Major Cities of the World

Rome-Italy

Rome is the capital city of Italy and of the Lazio region, as well as the country's largest and most populous comune, with about 2.7 million residents (October 2006, demo.istat.it). Its metropolitan area is Italy's third, after Milan and Naples. It is located in the central-western portion of the Italian peninsula, where the river Aniene joins the Tiber. The Mayor of Rome is Walter Veltroni.
Rome is also identified with the Catholic Church and the holders of its episcopal seat are the popes. An enclave of Rome is the State of the Vatican City, the sovereign territory of the Holy See and smallest nation in the world.
Rome, Caput mundi ("capital of the world"), la Città Eterna ("the Eternal City"), Limen Apostolorum ("threshold of the Apostles"), la città dei sette colli ("the city of the seven hills") or simply l'Urbe ("the City"), is thoroughly modern and cosmopolitan. As one of the few major European cities that escaped World War II relatively unscathed, central Rome remains essentially Renaissance and Baroque in character. The Historic Centre of Rome is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Geography and climate
Rome is in the Lazio region of central Italy, at the confluence of the Aniene and Tiber (Italian: Tevere) rivers. Although the city center is about 24 kilometers inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea, the city territory extends to the very shore, where the south-western Ostia district is located. The altitude of Rome ranges from 13 meters above sea level (in Piazza del Popolo) to 120 meters above sea level (the peak of Monte Mario).[citation needed] The comune of Rome covers an overall area of about 1,285 square kilometers, including many green areas.
Rome enjoys a typical Mediterranean climate which characterizes the Mediterranean coasts of Italy. It is at its most comfortable from April through June, and from mid-September to October; in particular, the Roman ottobrate (ottobrata can roughly be translated as "beautiful October day") are famously known as sunny and warm days. By August, the temperature during the heat of the day often exceeds 32° C (90° F); traditionally, many businesses would close during August, and Romans would abandon the city for holiday resorts, but this trend is weakening, and the city is increasingly remaining fully functional during the whole summer, in response to growing tourism as well as change in the population's work habits. The average high temperature in December is about 14° C (57° F).


City layout and sites of interest
The historical centre ville is dominated by the traditional "Seven hills of Rome": the Capitoline, Palatine, Viminal, Quirinal, Esquiline, Caelian, and Aventine hills. The Tiber flows south through Rome, with the city centre located where the midstream Tiber Island facilitated crossing. Large parts of the ancient city walls remain. The Servian Wall was built twelve years after Gauls' sack of the city in 390 BC; it contained most of the Esquiline and Caelian hills, as well as the whole of the other five. Rome grew out of the Servian Wall, but no more walls were constructed until 270 AD, when Aurelian began building the Aurelian Walls. These were almost twelve miles long, and was still the wall the troops of the Kingdom of Italy had to breach to enter the city in 1870.
The ancient city within the walls covers about four percent of the modern municipality's 582 square miles. The old city is the smallest of Rome's twelve administrative zones. The walled city center is made up of 22 rioni (districts) , surrounding it are 35 quartieri urbani (urban sectors), and within the city limits are six large suburbi (suburbs). The comune of Rome located outside the municipal boundaries about doubles the area of the actual city.
The belt Highway known as Grande Raccordo Anulare (G.R.A.) describes a huge circle around the capital, about six miles out from the city centre; unlike most Italian highways, the G.R.A. is toll-free. The circle ties together the antique roads that led to Rome: the Via Flaminia, Via Aurelia, Via Salaria, Via Tiburtina, Via Casilina and Via Appia. Large amounts of modern apartment buildings are located in the districts outside the centre, where contemporary architecture has not gone unnoticed. Many street frontages and show windows often change to keep up with the times and the Romans have succeeded in blending the old and the new.
Though relatively small, the old city center contains about 300 hotels and 300 pensioni, over 200 palaces, 900 churches, eight of Rome's major parks, the residence of the President of the Italian Republic, the houses of the Parliament, offices of the city and city government, and many great and well-known monuments. The old city also contains thousands of workshops, offices, bars, and restaurants. Millions of tourists visit Rome annually, making it one of the most visited cities in the world.
The city of Rome surrounds the Vatican City, the enclave of the Holy See, which is a separate sovereign state. It hosts Saint Peter's Square with the Saint Peter's Basilica. The open space before the basilica was redesigned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, from 1656 to 1667, under the direction of Pope Alexander VII, as an appropriate forecourt, designed "so that the greatest number of people could see the Pope give his blessing, either from the middle of the façade of the church or from a window in the Vatican Palace" (Norwich 1975 p 175). In Vatican City there are also the prestigious Vatican Library, Vatican Museums with the Sistine Chapel, the Raphael Rooms and other important works of Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, Giotto, Botticelli.
The list of most important museums and galleries of Rome includes: the National Museum of Rome, the Museum of Roman Civilization, the Villa Giulia National Etruscan Museum, the Capitoline Museums, the Borghese Gallery, the Museum of Castel Sant'Angelo, the National Gallery of Modern Art.