Kids

If you think that visiting the Vatican will be boring for kids, think again! The Vatican Museums offer children a unique and unrepeatable adventure. The tour that we propose, with children specifically in mind, is led by a guide who knows well the preferences and interests of young visitors, and therefore they will be enriched by the anecdotes and details which will leave them enchanted. Beginning with the history of the Vatican, the smallest sovereign state in the world and governed by an absolute monarch, the Pope, the children will satisfy their curiosities discovering, for example, that still today the popes are elected in the Sistine Chapel and that during the conclave the cardinals gathered cannot leave the Chapel to eat or to sleep, while waiting for the white smoke which will announce to the world that a new pope has been elected (habemus papam).

They will also enjoy hearing about the quarrels between Michelangelo and Julius II during the period in which the great artist painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and they will not believe their ears when they will hear that the genius not only worked alone and always standing on his feet, with his head up with paint dripping into his eyes, and that he worked only four years to complete the biggest masterpiece ever created by human hands. In the end, thirty years later, Michelangelo, painting the Last Judgment, played around with the faces of those who were condemned to hell, portraying his enemies! In the Pius-Clementine Museum the classical sculptures will be brought to life by the words of the guide, who knows how to relay to the children the most intriguing mythological stories. The optical illusions in the Gallery of the Arazzi will divert the young ones from the first signs of being tired.

The tour is designed to entertain a young audience but also to introduce them to the most important themes of art, history, and religion. Always, of course, while skipping the line!

A “strange” castle built as a personal and family tomb by Hadrian, the Emperor who reigned between 117 and 138 A.D., and who, more than any other, loved to travel all around his empire. The children will enjoy going back through the history of this exceptional site and will climb up to the splendid terrace with the angel, from which it is possible to enjoy a breathtaking view of Rome and the Vatican, to discover what the archangel Michael, sculpted on the top of the castle, is doing. Castle S. Angelo is an ideal spot for young travelers, considering the different transformations the monument has undergone over the course of the centuries, from a tomb to a papal fortress with embattled walls, bastions and moats, a prison, and a place of torture. From the Renaissance on the popes used it as a castle/fort: in case of danger they would literally run away from the vatican palaces crossing the famous secret passageway, known as “passetto” and from here they defended themselves with catapults, stone ammunition, and makeshift weapons: the same statues that adorned the ancient mausoleum of the emperor were used against enemies during the siege of the Goths. You will very much enjoy then this impressive castle and the gorgeous rooms of the papal apartments which were decorated in an elegant way by the most important artists of the time.

The most famous and recognizable monument of the classic era captivates visitors of every age, and surely the youngest too. Even though the Colosseum is one of the best-known icons in the world, seeing the monument in person exceeds the imagination, even the most audacious one! The same satisfaction had by the 90,000 spectators that the amphitheater held during ancient times is almost equal to that of today’s visitors, with the benefit of the added value of directly understanding the customs and traditions, interesting but conflicting with ours, that are unacceptable, if not revolting, if judged following the modern sensibilities and according to our current social norms. Everybody is astonished to learn that the land on which the most famous stadium of antiquity was built was initially occupied by a huge artificial lake that decorated the domus aurea and that the name Colosseum was used to indicate the famous monument for its vicinity to the colossal gilded bronze statue of the Emperor Nero. Many are horrified to find out that in the arena thousands of people were fed to wild beasts, executed, that countless number of animals were brutally slaughtered during the hunting scenes and that hundreds of gladiators died as a consequence of the bloody fights. So why then did Romans love to spend their time in the amphitheater?

In the Colosseum people were not only enjoying the shows, they would meet friends and debate with their fellow citizens, developed amorous relationships, they spun, sewed and played dice. In this journey through the centuries the young travelers will discover how the gladiators trained and how they nourished themselves, why they chose this career, why the Colosseum was a site so dear to the plebs and the aristocrats, to the senators and the emperor. They will understand why such a story, so ridden with blood, is still now one of the most fascinating of all time, and, actually, its content is always enriched with time. The Colosseum is an inerasable footprint of the ancient Rome in the contemporary landscape that reminds us that there is not just the past of this glorious city but also its present and future.

An enthralling itinerary to retrace the essential stages of Ancient Rome, from its foundation (754 B.C.) to the birth of the empire. From the legend of Romulus and Remus, nursed by a she-wolf and raised by the shepherd Faustolo and his wife in a hut on the Palatine Hill, to the history of Tarpea, on which the cliff still recalls the scream of the young vestal and of all of whom executed here, from the escape of Saturn, banished from Olympus and welcomed by Janus, the god with two heads, to the rape of the Sabine women, we will discover the customs and traditions of the Rome of the origins.

In the square of the Forum we will enjoy identifying the remains of the ancient monuments and understand who were the vestals and why their position was so sacred in Rome, the notorious “black stone” in the vicinity where Romulus was killed, the place in which the knight Curzio killed himself to save the fatherland and that the ancient people called the “navel” of Rome, a conical building in bricks considered the center of the city, with an underlying grotto called “mundus”, or better, the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The cave was opened three days a year, to put in communication the two worlds and allow one more time to the good souls the access to the earthly world. Then we will speak about the nymph Egeria and her prophecies, her friendship with the King Numa Pompilius, the Sibylline books and much more: the young travelers will be astonished to discover that in these sites, unique in the world, archeology and myth converge without contradicting one another contributing to the formation of an intriguing story of the origins of Rome in which truth and legend are indiscernible.

Are you ready to discover all of the secrets of this Roman hill before the cannon shoots at noon? Then join us to hear the stories of the god with two heads Janus and the thousands of characters who marked the history of the Janiculum, to the one of the brave soldier on horseback who unified all Italians. The cannon fires blanks everyday since 1904 but for the soldiers who daily set about to officiate the rite, always seems as the first time. We will walk together through the enchanting boulevards lined with century old sycamore trees and busts of distinguished Garibaldian, the heroes of the Italian Risorgimento who fought for the Roman Republic and who remain a great example of the fight for liberty for the country and for all of humanity.

Among the many statues, there is also one of Righetto, a child who lost his life defending Rome. At the end of this marvelous panoramic street we reach the square with a monument to Garibaldi, which offers a breathtaking view of the city. The tour also includes a visit to the Museum of the Roman Republic and Garibaldian memory, wisely organized, rich in exhibits, that makes use of helpful multimedia support for the reconstruction of the principal historical events of that time.

We suggest a trip back in time, across the universal history of mankind, in one of the most prestigious museums in the world of prehistory and ethnography. The museum is named after the founder and first director Luigi Pigorini, archaeologist, paleontologist and ethnographer among the most authoritative to have ever existed. He dedicated substantial efforts to the formation of this museum and thanks to his unstoppable passion, as well as proverbial willingness, he conquered the respect and acknowledgment of everyone. It is said that even Umberto I, receiving as a gift from the emperor of Ethiopia various objects of ethnological interest, exclaimed: “ You must send them to Pigorini otherwise he will come and get them”. Thanks to his activity it is possible to admire a rich collection of masks, headgear, jewelry, ancient boats (among which a wooden canoe over 8,000 years old) and prehistoric remains of undoubtable interest, among which the cranium of Circeo, the best preserved example in the world of a Neanderthal, who lived 50,000 years ago. Let’s also not forget the notorious Prenestina fable, the precious golden brooch from the VII century with the inscription containing the most ancient testimony of the Latin language. In short, it is an authentic and true treasure hunt and an adventure designed for children.

Two-thousand fossils on display in a prehistoric setting comprised of volcanoes, elephants and hunters: this is the enthralling scenery of the museum of Casal de’ Pazzi, in a suburban area of the city where in 1981 a tusk of an elephant was unearthed. Among the animal fossils found, that belonged to species today unthinkable in the Roman countryside, also aurochs (an extinct type of large wild cattle), hippopotamus, and rhinoceros. And also a fragment of a skull and many artifacts that point to the existence of a human settlement. The museum is perfectly organized and has suggestive projections which will help the young visitors to imagine what no longer exists: a pleistocene landscape in the heart of a modern metropolis, a unique opportunity to reconstruct the evolution of landscape and life in this area, starting from 200,000 years ago.

A tour dedicated to families with kids to see the main attractions of the city in a full or half- day, accompanied by a specialized guide and a private driver, to better move around the city without tiring out the young ones. Regardless of their age, the children will delve into the heart of city listening to the most interesting stories, the most curious legends, visiting monumental sites and their masterpieces. Pizza, gelato and great local food will make for an unforgettable experience. In order to visit Rome one life is not enough, but time is precious and the participation of the children requires special attention, and we know it!

Ancient City: starting at the Colosseum, we will also visit the Palatine and the Forum, reconstructing the customs and habits of the lives of ancient Romans.

Lunch Break Vatican: A visit to the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica of Saint Peter’s. A stroll through the historical center: the alleyways and the famous squares. A walk among the most characteristic streets of the city including the spectacular Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona, built upon the ancient stadium of Domitian where we can admire the splendid Four Rivers Fountain by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The tour will last a half-day and includes a visit to the ancient city or the Vatican and the walk through the historical center.