World City Guide

Further Distractions

Galleria Doria Pamphilj
A British voice with a cut-glass accent issuing from the hand-held free audioguide leads visitors through the picture-clogged rooms, lavish furnishings and ageing sculptures – in short, the excessive wealth of the powerful Doria Pamphilj family, a pillar of Rome’s papal aristocracy. Jonathan Doria Pamphilj, the half-British sibling and heir, along with his sister, of the Doria Pamphilj fortunes is a modern-day prince and recalls childhood memories of roller-skating along the parquet floor of the 18th-century ballroom – tiny indentations prove the truth of his tale. The rambling palace is still occupied and a number of the private apartments are open to the public (mornings only) for a small additional fee. Works by Correggio, Caravaggio and Velzquez are on show here, as well as some amusing pieces by lesser-known artists.

Piazza del Collegio Romano 2
Tel: (06) 679 7323. Fax: (06) 678 0939.
E-mail: arti.rm@doriapamphilj.it
Website: www.doriapamphilj.it
Transport: Bus to Piazza Venezia.
Opening hours: Fri-Wed 1000-1700.
Admission: 8; concessions available.

Campo de’ Fiori
From Monday to Saturday, each day at dawn, stall holders at Rome’s best-loved fruit and vegetable market set up their wares at Campo de’ Fiori. This down-to-earth square (surrounded by tumbledown orange-ochre facades) is a far cry from the more grandiose piazzas of the centro storico. Here one encounters the friendliness and spontaneity for which Romani are so renowned. Come sunset, some of the city’s liveliest and most authentic wine bars and trattorie spill their tables out onto the cobbles, as locals and visitors, famous actors and ordinary office workers alike flock here to eat and drink below the stars.

Campo de’ Fiori
Transport: Bus to Largo Argentina.
Opening hours: Mon-Sat dawn-dusk.
Admission: Free.

Centrale Montemartini (Montemartini Art Centre)
One of Rome’s most intriguing and memorable museums, the Centrale Montemartini displays four hundred pieces of Roman sculpture from the Capitoline collection of ancient sculpture displayed among the gleaming machinery and furnaces of a former electricity power plant. Initally intended as a stop-gap solution during renovations on the Capitoline Museums, its popularity has ensured it a place on the Roman museum scene.

Via Ostiense 106
Tel: (06) 574 8042/30. Fax: (06) 575 4207.
Website: www.centralemontemartini.org
Transport: Bus 23 or Metro B: Piramide.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0930-1900, last entry at 1800.
Admission: 4.20 (or 9.90 for a joint ticket including entrance to the Capitoline Museums).