{"id":1595,"date":"2019-01-28T09:05:42","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T09:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.italyvacationspecialists.com\/blog\/?p=1595"},"modified":"2026-01-08T16:31:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T16:31:58","slug":"day-trip-from-rome-to-palestrina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.italyvacationspecialists.com\/blog\/day-trip-from-rome-to-palestrina","title":{"rendered":"Great Day Trips from Rome: Palestrina"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rome offers visitors so much to do, but like many capital cities, leaving it is sometimes the best way to discover what the country you are visiting is really like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palestrina is one of the many towns worth discovering in Lazio.  About 40 minutes east of Rome, it was once a popular summer escape for the Roman elite and a great place for you to escape and relax for a few hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Roman times it was known as Praeneste, home to Italy’s largest sanctuary; consisting of 5 terraces built up the hillside in a pyramid-shape, each connected by staircases and ramps, on a good day, it could be seen as far away as Rome.  At the top, was the Temple of Fortuna Primigenia, home to an oracle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Steps between the terraces in the sanctuary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eventually the modern town built up around it, but an impressive amount of the sanctuary remains.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can arrive in the town by car (and drive to the top), or by COTRAL bus from Anagnina Station (check out the times here: https:\/\/servizi.cotralspa.it\/PercorsiTariffe).  If you take the bus, you’ll get a great work out and some wonderful views on your way to the museum at the top!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Built around the sanctuary, Palestrina is a maze of steps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The museum is housed in the Palazzo Barberini, built on top on the temple right at the top of the sanctuary.  The first 2 floors contain artefacts from the sanctuary, accompanied by clear, informative explanations in Italian and English.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Many of the rooms of Palazzo Barberini are still covered in frescoes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The real prize of the collection is on the top floor, where you can see a model reconstruction of the sanctuary and the magnificent Nile Mosaic – a 1st BC mosaic showing the river from Ethiopia to the Mediterranean.  Egypt was a popular subject in Roman art at the time, though it is clear that the artist himself had never been there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Nile Mosaic once covered the floor of a grotto in the sanctuary.
Below: Details from the mosaic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n