GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT ROME

Rome is the capital and largest city of Italy and of the Lazio region. It is famous for being the home of the ancient Roman Empire, the Seven Hills, La Dolce Vita (the sweet life), the Vatican City and Three Coins in the Fountain. Rome, as a millennia-long center of power, culture (having been the cradle of one of the globe’s greatest civilisations ever) and religion, has exerted a huge influence over the world in its roughly 2800 years of existence.

The historic centre of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With wonderful palaces, thousand-year-old churches, grand Romantic ruins, opulent monuments, ornate statues and graceful fountains, Rome has an immensely rich historical heritage and cosmopolitan atmosphere, making it one of Europe’s and the world’s most visited, famous, influential and beautiful capitals. Today, Rome has a growing nightlife scene and is also seen as a shopping heaven, being regarded as one of the fashion capitals of the world (some of Italy’s oldest jewelry and clothing establishments were founded in the city).

With so many sights and things to do, Rome can truly be classified a “global city”.

Climate

Spring is a relatively mild and rainy season. The temperatures remain cool until mid-April. In May the first warmer days arrive but the sea breeze keeps it cool.

Summer, from June to August, is hot and sunny. Clear days are the norm especially in July and August. On hot days the temperature touches easily 34/35 °C, and every year it reaches for a few days 37/38 °C. It goes better on the Roman coast, where the daytime temperature can be a few degrees lower .

than in the city center. Autumn, from September to November, is mild and humid, with sunny days alternating with periods of cloudy skies and rain, which gradually becomes more frequent. There’s no shortage of sunny days, at least in the first part; in October the nice and almost summer-like days are frequent especially in the first half of the month. In November, the rains are frequent and the temperature decreases fairly rapidly: at the beginning of the month the temperature is often very mild, while at the end of the month, the weather is often similar to that of winter.

Winter, from December to February, is quite mild, given that the average temperature in January is about 7.5 °C. There’s no shortage of sunny days, which can be mild, but it often gets cold at night, with lows around freezing or slightly above. Cloudy periods, accompanied by wind and rain, are milder, especially at night, because of the wind from the south, and cloud cover which is able to prevent nocturnal cooling. In early December, an autumn-like weather can still prevail, and abundant rainfall. In the second half of February, in some years you can already see the first spring-like days.