Rome Italy Tours

Tour Rome Walks

Tours of Rome and Pompeii with Dennis Cigler

Born in Mishicot, Wisconsin in 1947, Dennis Cigler graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a degree in Art Education, and in 1970 was awarded a scholarship to study painting and printmaking in Rome, Italy.

Here the artist found not only the magnificent source of artistic inspiration which has continued to motivate his work ever since, but also a new home for heart and belongings.

During these many years of residence in Rome, Dennis has combined his own artistic development and production with teaching, where he heads the art department at one of Rome's most prestigious schools and is a Visiting Examiner in the Visual Arts for the International Baccalaureate Organization.

Rome Walks

If you are planning to be in Rome, don't miss the unique opportunity to absorb the history and true ambiance of the Eternal City on a tour with Dennis or Michael, Americans, who have lived in Rome for over thirty years. Michael is the co-author of "National Geographic's Traveler: Rome" and teaches history at one of Rome's exclusive international schools.

Dennis, an artist, who has exhibited his works throughout the world, is also the head of the high school art department at one of Rome's most prestigious schools. You can view some of his art works at www.denniscigler.com .

We offer an entertaining, personalized way to feel as though you actually live in Rome. If you are travelling with your children, this is a great way to introduce them to the fun of history and art.

Rome Walks are for groups of no less than two and no more than six people. Each walk lasts approximately two and a half hours and costs 140 Euros per person for 1-3 people and 130 Euros per person for 4-6 people. Children aged twelve or under pay half price for walking tours. This discount does not apply for Pompeii.

Here is what we offer our guests:

ROME WALK ITINERARIES

HIDDEN TREASURES

• Renaissance and Baroque Rome
• Palazzo and Piazza Farnese
• Campo de'Fiori with its open-air market which is open every morning except Sunday
• Church of Sant'Andrea della Valle (site of Tosca, Act One)
• Church of Saint Ivo which is hidden today in one of the many palazzi housing the state archives
• Church of San Luigi dei Francesi with its chapel of St.Matthew painted by Caravaggio
• The Pantheon
• Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva and its hidden cloister
• Church of Sant'Ignazio
• St.Agostine with its Raphael fresco and painting by Caravaggio
• Piazza Navona with Bernini's famous Fountain of the Four Rivers

FOOTSTEPS OF THE RICH & FAMOUS

From the Spanish Steps to the Pantheon

Rome's cobblestone streets have been trod for centuries by the rich and the poor, the unknown and the famous and infamous as they became enamored of the Eternal City. Gian Lorenzo Bernini's gate at Piazza del Popolo (built to celebrate the triumphal entrance of Queen Christina of Sweden in the 17 th century into the city) was the northern and principal entrance to Rome (in the days before airplanes and trains). Kings and queens, intellectuals the likes of Goethe and Keats, young lords on their "Grand Tour" of the continent and artists frequented this area clustered between the Porta del Popolo and the Spanish Steps.

• Spanish Steps
• Trevi Fountain
• Via Margutta (the street of the artists)
• Piazza del Popolo with its obelisk and 18th century layout
• Church of St.Maria dell'Popolo with its Chigi Chapel of Angels and Demons fame and chapels
• painted by Caravaggio and Pinturicchio
• Ara Pacis (mausoleum of Augustus)
• Church of San Lorenzo in Lucina with its painting of the Crucifixion by Guido Reni and the grill used to roast Saint Lawrence
• The Pantheon

POPES AND PRINCES

A stroll on the other side of the Tiber which in ancient Rome was the site of imperial villas and mausoleums and then gained importance again from the early 1400's on when the Popes, on their return from Southern France, elected the Vatican Palace as their residence.

Bernini's Angel Bridge

• A visit inside Castel Sant'Angelo (the Angel Castle), originally the mausoleum of the emperor Hadrian
• Via della Concilazione
• The Borgo
• Piazza San Pietro with Bernini's Colonnade
• St.Peter's Basilica

PLEASE NOTE: Popes and Princes DOES NOT INCLUDE the VATICAN MUSEUMS with the SISTINE CHAPEL nor the entrance fee of 5 Euros per person to the Angel Castle. Not recommended for Mondays when the castle is closed.

FOUNTAINS OF ROME

This especially popular walk features a late afternoon stroll from piazza to piazza, where the noise of traffic is replaced by the soft gurgle of cascading water.

• Triton Fountain in Piazza Barberini
• Palazzo Barberini
• Street intersection of the Four Fountains
• Church of San Carlo by Boromini
• Quirinal Fountain - in front of the presidential palace with statues of Castor & Pollux
• The famed Trevi Fountain made famous by the film "Three Coins in the Fountain"
• Piazza di Pietra -Temple of the emperor Hadrian converted into the Chamber of Commerce
• The Pantheon - an incredibly unique structure which has come down to us from ancient times almost as it was created.
• Piazza Navona with its famous Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini

MEDIEVAL AND IMPERIAL ROME

• Church of San Clemente with its 3 archaeological levels and 12th century mosaics
• Church of Santi Quattro Coronati with wonderful medieval frescoes in the secret chapel and a hidden cloister
• A stroll along the aqueduct built by the emperor Nero
• St.Stefano Rotondo - modeled on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
• Villa Celimontana with its lovely Renaissance gardens
• Santa Maria in Domnica with its vividly colorful 9th century mosaics and the Navicella

MOMENTS OF SPLENDOUR

• St.Maria in Trastevere and a stroll through characteristic Trastevere - the Rome of Romans
• Porta Settimiana and nearby Via della Lungara
• Palazzo Corsini - 17th century
• Villa Farnesina or Palazzo Spada
• 15th Century Ponte Sisto over the Tiber
• Via Giulia - so named for Pope Julius II of Sistine Chapel fame
• Fountain of the Mascherone
• St.Maria dell'Orazione e Morte - the Church of St.Mary of Prayer and of Death
• Piazza and Palazzo Farnese - epitome of high Renaissance architecture
• Campo dei'Fiore - the most famous open-air food market in Rome (available only for morning walks)

This walk includes a visit to one of two illustrious Roman noble residences. Depending on opening hours and time of day, we will visit either the Villa Farnesina designed by Peruzzi and frescoed by Raphael or else the Palazzo Spada with Borromini's Perspective Trompe L'Oeil and the famous Spada art gallery. The Spada Collection is one of the few noble family art collections where the paintings are still hung as originally displayed and so gives one a good idea of how the private family collections looked when they were acquired.