Rome is buckling up for Holy Year Christmas, with extra security measures, new street lighting and metal detectors installed in major museums. In addition, the street hawkers have been cleared away in front of Termini railway station as well as the gladiators posing for photo shots in front of the Colosseum and other popular tourist spots.
Special pilgrim itineraries have been mapped out between the basilicas and the catacombs on the Old Appian Way, Via Ardeatina and Via Salaria.
An important initiative undertaken by Rome city council now means that there is wheelchair and pushchair access to the Roman Forum. The Roman Forum without Barriers project has involved creating 1.50 kms of ramps and level walkway alongside the Sacred Way, stretching from the Curia building to the Arch of Titus, a circuit that takes in 13 important monuments. Visitor experience has been enhanced with the addition of rest areas, shady corners and banks of scented herbs and plants and plans are underway to extend the facility to the Palatine in the spring.The Arch of Titus, near the Colosseum, has been supplied with a lift to raise wheeled carriages up to the modern road, 2 metres above. This is the completion of the 2013 project to facilitate disabled access to Rome's major archeological sites when a lift was installed at the entrance to the Roman Forum to overcome the problem of the 6-metre difference in level from the present Via dei Fori Imperiali to the heart of ancient Rome.
Info: Tel. 060608 www.area-archeologico-foro-romano
