Colosseum Tour

🏛️ Explore Ancient Rome: Colosseum and Forum Tour 🏛️

Step into the grandeur of Ancient Rome with our immersive Colosseum and Forum tour! Embark on a journey through time as you walk in the footsteps of gladiators and emperors, unraveling the captivating history of one of the world’s most iconic landmarks.

🔍 What to Expect:
👑 Colosseum: Marvel at the architectural brilliance of this ancient amphitheater, where fierce battles and spectacles once enthralled crowds of thousands. Learn about its construction, the games held within its walls, and the stories of the gladiators who fought for glory and honor.

🏛️ Roman Forum: Wander through the heart of ancient Rome, where politics, religion, and commerce intersected. Discover the ruins of temples, basilicas, and government buildings that once stood as symbols of Roman power and prestige. Let our expert guides bring the ruins to life with fascinating tales of triumph and tragedy.

🗓️ Private tour
📍 Location: Rome, Italy
🕒 Duration: 2 hours
🎟️ Tickets: Included in the tour package
🌐 contact me directly for more information and booking inquiries info@roman-gateway.com

Sistine Chapel Tour

Our Sistine chapel tour will focus on the most famous and grandiose religious monument hidden in the heart of the Vatican museums, the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo.

The Sistine Chapel is located inside the Vatican museums that are among the most visited museums in the world.

Over 7 millions tourists flock to discover the splendor of these 12 museums annually. The museums are compromised of no less than five galleries and 1.400 rooms, inaugurated in 1771. They consist of an extraordinary collection of works of art, mainly paintings and sculptures, collected over the centuries by the popes.

After visiting the Sistine Chapel , we will pass through a door (for tour guides only) that will get us directly to St. Peter's Basilica. The tickets, purchased for this tour, will allow us to skip the lines. This will give us more time to enjoying exploring this memorable sight together.

Saint Peter is the largest basilica in the world. Construction began in 1506, but was not completed until 1626. It contains wonderful masterpieces like the Pietà by Michelangelo or the canopy over the main altar by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Upon entering the church, you will overwhelmed by the beauty of its hundreds of giant mosaics and the atmosphere that reigns in this amazing house of worship.

Tour length: 2/3 hours.

Suggestions: Vatican dress code – no bare shoulders, skirts and shorts under the knees, no weapons ad no big bags or backpacks.

Jewish Florence Tour

Jewish Florence Tour

We will start our tour at Piazza della Repubblica that during Roman times, was Ancient Florence downtown. As of the Middle Ages and for several centuries thereafter, it remained the old city market. Although it has undergone many changes over time, the Piazza della Repubblica was very lively and busy, until recently.

Cosimo I forced the Jews to reside in that area of the city, which thus became a ghetto known as the Jewish Quarter. The changes were part of urban planning that resulted from the establishment of Florence as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy (1865-1871). Consequently, many buildings, including the ones forming the ghetto and the Loggia del Pesce (Lodge of the Fish) were demolished.

After visiting the square, we will head to the Baptistry of the Duomo to learn about the Biblical stories of the door panels.

We will proceed then to the Academy where we will admire the perfection of David’s Michelangelo.

This astonishing Renaissance statue was created between 1501 and 1504. It is a 14.0 ft marble statue depicting the Biblical hero, represented as a standing male nude. Originally commissioned by the Opera del Duomo for the Cathedral, it was meant to be one of a series of large statues to be positioned in the niches of the cathedral’s tribunes, way up at about 80 mt from the ground.

Then we will go to Synagogue or Tempio Maggiore that is one of the largest synagogues in South Central Europe and was built between 1874 and 1882. Travertine and pink pomato stone were used to build it, in the Moorish style, centrally planned and with a dome flanked by towers. Standing in a garden filled with exotic plants, surrounded by cast-iron railings designed by P. Franci, the synagogue will evoke in you a sense of oriental splendour.

At the end of the tour we will take a break for lunch at the Kosher restaurant right around the corner.

The Queen of Sheba — Baptistry the Queen of Sheba

Florence Day Trip

One day in Florence? Mission possible!

One should always try to dedicate more than one day to any of the world’s great cities, Florence included. With this premise, if you’ve got to do it, I will help you choose what to see so that you make the most out of your limited time.

We can catch the train in Rome and in 1h20 we will be there!

Starting from St. Maria Novella station we will walk up to the famous Duomo with Brunelleschi’s cupola, Giotto’s Bell Tower and the Baptistery. Nearby we will visit the Accademia with Michelangelo’s David (reservation in advance).

Strolling down via Roma we will find ourselves in Piazza della Signoria in front of Palazzo Vecchio, the city’s seat of government with an incredible outdoors statues setting. The David out there is a cop.

We will walk then to the end of the Uffizi buildings (no time to visit them) to the Arno and catch a view of the river and the Ponte Vecchio.

On the way back to the station, we will go to via Tornabuoni – the luxury shopping street – and hop into the church of Santa Trinita where you’ll be rewarded by a beautiful fresco by Ghirlandaio. Look carefully at the backgrounds of each scene as you should recognize some of these locations – we’ve seen them together!

It is possible to go to Florence from Rome by train (1hour 20 minutes) in order to spend a day there and come back in the late afternoon.

Baths of Diocletian Tour

Bathing played a major part in ancient Roman culture and society. Bathing was one of the most common daily activities in Roman culture, and was practiced across a wide variety of social classes. Though many contemporary cultures see bathing as a very private activity conducted in the home, bathing in Rome was a communal activity.

Once the largest ancient baths complex in the world, the Baths of Diocletian – or Terme di Diocleziano – were built between 298AD and 306AD in honour of the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

Set out along the traditional model of a Roman baths complex, the Baths of Diocletian contained a frigidarium (cold room), tepidarium (warm room) and caldarium (hot room or steam room) as well as additional large bathing chambers, gymnasiums and even a library. The baths themselves were a hugely impressive building project, particularly given how swiftly they were constructed. The majority of the water for the baths was supplied by the Acqua Marcia.

The key difference with other contemporary baths was simply a question of scale – it is believed that at their height the Baths of Diocletian could hold up to 3,000 people at a time.

After 30 years of restoration the Baths opened to the public in 2008 and became part of the National Museum of Rome. At present we will be able to visit some remaining parts of the remarkable structure. It will be even possible to walk through a cloister garden projected by Michelangelo where nearly 400 works of art, including statues, sarcophagi and reliefs, are on display.