In the age of over-tourism, the discovery of “hidden Italy” has become a cliché. Books list villages that supposedly are off the well-worn tourist paths but are often overrun by busloads of tourists. A short visit to a “hidden” village and lunch in a tourist-filled restaurant counts as tour guides’ reward for their clients. However, for dedicated students of Italian history and art, there are sites that lie only minutes from Rome’s historical center that provide fascinating insights into Italian history and culture.
One outstanding example is the two-thousand-year-old Roman mausoleum turned Catholic church, Santa Costanza. Of course, it is not hidden. In fact, like just about all historical sites in Italy, there is ample information about this mysterious monument on the web, a source of some of my information on this wonderful mausoleum.
