Aqua Claudia Two-Bedroom Apartment facing the Aurelian Walls

The apartment is facing the largest ancient Roman monument in the city: the Aurelian Walls. The closest point of the Walls to my apartment is one of its most intriguing and complex points: the Porta Maggiore.

Tram-tracks and traffic knot themselves around through aqueducts, a grand tomb, and ancient fortifications with the inescapable Roman insouciance.
Literally meaning “the great gate”, the name of the Porta Maggiore is (as labels in Rome so often are) misleading. Whilst the two heftily rusticated and imposing arches of creamy travertine were put to use over two centuries after their construction as a gate in the city’s fortification, the original purpose was quite other.

The travertine section was originally built as part of an aqueduct. It was built using local pale limestone instead of the (cheaper, rougher) grey/brown tuff of the rest of the structure to provide a more attractive view to those entering the city by the roads its two arches once straddled: the vie Praenestina and Labicana.

Just few steps from the Aurelian Walls you can admire the Basilica of The Holy Cross in Jerusalem.
The parish of Holy Cross in Jerusalem was established in the year 1910 by the Pope St. Pius the Tenth.
The Basilica of the Holy Cross is part of the route of the “Seven Churches” that ancient pilgrims used to visit on foot.

Near the Basilica, next to the walls of the Castrense Amphitheatre, there is the so called "Chapel of Our Lady of Good Help (Nostra Signora del Buon Aiuto)". The story is told that Pope Sixtus IV was caught in a violent storm and took shelter in the lee of the Aurelian Walls where he was protected by an image of Mary. Right there, in 1476, he built what is now called the “Chapel of Our Lady of Good Help”.

This is also a residential area with all essential shops at a real step distance (3 minutes): pharmacy, butchery, supermarket, bakery, laundry, bar.
Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday local farmers offer their organic veggies to buy in the morning. till 1 pm.

Of course you can easily order food at home by using local apps as Glovo. UberEats, Deliveroo or JustEat.

There are some nice restaurants at step distance (really 3 minutes).
Our favourite is "Osteria La Sol Fa" if you like to taste the original roman cuisine.
Alternatively there is a fish restaurant and a chinese one in the same street.