| Rome (Roma), the capital of Italy, is known as the Eternal City because of its great antiquity. For centuries it was the most powerful city in Europe, capital first of the mighty Roman Empire, then of the Roman Catholic Church, which ruled Rome until the Vatican City was created as a separate sovereign state in 1929. Rome's compact and historic centre is full of ancient landmarks, such as the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, and the Coliseum. Christianity, born in the dying days of the Empire, contributed Rome's mosaic-filled churches-among them Santa Maria Maggiore and San Pietro in Vincoli-and its catacombs. The patronage of renaissance popes gave the city its fountains (including the famous Trevi Fountain), its statues, and its art-filled museums, such as the Borghese Gallery, while the people of Rome, vivacious and cosmopolitan, give the city, with its stylish shops and restaurants, its lively modern-day character.
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