THIS week's diary comes from Rome. For my wife and I, this was our first visit and after reflecting upon our experience, we realise it was one of the most memorable of our journeys. The wealth of history both ancient and modern, the awe-inspiring works of art, the incredible marble sculptures which adorn the streets, the magnificent buildings and churches and of course Rome's eternal role in the progress of Christianity all combine to present a breath-taking experience.

With so much to see and so many places to visit, it is difficult knowing where to start, and one experienced traveller said we should not attempt to visit any of the main attractions as a first choice. They should be left until later when they would become a climax after trips to lesser-known places, and he also recommended we walk to all our destinations.

He was right - there is no better way of seeing Rome. Our travel agent selected a riverside hotel midway between the Vatican and Spanish Steps, a ten-minute stroll from each. We were also within walking distance of a bewildering selection of prime sights with the banks of the River Tiber, known in Rome as the Tevere, only yards away.

We began our exploration at the Spanish Steps, one of the most famous sights in Rome although neither particularly historic nor indeed very imposing. Their name comes from the headquarters of the Spanish ambassador to the Holy See which once occupied the piazza at the foot of the steps. This wide and steep flight of stone stairs is a meeting point for a multinational crowd who either climb to the summit for the view of Rome or merely sit on them to enjoy the atmosphere.

Nearby though, is the house where the poet John Keats died in 1821; it is now a museum dedicated to both Keats and Shelley and at the foot is a famous English tearoom known as Babbingtons. This was founded in 1896 by a pair of English spinsters and is renowned for the quality of its very expensive tea. And leading into the Piazza di Spagna at the foot of the steps is Via Condotti, Rome's most exclusive shopping street.

With a tight programme, we opted the following day for the Vatican museums and library along with the Sistine Chapel. Due to the enormous queues for this complex, it meant an early start - we intended arriving at the doors by 8.15 but I mistakenly thought the Sistine Chapel was part of St Peter's Basilica and so, after passing through St Peter's Square and some security checks, we found ourselves inside an almost deserted church.

THE sheer scale, awesome splendour, history and religious impact of this spiritual focus of the Catholic Church is overwhelming. It is built on Vatican Hill which, in the time of the Emperor Nero (AD 37-68), was known as Ager Vaticanus. This was the site of both a circus and Nero's gardens and now includes the mighty church and St Peter's Square. In the centre of St Peter's Square stands a plain obelisk brought to Rome by the Emperor Caligula; legend says it contains the ashes of Julius Caesar and another claim is that it now holds a fragment of the True Cross.

When the Apostle Peter came to Rome to establish the Church as its first pope, he and his followers were faced with intense persecution. Peter and several of his brethren were martyred by Nero in about AD 64, and buried on Vatican Hill. Their tombs, including St Peter's, were discovered in 1936 during excavations seven metres below the Basilica of St Peter and provide evidence of earlier pilgrimages to the site.

At Peter's death, a modest shrine was erected here but in AD 324, the Emperor Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor of Rome, built the first basilica on the site. It was Constantine who, after seeing a vision of Christ's cross superimposed on the sun, issued an edict in AD 313 in which he recognised Christianity as one of the religions legally permitted within the Roman empire. It was also Constantine who presided over the famous Council of Nicea in AD 325 at which the famous Nicene Creed or Credo was formulated to set out the basic beliefs of the Catholic Church.

We returned here for Sunday mass, along with thousands of pilgrims from around the world - including 200 from the Middlesbrough diocese.

Inside the church are treasures galore, including Michaelangelo's statue of St Peter, Bernini's high altar canopy and far too many to list in this short piece and so, after a quiet tour we headed for the Sistine Chapel which lies in the middle of the complex containing the Vatican museums and library. This is the largest museum complex in the world, consisting of 1,400 rooms filled with riches. There are Greek, Roman and Etruscan sculptures, Renaissance paintings, books, maps, frescos and tapestries.

To examine everything would take about two full days with some four-and-a-half miles of walking, but if it's art that interests you, you'll find works by Gaugin and Picasso, or Salvador Dali and Henry Moore, or former papal suites decorated with frescos by Raphael.

In the library are books and documents "from various centuries" as one leaflet described them, but the centrepiece is surely the astonishing Sistine Chapel.

The chapel, in which the conclave of cardinals meets to elect a new pope, was built by Pope Sixtus IV between 1475 and 1480 and it was Pope Julius II who commissioned Michaelangelo in 1508 to paint the ceiling. It took him four years to complete the work which consists of more than 300 individual figures which he painted while lying on his back in extremes of heat and cold. The centrepiece is his Creation of Adam, known throughout the world, while behind the altar is his Last Judgement begun for Pope Paul III in 1534 and finished in 1541.

We joined the crowd as officials repeatedly called for silence and respect, for this is a church, but millions of pilgrims from around the world continue to be awe-struck by this world-class masterpiece.

IT is impossible to get away from churches in Rome. Whereas some city skylines are filled with tower blocks, Rome's is crowded with church domes; on leaving the Vatican, we made for the Piazza Navona for an outdoor meal but en route popped into the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, founded in the eighth century on the site of a pagan temple to the goddess Minerva. Unimpressive from the outside, it is astounding inside. Apart from its immense size and breathtaking decor, one of its statues is the Risen Christ, yet another work by Michaelangelo (1521) and there are frescos of St Thomas Aquinas, the tomb of St Catherine of Sienna, the tombs of popes and much, much more.

We popped into several more churches, each seemingly more splendid than the last, but hadn't time to visit Santa Maria Maggiore where mass has been celebrated every single day since it was built in AD 430.

Then there is the Pantheon, a temple built by Hadrian between AD 118-128 which became a Catholic church in AD 609 - it was being prepared for a wedding with musicians rehearsing as we stood in awe within this ancient monument.

We found Piazza Navona with its array of open air cafes and settled down for a meal. But even here we are surrounded by history. This piazza is 2,000 years old and its elliptical shape hints at its former use as a stadium and racetrack. It was Emperor Domitian who built the stadium in AD 86 when it was used for athletic games and it continued to be used for this purpose until the Middle Ages; later, festivals and competitions were held here until it was rebuilt in 1644 by Pope Innocent X. Here is Bernini's famous Fountain of the Four Rivers (1651) along with other noted statues, including buildings such as the Brazilian embassy.

We felt compelled to visit the Fontana di Trevi (the Trevi Fountain) which featured in the film Three Coins in a Fountain and although it is illegal to throw in coins, its base is covered with money which is collected for the Red Cross. One fountain was built here in 1453 by Pope Nicholas V who paid for it by taxing wine - the people complained, saying he had taken their wine to give them water - but the present fountain was commissioned by Pope Clement XII and finished in 1762.

And, finally, the Collosseum. Begun in AD 72 by the Emperor Vespassian and inaugurated by his son Titus in AD 80, its sheer scale defies imagination - how could anyone design and build this astonishing place 2,000 years ago? It could be flooded to stage replica sea battles and seated 55,000 people who watched gladiators fighting wild animals or one another.

It's amazing - but so is everything about Rome.

* Our picture accompanying Countryman's Diary last week was Healey church not Masham's. Apologie