The Sapienza University of Rome that is also termed as the Sapienza – Università di Roma is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy. It is one of the largest European universities and the oldest of Rome’s three state-funded universities. The university was founded in 1303. The meaning of sapienza in Italian language is “wisdom” or “knowledge”. As according to an international ranking of the educational institutes, the Sapienza is placed at among the top 30 European universities. In 2010 QS World University Rankings placed the city in overall at the 190th spot in the overall ranking in the world.

The university was founded when the supremae praeminentia dignitatis was issued on 20 April 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII, as a Studium for ecclesiastical studies beneath his control more than the universities of Bologna and Padua. In 1431 Pope Eugene IV entirely approved the stadium with the bull. In supremae, in which he granted masters and students alike the broadest possible privileges and decreed that the university for having the four faculties of Law, Medicine, Philosophy and Theology. He therefore to meet out there introduced a new tax on wine so to raise funds for the university. That money later on employed as and housed the Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza church. When the sacking of Rome occurred in 1527, the studium was closed and some professors were dispersed. Pope Paul III revised the university immediately after his ascension to the pontificate in 1534.

In the 1650s the university renamed as Sapienza, meaning wisdom, and to the date is yet known by the same title and name.  In 1870, La Sapienza dethroned from the status of the papal university and became the University of the Capital of Italy. In 1935, the new university campus, planned by Marcello Piacentini, was completed. On 27 October 1935 the university became an aggregate of all the institutions of higher learning of university rank in the city of Rome. Since 1935 Sapienza University is under the control of the   Italian Government. At present by far it is the largest university in Rome and is a leading center of research and academic guidance in every field of knowledge and learning. The university has improved its research programmes in the areas of engineering, natural sciences, biomedical sciences and humanities. It has recently has gone into the collaboration with the British and American universities for education and learning.

Villa Doria Pamphili,

The Villa Doria Pamphili is a seventeenth century villa that contains the largest landscaped public park in Rome.  It is situated at the quarter of Monteverde, on the Gianicolo (or the Roman Janiculum), about outside the Porta San Pancrazio in the ancient walls of Rome where the ancient road of the Via Aurelia begin. It started as a villa for the Pamphili family and after them in eighteenth century passed out to the Prince Giovanni Andrea IV Doria and thus was recognized as the Villa Doria Pamphili.

The Villa Vecchia or ‘old villa’ was there already on the place well before the 1630, when it was priocured by Pamfilio Pamfili, who further added into it the neighboring   vineyards to keep up the much and bigger holding that is too popular as the Bel Respiro or ‘beautiful breath’ as it remain there on high ground, above the malarial areas of Rome, and provides the spectacular views that are much desired features of Baroque villa settings. In 644 Cardinal Giambattista Pamphili became elected to the papacy and ssuend the name of Innocent X. and according to his new status he made much advancement to the structure and building. In the modified new design there was structured a casino.

And around the central casino building there is a landscape garden keeping the exterior keeping statues providing a rich allure that typical to be very conservative to the present time as well. In the garden casino is set in a manner that on the hill slope the main entrance on the north side is at a level well above the giardino segreto or ‘secret garden’ having an enclosure from its  south side and a parterre garden with low clipped hedges. The garden on the sloping site was founded in around 1650 by Innocent’s nephew, Camillo Pamphili. Till the 18th   century there many regular features were spontaneously were added as fountains and gateways by Gabriele Valvassori and other architects.

At the defense of the short-lived Roman Republic in 1849–1850, Garibaldi hastily fortified three of the villas on the outskirts of Rome. The Villa Doria Pamphili was much closer to one of the fiercest hand- to-hand combat by the Porta San Pancrazio, as students joined Garibaldi’s to defend Rome from the French troops who finally reinstated Pope Pius IX. After that prince Doria-Pamphili bought the extensive Corsini grounds, and doubled the area of the extensive Villa Doria Pamphili’s and at the devastated villa’s site the monumental commemorative arch, which to the date is known to be the ‘Arch of the Four Winds’, that is primary passage to the Villa’s grounds. The Corsini casina presently is held for organizing temporary art exhibitions. Further the two sections of the extended villa grounds parted equally by a road.

The Biblioteca Casanatense (Casanata Library) situated at Via S. Ignazio is one of the popular libraries in Rome. The library was formed in 1701 by the Dominicans of the Monastery of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome.  The library opened to the general public as according to the will of Cardinal Girolamo Casanata. The library has about 25, 000 volumes. And since the year 1872, library is been managed by the Italian government. Presently, the library is under the control of the Ministry of Culture.

This particular library is a prominent service to the theological sciences by Cardinal Girolamo Casanata, as it was founded and promoted by him. During his lifetime he collected about 25,000 volumes that he left out for Dominican convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Along with books he provided an endowment fund of about 80, 000 scudi as per the administration of the trust and as for the holding of the new books. In the year 1655, the convent got about the library of Giambattista Castellani, the chief physician of Gregory XV, along with 12,000 scudi for standing the appropriate edifice. Cardinal Casanata, therefore, the new library was accessible to the public for about six hours daily, apart from the feast days.

More to the library, with, addition to the staff he provided the six Dominicans of different nationalities as  Italian, French, Spanish, German, English and  Polish with condition that each one of them should have a degree  of  Doctor from at least a famous universities of Europe. It was helped out by the resources of the library as to devote them to the defense and propagation of Catholic doctrine. By the means of this library the Cardinal tried to present Rome with another intellectual activity. After the loss of the secular power in 1870, the library was declared as a national property; however, the Dominicans were still in charge of the library until 1884.

In the collection of library there are about 64 Greek codices and about 230 Hebrew texts of about 5 are Samaritan codices. There is also a massive collection of Roman governmental proclamations from the period consisting 1500 to 1870 as well as comedies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Casanatense Library still keeps about 1125 manuscript volumes of opinions, reports, and statements. The present day library collection has about 400 000 volumes, about 6 000 manuscripts, 2 200 incunabula. The library keeps about medieval manuscripts, involving biblical manuscripts.

The Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the Church of Rome, Italy, and is recognized as the official clerical seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope. Officially named Archibasilica Sanctissimi Salvatoris et Sancti Iohannes Baptista et Evangelista in Laterano is the oldest and ranks first among the four Papal Basilicas or major basilicas of Rome. The cathedral is located outside the boundaries of the Vatican City and is the part of the Rome in the Italian Republic. More, it is provided as a special and important status of and as a property of the Holy seat. And this condition too is provided to the other buildings as well after the resolution to the Roman question with the Lateran Treaty. The Lateran Basilica is located close to the Lateran Palace.

The basilica is located above the remains of the Castra Nova equitum singularium, the ‘new fort’ of the imperial cavalry bodyguard. The fort was formed by Septimius Severus in AD 193, but after the victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge by Constantine I the guard was cancelled and the fort was entirely demolished. The remaining parts of the fort are buried deep below the basilica nave. The rest of the Basilica site was controlled during the early Roman Empire at the palace of the gens Laterani. The Laterani worked as an administrative center for many kings. Sextius Lateranus was the first working-class to attain the rank of consul. One of the Laterani, Consul-designate Plautius Lateranus, became famous for being accused by Nero of conspiracy against the emperor. The accusation resulted in the confiscation and redistribution of his properties. And many other remarkable incidents are related to this palace over here.

The present structure of the Basilica is though ancient, however, some parts of the original mosaic there has been preserved and seems like originated from the past and the ancient time and period. There are certain parts of the building that can be traced to the city walls as been preserved outside the Gate of St. John. There are three important portions of the Basilica, architecturally, are; the ceiling of the Basilica, Holy steps and Lateran Basilica.  Basilica despite being undergone trough various changes it shapes, it is yet still intact with its ancient forms. It is divided into the rows if columns into aisles and with a front a peristyle as being surrounded with along a fountain in the middle.

Holy Steps that is another attractive and catering structure to the Basilica, it is The Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs) that are the wooden steps encased with the marble steps as per the tradition of the Roman Catholicism. It leads to the praetorium of Pilate at Jerusalem, and therefore is approved by the footsteps of Jesus Christ during his Passion. In ancient times between the basilica and the city wall there used to be existed a great monastery where community of monks used to live during the ancient times and period. The only portion of that 13th century structure as existing at current time is a cloister as surrounded by gracefully twisted columns of inlaid marble and is known to be as Latern Cloister.

Colosseum is known to be the most famous and recognized landmark of the Ancient Rome. It was constructed around in 1st century AD and this huge arena had the seating capacity for around 45,000 spectators and was the largest Roman amphitheater of the world during that time. The arena was used for the ancient contests like gladiatorial combats, spectacles and to the extent of the execution of early believer of Christianity. In middle ages, the Colosseum was considered as the place of martyrdom and was being praised as a sacred place.

Foundation of the Colosseum was being laid by the Emperor Vespasian and the structure an artificial lake made by Nero in valley between Rome’s many hills, at the front of the Domus Aurea palace. At the time arena was used to be named as the Flavian Amphitheatre, after the name of the family of emperors who constructed it. The name “Colosseum” was not in use until 7th century, and derives its name from the colossal statue of Nero that once stood here. After Nero’s death, the statue was changed into the representation of Helios, the sun god. And it remained there till the Middle Ages and then further melted down for its bronze.

The amphitheatre at that time was in use and purposes of gladiatorial combats, mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas on the lore and legends of Classical mythology. The first festival of the Flavian Amphitheatre, that was the largest amphitheatre in the world, lasted for about 100 days, in which about 5,000 wild beasts were killed in the arena. Meanwhile, the Flavian Amphitheatre was kept on damaging due to fire and earthquake for several times and was continually being restored by the end of the 5th century. Finally, the gladiatorial fights were prohibited in the Arena by the Christian emperor Honorius in 407 and the fight with the wild beasts were banned in around 523. Honorius was inspired to ban the bloody spectacle of the gladiators due to a simple monk naming Telmachus who was killed while trying to stop the men fighting with each other.

From a visitor’s perspective, the exterior of the Roman Colosseum is formed of travertine that spends 527 meters around and is about four stories high. The arches of the second and third stories were kept with statues. In total there were 80 entrances to arena and of two were reserved for emperor and his accomplice. The arena had the support of about 5 meter high wall as to protect spectator from the attacks of the wild beasts. At the lower statue of Colossus statue of Nero after what the amphitheater has been named can be seen as the Colosseum and the nearby Temple of Venus and Roma.