The Suburra & Nero Walk
Rome, Italy
This walk explores Rome’s Suburra, where imperial monuments stood beside crowded insulae, taverns, and the rough everyday life described by ancient writers. It traces the area’s contrasts through the imperial forums, prisons, and triumphal arches, as well as the buried remains of Nero’s Domus Aurea after the Great Fire. Later, Renaissance artists descended into those underground chambers and copied the decorations that inspired the word “grotesque.”
The stops
- 01 Arch of Titus / Arco di Tito
The Arch of Titus is a 1st-century Roman triumphal arch erected after Titus’s death to celebrate his victory in the Jewish War and the sack of Jerusalem. Its reliefs famously depict the spoils carried in the triumph, including the menorah.
- 02 Criptoportico Neroniano (Neronian Cryptoporticus)
This underground Neronian corridor is a rare surviving trace of the emperor’s palace landscape and helps visitors imagine the scale of the Domus Aurea complex. It is one of the most direct connections to Nero’s Golden House on the route.
- 03 Arch of Nero
Arch of Nero is a now lost triumphal arch dedicated to the Roman emperor Nero that was located in Rome, Italy.
- 04 Insula dell'Ara Coeli
The Insula dell'Ara Coeli is one of the few surviving examples of an insula, the kind of apartment blocks where many Roman city dwellers resided.
- 05 National Museum of the Palazzo di Venezia
One of the earliest Renaissance palaces in Rome, displaying immense artistic and architectural evolution.
- 06 Trajan's Column
Masterpiece of Roman imperial art and engineering commemorating Trajan's victories, influencing later Renaissance artists.
- 07 Foro di Nerva / Forum of Nerva
The Forum of Nerva, also called the Transitorium, was a narrow imperial forum built under Emperor Nerva and completed under Domitian. It linked the earlier fora and was known for its decorated colonnades and temple front.
- 08 Mamertine Prison
Ancient dungeon overlooking the Roman Forum, reflecting the harsh penal and slum realities of early Rome.
- 09 Casa Aurea di Nerone / Nero's Golden House
Nero’s Golden House, or Domus Aurea, was the lavish palace complex built by Emperor Nero after the fire of 64 CE. Its extravagant decoration and later burial beneath later construction made it an important archaeological site.
The narration at every stop is in the app — this is the map of where it takes you, with a line on each stop.
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Walk The Suburra & Nero Walk with a voice in your ear.
Download Odyssey Guide on iPhone to start this walk.
Download on the App StoreiPhone · iOS 16 and later