My kind of town, Rome, writes Claire Tomalin in the Sunday Telegraph weekly magazine of july 15th. In the article she gives a short but essential guide to the city, ranging from the places of archaeological, monumental, historical and cultural interest to traditional roman food and wine. It is just one of many articles in the foreign press, particularly the British press, expressing complimentary views of Rome. In recent weeks, event tourist publications like ” Conde Nast Traveller ” or major newspapers like the ” Guardian ” or ” Financial Times ” have been dedicating more and more columns tp the fascination of Rome, its history and its inexhaustible capacity to attract visitors from all over the world. Claire Tomalin explains that she loves Rome because it has so many ” layers ” so many places where you can find whatever interests you: town-planning, architecture, churches, culture….. I completely agree with this view of Rome. The city is much more than just an open-air museum; it’s a living city, many sided, dynamic that combines a glorious past with a great drive towards the future.
The roman summer is one of those times when rome displays its great strength as an international capital of entertainment and culture. For instance, the civic museums will stay open to the public ( many of them up until midnight at the weekend ) with events, guided tours and didactic activities for all ages. There will be plenty of places to visit well into September 2012: the Ara Pacis museum, the capitoline museums, trajan’s markets, the museo della civiltà romana, the museo of rome at trastevere and at palazzo braschi, the museo napoleonico, the museo pietro canonica in villa borghese, the museums in villa torlonia, the former zoo now the museo civic di zoologia and the galleria d’art moderna of Rome Capital.
I wish you all a very pleasant stay
Mayor of Rome
Giovanni Alemanno