College News

History in Rome

A group of A Level History students from QE recently visited Rome.

Head of History, Gary Darby comments:

‘It’s the fourth time the History Department has travelled to Rome and this year 44 students and 5 members of staff were involved.  The visit was tailored to enhance the learning of both Modern and Tudor History and the experience was enjoyed by all.

We stayed in the heart of the old city in the Hotel Pomezia and were within walking distance of the Campo d’Fiori and the Renaissance square, the Piazza Navona.  Each evening we ate in a local restaurant and had a number of walking tours visiting the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, the Trastevere district and an ice cream parlour which boasted over a hundred different varieties of ‘gelati’.

All students toured the Vatican (with a guided tour of the Sistine Chapel), the Colosseum, the Pantheon and the cliff top monastery at Monte Cassino which is one hour south of Rome by coach. Monte Cassino has a sixth century Benedictine monastery and is the site of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. At other times we broke up into two groups with the Modern students visiting Mussolini’s villa, the Museum for the Liberation of Rome and the EUR district of Rome which features a number of examples of Fascist architecture. The Tudor students visited Il Jesu church, the original Jesuit church, the Castel Sant’Angelo and the Capitoline Museum.

The whole trip was a resounding success and I am sure that students will look back with fondness on a wonderful experience in a magical and historic city.’