Rome is the third-most-visited
tourist destination in the
European Union, and its historic
centre is listed by UNESCO as a
World Heritage Site. Monuments
and museums such as the Vatican
Museums and the Colosseum are
amongst the world's 50 most
visited tourist destinations
(the Vatican Museums receiving
4.2 million tourists and the
Colosseum receiving 4 million
tourists every year).
Rome's history as a city spans
over two and a half thousand
years, as one of the founding
and most powerful cities of
Western Civilisation. It was the
centre of the Roman Empire,
which dominated Europe, North
Africa and the Middle East for
over four hundred years from the
1st Century BC until the 4th
Century AD, and during the
Ancient Roman era, the city was
the most powerful in Europe.
