The external charm of the Coliseum has recently been spoilt by the cutting down of all the trees and destruction of the beautiful pomegranate gardens on the lower slope of the Esquiline, and the erection in their place of the most hideous and gigantic houses...
-from Walks in Rome

English aristocrat Augustus J.C. Hare filled his days with trips to the Continent, and returned home to share his journeys with eager readers-and the journals of his travels still enjoy a cultishly devoted readership today. His Walks in Rome was first published in 1871; this replica of the 15th edition, from 1900, offers a virtual walking tour of:

. the Corso and its neighborhood, including the Piazza del Popolo, the Temple of Neptune, and the Fountain of Trevia
. the Forums and the Coliseum, including the Temple of Mars, the House of the Vestals, and the Arch of Constantine
. the Palatine, including the Palace of Caligula and the House of Hortensius
. and much more.

Charmingly enthusiastic and obsessively detailed, this guidebook continues to be invaluable for today's travelers, and for those fascinated by the ongoing metamorphosis of a modern metropolis.

Also available from Cosimo Classics: Hare's Sketches in Holland and Scandinavia.

British travel writer Augustus John Culbert Hare (1834-1903) also wrote Epitaphs for Country Churchyards (1856) and Wanderings in Spain (1873).