Renaissance and Baroque
The Borgia Trail The leading personalities of the Spanish Borgia family of the 15th and 16th centuries are Rodrigo, who became Pope Alexander VI, and his mistress Vanozza Cattanei, mother of Cesare and Lucrezia. From St. Peter's Square we get a view of the Borgia Appartments in the Vatican before following the papal escape route to Castel S. Angelo. The nearby Palazzo Sforza Severini was built for Cardinal Rodrigo close to the home of Vanozza, who later used the Borgia bull in the coat of arms for an inn near Campo dei Fiori. The home of Johan Burckhard, the Master of Ceremonies of the Borgia Pope, is near Largo Argentina - his contemporary work 'At the Court of the Borgia' is a most reliable source. The Salita dei Borgia leads us to the location of the fateful supper party at which Don Juan was allegedly murdered by his brother Cesare. The tomb of Alexander VI has been in S. Maria di Monteserrato since 1881.
Fountains of Rome Shelley claimed that the fountains alone justified a journey to Rome. The legendary Trevi fountain is only one of the many. Designers and sculptors range from those of ancient Rome through Bernini and the Baroque to the 21st century. One route includes the fountain of the Naiads near the Baths of Diocletian, Moses, the Bees and Triton, Quattro Fontane and the fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona. Another includes the Capitoline fountains from the 2nd century AD, the Tortoises, Piazza Farnese, the Ponte Sisto fountain - originally on the opposite side of the Tiber - and the Barrel fountain in Trastevere.
 
The Michelangelo Trail   Two links between St. Peter's in Chains and St. Peter's Basilica are the statues of Moses and the Pieta - and there is much more concerning the life and work of Michelangelo Buonarotti. The church of SS. Apostoli was where his body lay before it was stolen by the Florentines. Piazza del Campidoglio is one of his major architectural achievements: his statue of Christ bearing the Cross is in S. Maria sopra Minerva. Palazzo Farnese and Via Giulia are on the route to S. Giovanni, the church of the Florentines, and Via della Conciliazione then leads to St. Peter's Square and the views of the dome of the basilica. Inside the basilica is the statue of the Pieta: the paintings of Michelangelo in the Vatican Museum require another tour.