If you’re in a city-centre design hotel, Rome and its magic is there waiting for you to discover. For over 2000 years visitors and travellers have had the same mystical attraction to the concept of the city. Why does it hold such appeal for the masses? Perhaps the key lies in its fascinating and turbulent history.
Classical Europe and the urge for order
For the inhabitants of the Europe of 2500 years ago, the world was a very different place to ours of today. Violence and warfare were endemic in many areas, trade was often put at risk and, as a result, law and order were hard to find commodities. However unpalatable to us the ideas of conquest and Empire are, it is a fact that the spread of Rome across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa introduced several centuries of relative order, peace – and for many, prosperity.
Of course, Roman civilisation had its drawbacks, including slavery and subjugation, but when the Empire finally fell in the west, chaos resulted for some centuries. The old problems of war and disorder resurfaced and, as a result, many Dark Age and Medieval people looked back, with nostalgia, to the idea of Rome having previously been a beacon of light, justice and order that had served people well.
Religious unity
While offering all the conveniences of a modern design hotel, Rome also proudly displays her ancient history and evidence of religious worship – through the many iconic religious structures and artefacts. But, while here you should take the opportunity to discover more about the city’s rich association with the history of Christianity.
From the late imperial period onwards, as Christianity spread across much of Europe it took with it its Rome-centric view of religious conformity. Many people therefore looked to the city as their spiritual home and this reinforced its mystical status in the imagination. The importance of visiting the city, both as a religious pilgrimage and as a link to the imperial continuity of the past, is shown by the fact that as early as 854 the young future King Alfred the Great was sent to visit the city – although one can be sure he was not afforded the comforts of a design hotel! Rome was a magnet to travellers, for many reasons, even back then.
The Renaissance and grand tours
Although the great artistic and intellectual re-discovery of the past, known as the Renaissance, had its origins in more northerly Italian cities, for many the capital quickly became an artistic and political inspiration. The great re-learned Roman philosophical traditions perceived to be based upon reason and, for many, were a welcome direct challenge to religious orthodoxy. Once again, the role of the city and its past began to grow to even more legendary proportions in the minds of many Europeans. Later on, generations of the rich from all over Europe would make a visit to he city an almost obligatory part of their European grand tour, in order to help them expand their intellectual horizons and re-discover their past.
Modern times
In today’s world, the eternal city continues to captivate the world’s imagination. Of course, this city is not just about its archaeology and the great people of the past.
Today it is a bustling capital of a united Italy and one that offers excitement and 21st century attractions to those visiting it.
When you enjoy the comforts and culture of a design hotel, Rome offers you a fantastic chance to explore the best of a cutting edge modern city blended seamlessly together with an incomparably rich history. It’s not to be missed!
