Imperial Detective

In ancient Rome, murder was a private business, unless the emperor took an interest in the case.

by Emma Southon

Giulio Iannarone, of the Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale, slides out one of the racks of valuable paintings in the vault.

Inside Rome’s Secure Vault for Stolen Art

Some of the art is real, some fake, but it's all had a brush with the criminal underworld.

by Alessio Perrone

November 10, 2020

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