There’s some information you can’t find in a guidebook. Our new partner, Milestone Rome, aims to be a source of art and cultural information for anyone planning a trip to the Eternal City. Before you join one of our Rome tours, make sure you check out the Milestone Rome website to learn something new.
Created by two Italians - technician Pietro and art historian Flavia - Milestone Rome is a celebration of the city and its cultural heritage. As they explain on the website, “It all began with our deep-rooted love for our hometown: living here every day, we've realized how much the Eternal City is admired and visited but, in the meantime, how much of its immense cultural heritage is little known or misrepresented.”
Many of the articles on the website highlight lesser-known parts of Rome, which deserve more attention. Recent articles focus on the “miracle of the snow” at Santa Maria Maggiore - a miraculous snowfall in August in the 4th century - the story of Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, and an analysis of the moving Laocoon sculpture at the Vatican Museums.
One of the most innovative features of Milestone Rome is an interactive, real-time map of Rome, which shows you all the museums, churches, monuments and cultural events in the surrounding area. For example, if your hotel is on Via Nazionale, just type in the address and the map will show you places of interest nearby, such as the beautiful Renaissance church of San Silvestro al Quirinale or the gardens of Villa Aldobrandini. Many of these places are overlooked in conventional guidebooks, so the map will help you discover parts of Rome you might otherwise have missed. At the moment, this is an experimental version of an ongoing project: Milestone Rome aims to publish advanced tools by 2017. The new version will give users an improved, more in-depth experience of Rome’s cultural heritage.
All the information on the website is free, but if you create an account to “become a miler”, you’ll be able to log in to access every part of Milestone Rome, including additional articles and a forum.
So, if you’re planning your upcoming trip to Rome and you’re looking for inspiration, sign up to Milestone Rome. From underrated art galleries to obscure myths and legends, there’s so much more to discover.
~by Alexandra Turney~
