Twenty-first stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023: Rome

The last stage of the Giro d 'Italia 2023 will take place entirely within the municipality of Rome Capital.

The magic of the 'Eternal City' will never cease to fascinate visitors: panoramas, sights, colours, scents and flavours engage all the senses in a harmony full of counterpoints in which, recalling the words of Goethe, "everything is as imagined yet everything is new".

Stretching across the seven hills that we all know – Palatine, Aventine, Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline and Caelian – the city owes its founding and development to the 'Blond Tiber' that runs through it: a true waterway with large harbours, demolished with the construction of the embankment walls in the late 1800s, it ensured the arrival of goods from the port of Ostia to the city centre.

Ponte Sisto, Ponte Sant’Angelo or Ponte Fabricio are just some of the many bridges that, together with Rome's grandiose monuments, hundreds of churches and spectacular fountains, make it the city with the highest concentration of historical, archaeological and architectural objects in the world. Around every corner, you can see magnificent works of 17th-century baroque, an example: Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers and Borromini's Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone in Piazza Navona.

Rome is also known as the 'Capital of Two States'. In fact, it is the only city in the world to host a foreign state, the Vatican City, the birthplace of Christianity, within its borders.

Vast parks and gardens dot one of the largest historical centres in the world, sprawling across what was once the private land of Roman noble families. We thus have Villa Borghese, Villa Doria Pamphilj, Villa Ada Savoia, Villa Torlonia, but also the vast Regional Park of the Appian Way, the Giardino degli Aranci, the Pincio and Janiculum Hill.

While it may be true that "all roads lead to Rome", the city's extensive food and wine scene certainly owes much to the various communities that have taken up residence within its walls for centuries.

A walk through the city's neighbourhoods becomes a journey through its many culinary specialities, which run the full gamut of flavours: the combination of refined nobility and a forthright populace gave rise to sophisticated recipes as well as simple and authentic ones, made with basic and often humble ingredients. Saltimbocca alla romana is thus complemented by the so-called 'fifth quarter', namely all the innards or less valuable parts of cattle and sheep.

Roman Jewish cuisine certainly deserves a mention and, of all its dishes, Carciofi alla Giudia, a tender heart of artichoke crowned by crisp golden leaves.

A glass of Frascati Superiore DOCG from the Castelli Romani area is a fine accompaniment to any meal, while sweet and fragrant Cannellino can be enjoyed with maritozzi (sweet buns), ciambelline al vino (wine cookies) or pecorino cheese.

On Sunday 28 May the route will start in the monumental setting of theEur and then head towards the sea and reach Ostia Antica, one of the largest and most important archaeological areas in Italy, second in size only to Pompei.

Turning back on itself, the route meets the complex of the Baths of Caracalla and skirts the Colosseum before reaching Piazza del Campidoglio, the heart of the capital, created based on a uniform design thanks to the genius of Michelangelo.

Crossing the Tiber, it reaches the Mausoleum of Hadrian, better known as Castel Sant'Angelo, once a defensive bulwark of the Vatican City. Having re-crossed the river, it takes in the Park of Villa Borghese before the finish line looms into sight on Via dei Fori Imperiali. A route that traces the life and history of Rome and embraces an area that reveals its wonders like a treasure chest: the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Piazza di Spagna and the Trevi Fountain are just some of the sights that await in the lively and bustling streets of the Eternal City.