The Sports Hub Of Europe: Rome
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One of the very pertinent aspects of humanity is its obsessions with sports, sporting events or, for that matter, anything related to sports. Consequently, many people like to include sporting destinations onto their travel itinerary, and if a destination can be a conventionally rewarding place to visit while, at the same time, being able to cater to the sporting obsession of the tourists then it has to be included in the list of places to visit. Rome, the capital of Italy, is one such city.
The conventional attractions of Rome are more than well known in the world. Attractions like ancient architectural wonders, parks and gardens, fountains and aqueducts, art, music, theatre, food, catacombs, museums etc have been pulling tourists since time immemorial. However, there are other connections that the city uses to draw tourists than just the rich heritage or art, culture and architecture that it is known for. This is the sporting connection.
Since Rome’s heritage overshadows its sporting credentials, the sports connection does not get a lot of credit for its ability to pull fans and tourists from different corners of the world. Even so, Rome is home to one of the most bitter football rivalries ever known in the history of football. It cradles two clubs, namely SS Lazio and AS Roma whose derbies have dominated and defined the Italian sports culture for a long time now. The most well known football stadium in the city is the Stadio Olimpico, which is home to both the cities football clubs i.e. SS Lazio and AS Roma. The stadium is one of the biggest in Europe and can house up to around 73,000 people during a match.
Even apart from the rich football history of the city, it can also boast of other sporting achievements such as the 1960 Summer Olympics, 1934 and 1990 FIFA World Cups and the ATP Masters Series Tennis which is held every year. It should also be noted that Rome is in the running for the 2020 Summer Olympics and is expected to have a strong showing in the nomination process.
As is more than evident, Rome is a city that should be visited with the intention to not only enjoy all the wonderful structures that it houses but also the incomparable sporting history. The Stadio Olimpico is in a very central position in the city and hence is accessible from a variety of hotels and guest houses. Still, you should make sure that you have booked your rooms and your sporting event tickets well in advance because they can run out fairly fast if some sporting event is live in the city. The best way for you to do this would be through online websites that offer the same directly or through middle men.
