Blue Guide Rome

Not for the superficial or uninitiated

Rating Star: 5

By John D. Wynn
Format: Paperback

The Blue Guides are uniformly outstanding, but you have to know what you are getting: detailed descriptions of art and architecture with myriad discussions of dates and names and places and little background for the less initiated. This is not for the casual reader with a superficial knowledge of history and little interest in every duke, lord, prince and princeling, architect, architect’s assistant, architect’s mentor or mid-career vs later-career predilection. It’s a dense, heavy book to lug around, and the extra effort is amply rewarded – if this is the kind of detail that you like.

Blue Guide Rome

Scholarly and readable: an indispensable guide to Rome

Rating Star: 5

By Anne Redmon
Format: Paperback

We bought the Blue Guide to Rome for our second visit to the city in six months: this was because the Michelin Guide we had used before gave us only cursory information on the sites we had visited then. Rome was not, of course, built in a day and any of its major treasures certainly take at least half a day to see adequately. The Blue Guide is scholarly and perhaps too heavy-weight for quick tourism but if you have been bitten by the Roman bug and really want to delve then this is for you. It is written in clear language and the index makes it easy for you to dive in at any level you want. Now I have come home I want to pick it up again and pore over it, revisiting in my mind the places that we saw. We were particularly interested in San Clemente. My husband visited it alone in December because I had a tummy bug at the time and he had only the Michelin for company. This time we went together and spent an entire morning there with the Blue Guide taking us all the way from the Temple of Mithras on the lowest level right up to the stunning mosaics in the church itself. We could hardly tear ourselves away.

Pilgrim’s Rome

LOVE

Rating Star: 5

By MAS
Format: Kindle ebook

Blue Guides are the best of the best. I’m not Catholic but I am Christian and wanted a book that gave fantastic Biblical history of Rome. This book is unbiased, detailed, and very easy to read and enjoy. Next purchase Blue Guide Venice and Rome.

Pilgrim’s Rome

A pocket-sized guide, which packs quite a punch…

Rating Star: 5

By David Lown
Format: Paperback

For centuries Rome has been a magnet for pilgrims. They first arrived by foot or on horseback; they now arrive, more often than not, by train or aeroplane. Their means of transport might have changed, but their reasons for travelling hasn’t. As a place of pilgrimage, Rome is second only to Jerusalem in terms of importance. It was the site of some of the first Christian communities. It is the burial place of countless saints and martyrs. It is home to more than 900 churches and is, of course, the residence of the Bishop of Rome, also known as the Vicar of Christ and the Pope, which we learn are just a few of the Holy Father’s many titles. The first two chapters are devoted to Peter and Paul (Rome’s patron saints) and the sites associated with them. The author then moves on to the seven Patriarchal basilicas and the Catacombs. Much of the rest of the book is devoted to churches in general. There will always be quibbles in a book of this size over why some churches were selected, while others were omitted (why, for instance, Sant’Alfonso and not Santa Maria della Pace?), but that is inevitable. The book ends with a series of short entries on subjects such as Papal Indulgences and Stational Churches, which I found particularly interesting.

In writing a guidebook for Christian travellers to Rome, Ms Barber has become part of a long and venerable tradition, which dates back to the fourth century. However, unlike many of her predecessors, this author wears her knowledge lightly and is not above enlivening the text with the occasional anecdote. Believers and non-believers, first time visitors and veterans, all should slip this book into their pockets the next time they visit the Eternal City.