Mirabilia Urbis Tours - Daniella Hunt's private tours of Rome

Mirabilia Urbis Tours: Discover the Wonders of Rome with Daniella Hunt’s Private Tours

If you’re traveling to Rome, Italy, treat yourself to one or more of Daniella Hunt’s private tours! Whatever your interests, a variety of itineraries will tickle your fancy. We can discuss ancient Roman engineering while admiring the Colosseum. Or perhaps while crossing a bridge built in 130 A.D. Art and history lovers will enjoy following the evolution of Christian art in mosaic-spangled churches. Or they might enjoy giggling at the risque interior decorating of a Renaissance villa. Choose the private visits that most interest you, and Daniella will bring their themes alive, whether you’re a single traveler, a couple, a family with kids, or a school group.

Daniella Hunt is an experienced and friendly American guide, who will offer you the benefit of her training, her ongoing research, her many years in Rome, and her linguistic expertise. If this is your first trip to Rome, one or more private visits with her will make “the standards” unforgettable. If you’ve been to Rome numerous times, she’ll gladly accompany you to less frequented attractions. In either case, she is willing to tailor visits to meet your needs.

Daniella Hunt’s private tours will tickle your curiosity and deepen your appreciation of Rome. While meandering through the city’s spectacular side-streets, artistic attractions, and archeological areas, you’ll start feeling Roman yourself!

What Does Mirabilia Urbis Mean, and Why Is It Synonymous with Touring Rome?

Guidebooks are nothing new. Around 1000 A.D., pilgrims, travelers and merchants coming to Rome were already using several different guidebooks (such as the one shown in the illustration to the right) to find and enjoy the Eternal City’s treasures. Mirabilia Urbis was just one of many titles that were circulating back then. The author remains anonymous. But its Latin title Mirabilia Urbis means “The Marvels of the City” — “the City” is Rome, of course!

So, Daniella Hunt welcomes you to Rome! And like the guidebook Mirabilia Urbis from centuries past, she hopes to heighten your appreciation of Rome’s treasures with her private tours.

For more information about Daniella Hunt, please visit her account on Linked In or, if you want to see her in action, check out the wacky videos on her YouTube Channel.

Explore Daniella Hunt’s Private Tours – Click here to see more

a view into the Columbarium of Pomponius Hylas

Underground Rome: The Columbarium of Pomponius Hylas

All my Visits, Ancient and Imperial Rome, Special Access Areas, Underground Rome

On the Via Latina, near the Sepulcher of the Scipios, is the Columbarium of Pomponius Hylas. Columbarium comes from the Latin columba, which means “dove.” A columbarium was literally a dovecot, where birds were raised for their eggs and as food. When cremation burials became common, ash-urns were deposited in small niches that were carved into tombs walls. The niches produced a dovecot effect, which gave this type of tomb its name.

Special Access Area: The Sepulcher of the Scipios

All my Visits, Ancient and Imperial Rome, Special Access Areas

Our visit takes us to the Aurelian Walls, where a small park nestles between the Via Appia and the Via Latina. In the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C., this was the boondocks of Rome. And the two roads bristled with tombs that, respecting ancient burial laws, were outside city limits.

Underground Rome: The Fountain of Via Annibaldi

All my Visits, Ancient and Imperial Rome, Special Access Areas, Underground Rome

"How can a city be built in layers?" you ask. It is common in Rome! Imagine hundreds, if not thousands, of ancient Roman buildings in brick and concrete collapsing... then add the filth and mud of floods... and voila', ground level rises! Incredible examples of this phenomenon can be seen at San Clemente, the Vicus Caprarius, and here at the Nymphaeum (or water feature) under Via Annibaldi...