Arts + Culture Which museums and sites in Rome to see?

If you're going to Rome and you want to see "....the most exquisite of Bernini's sculptures," I would suggest that you visit the Galleria Borghese, which is located in the Villa Borghese. However, you should know that you cannot just show up and expect to get in. All visits are by appointment only and the best way of taking care of the arrangements is to have your hotel's concierge handle them for you. (Not only must your visit be scheduled in advance but, once you've entered the gallery, you are only allowed to stay there for a few hours before they remind you that it's time for you to leave, in order to allow others to view the precious works of art that can be found there.) So much for the difficulties in visiting the Galleria Borghese. But, once you're in, you will, indeed, see a collection of Bernini sculptures that, in my opinion, is by far the finest in the entire world, in terms of both quality and quantity. Bernini's "Apollo and Daphne" literally took my breath away when I first saw it (in fact it took my breath away again on my second visit) and there are so many other wonderful works of his there that, the minute you leave the museum, you'll be thinking about when you might be able to return again.

While the Galleria Borghese is very well-known for its splendid collection of Berninis, there is a little church in Rome that also has a wonderful, albeit smaller, collection of his work that is such a secret that very few visitors to the city even know about it. To get there, start in the lobby of the St. Regis Grand hotel. Walk out the door and turn to your right. Walk just about a half block, cross the street, and you'll be standing right in front of the church. It's not open all the time, but the hours of admission are posted on the front door. (Unlike the Galleria Borghese, admission is free.) Once you're inside, take a seat and look around at the spectacular inside of this church which, interestingly enough, looks to be of little importance based on its outside appearance. Then, walk around at look at the Berninis. You'll be amazed.

One final thing - for additional information on things to see and do in Rome (especially concerning the new "Ara Pacis" museum), you might want to see my postings, here in the Extravigator website, in the discussion entitled "Enjoying Rome." The postings are dated October 19th and 21st, 2007.