Rome

Book a two-hour timed-entry ticket in advance to beat the crowds, then spend the first 45 minutes upstairs with the paintings before taking in the sculptures below. — Departures

A pilgrimage spot for art lovers everywhere... adorned with three stunningly dramatic works by Caravaggio... now recognized to be among the world's greatest paintings. — Fodor's

Vespasian began building the Colosseum - which has hosted gory battles between combinations of gladiators, slaves, prisoners and wild animals of all descriptions. — Time Out

A rather vulgar example of the transition from Latin to the Italian vernacular.  — Atlas Obscura

Built by Domitian and erroneously referred to since the 19th century as the "stadium," this was in fact a sunken garden that created a terrace on the slopes of the hill. — Fodor's

A satellite of the Capitoline Museums housed in a former power plant, Centrale Montemartini brilliantly juxtaposes gods and machines. — Travel + Leisure

Recently restored, this magnificent 15C palace today houses the Ludovisi-Boncompagni collection. — Michelin Guide

The Capitoline Museums house a collection of ancient sculptures in a pair of buildings designed by Michelangelo in the mid-16th century. — Afar Magazine

Nearly 2,000 years after it was erected by Emperor Marcus Agrippa, the Pantheon is still one of the most impressive buildings in the world. — Concierge

If you find your imagination stretching to picture Rome as it was two millennia ago, make sure to check out this "new" ancient site just a stone's throw from Piazza Venezia. — Fodor's

If you ever wanted to know what all those emperors from your history books looked like, this museum makes them live again, togas and all. — Frommer's

Contains almost a millennia's worth of Italian architecture, from an 18th-century baroque exterior to the 5th-century mosaics lining its interior arch. — Afar Magazine

Caravaggio, with his Rest on the Flight to Egypt, is the star of a prestigious collection of paintings and sculptures. — Michelin Guide

Artistic highlights of the place include a striking portrait by Velázquez of the Pamphili pontiff Innocent X: this was the inspiration for Francis Bacon's 1953 'screaming pope'. — The Telegraph

Here, everything that makes Rome unique is compressed into one beautiful Baroque piazza. — Fodor's

This imposing building was erected in 135 AD as Emperor Hadrian's family mausoleum, and was converted into a chapel by Pope Gregory the Great in the 6C. — Michelin Guide

The crypt of St Cecilia is the spot where this patron saint of music is believed to have been buried before she was moved to her eponymous church in Trastevere. — Time Out

Central Rome's only Gothic church was built on the site of an ancient temple of Minerva in 1280 and modelled on Santa Maria Novella in Florence. — Time Out

The best preserved Paleochristian basilica in Rome hides a number of oddities and secrets.  — Atlas Obscura