Nero's Golden House where he used to stage lavish banquets and have elephants and other exotic animals parading through its corridors. Despite its proximity to the Colosseum, the now subterranean palace tends to be unfamiliar to all but those with a more expert knowledge of the city. Michaelangelo, Ghirlandaio and Raphael used to descend on ropes to take sketches of the beautiful frescoes by candlelight - Raphael was so inspired by what he saw that he used these as the basis for the decoration of the Loggia at the Vatican. Sadly a large section of the palace collapsed following heavy rainfall in 2010 and in true Italian style there has been chaotic bickering about the future of the restoration programme.