Zone: From the Esquiline Hill to Villa Borghese

Esquiline is one of the seven historical hills of Rome. You will see traces of luxurious imperial life, preserved in the form of fragments of aqueducts and baths, as well as temples built on the sites of secret house churches of the first Christians. The heart of Esquiline - the Basilica of Santa-Maria Maggiore, will delight you with its architecture. The enormous basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, consecrated to the Virgin Mary, is also to be found in this part of Rome. Before the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, and the relocation of the Papal residence there, Santa Maria Maggiore was one of Rome's largest churches, and we'll tell you its fascinating story. Finally we finish our excursion in the middle of the extensive spaces of Victor-Emmanuel II Square. Here we find public gardens within which the ruins of Ancient Roman nymphs have been preserved, and also a medieval “Magic Door” - on which there are mystical symbols and signs which have often been interpreted, yet which no-one has yet managed to decipher.