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Unforgettable Rome

We’ve gone ahead and collected some handy-dandy Fun Facts about Rome. They come in handy when you want to impress someone with your knowledge about Rome. For instance, on the first dinner-date!

  • Italy, located in Southern Europe, envelops two of the world’s smallest countries-San Marino in Northern Italy and the Vatican City in Rome.
  • Roma (Rome) is often referred to as ” The Eternal City” considering it being over 2,000 years old.
  • Rome is named after the Roman Empire back in 27 BC that ruled over much of Europe and North Africa until 395 AD.
  • With 3.57 million inhabitants, Rome is Italy’s largest city.
  • Italy has no less than twenty regions, e.g. Tuscany (around Florence), Veneto (around Venice), and Lazio (around Rome).
  • A flight to Rome takes about 2.5 hours from London/England and 8 about hours from New York/USA. No wonder then Rome is such a popular travel destination.
  • Iconic cities such as Rome, Pisa, Milan, and Florence is how Italy attracted over 62 million international visitors in 2018!
  • Italy ties with China as the country with the most (fifty-five!!) UNESCO World Heritage sites. With gems such as the Colosseum in Rome, the city of Pompeii, and the glorious Amalfi Coast, no wonder Italy is the fifth most visited country in the world.
  • The ancient city of Rome (founded in 753 BC) is not just Italy’s capital city, but Rome is the host to another country within, i.e. the Vatican City (the smallest country in the world) at just 44 hectares (100 acres), about an eighth the size of New York’s Central Park.

Fontana di Trevi

  • The beautiful Fontana di Trevi is in Rome. Do you wonder what happens to the coins thrown into the mountain, for luck? In 2016 the money (€1.4 million or converted US$1.5 million) went to charity. 
  • An average of €3,000 worth of change each day is deposited into the fountain.
  • When in Rome, you do like… Toss your coin(s) into the fountain from your right hand over your left shoulder. Furthermore, this way of tossing your coin into the fountain will bring you back to Rome again. Who knows when!
Italy Rome Fontana di Trevi
Fontana di Trevi

Fun facts about ancient Rome's featuring in movies

  • The 1950’s movie “Three Coins in the Fountain” started another legend. Namely, if you toss more than one coin, you will find new romance and end up having a gorgeous Roman wedding!
Italy Rome Painting of Julius Caesars Assasination red, Rome - City of Dreams
Painting of Julius Caesar's assassination. Thirteen of Shakespeare’s plays are set in Italy. Julius Caesar takes place in Rome.

Ancient Rome will never stop fascinating the world. No wonder there are more than twenty movies set in ancient Rome. As an example, the list of films includes the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. 

Rome is known for its strong cinematic tradition and is the largest film and television production facility in continental Europe. Furthermore, with Cinecittà Studios located in Rome, it is also the center of the Italian cinema. 

The list of box office hits is extensive with titles such as When in Rome, Rome in Love (catch the movie on Youtube), Only You, Mission Impossible III, and From Russia with Love being only a few highlights.

Lastly, lovers of the Christmas season will enjoy the movie Christmas in Rome (catch the movie on Youtube).

Christmas

In closing, we hope you’ve enjoyed the fun facts about Rome as much as we’ve enjoyed putting together the collection of facts. 

We’d like to hear from you if you have some fun facts about Rome you think few people know about. Let’s add to the list!

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Where to stay

You can not go wrong by booking your hotel in the center of this ancient city. Especially if you want to explore it on foot. The city is very focused on its city center.