A city pack for the Moonlit Atlas book

Rome

Nearly two thousand years stand side by side in this set: the Colosseum with its broken ring beside St Peter's dome, and down on the street a red Vespa parked by the Trevi Fountain. Put it in your Moonlit Atlas, press the brass button, and Rome stands up under the moon.

The Moonlit Atlas book, closed: 8.1 × 6.7 × 2.5 in. With this pack, Rome is what folds flat inside it. Scroll to open it as the sun goes down over the domes.

Press the brass button. Two torsion springs lift the lid, a gear damper keeps it slow, and three rows of the city stand up with it, upright at 90°, St Peter's dome highest of all.

The Colosseum: round arches between half-columns, storey on storey, the lower arches lit from inside, and the broken side of the outer ring where the inner ring shows through. Rome left it standing that way, and so does this set.

Beside it, the tallest point of the set: St Peter's ribbed dome on its drum of paired columns, the lantern on top and statues along the facade, with three umbrella pines spreading their flat crowns at its shoulder.

One row down, the Pantheon: eight columns under a plain pediment, a low dome with its lit oculus ring and the obelisk fountain in the piazza. Beside it rise the white tiers of the Vittoriano, the monument Romans call the wedding cake.

On the street, the Trevi Fountain: Oceanus on his shell over two sea-horses and cascading rocks, gold coins in a turquoise basin. Ochre and terracotta houses with green shutters stand either side, and a red Vespa is parked at the end of the street.

At the front, the Tiber fills the tray in blue. Ponte Sant'Angelo crosses it on round stone arches, angels along its parapet, to the round brick drum of Castel Sant'Angelo with its own angel on top.

Lights out. Windows glow in the Colosseum's arches, around St Peter's drum and in the houses on the street, and the moon and stars come out over Rome. They glow in the dark: no batteries, no wires.

The four pieces of the Rome set out of the book, seen from the front right and a little above: in front, the blue river plate with white ripples, a sand-coloured stone bridge on arches with small white angels along its parapet, a round orange-brown brick castle drum with a green angel on top, landing steps and two small dark boats; behind it the street row with a red scooter, ochre, terracotta and pale yellow houses with green shutters and red tile roofs, a white fountain over a turquoise basin and a dark green cypress at each end; then the middle row with a travertine temple front with columns and a grey dome, and a bright white colonnaded monument with dark green bronze statues; at the back the travertine Colosseum wall with its arches and broken side, a cream church with a tan ribbed dome and statues, and three umbrella pines with flat green crowns — The four pieces of the set out of the book: the Tiber nearest you, the Colosseum and the dome at the back.

Ancient, baroque and modern, on one street

Rome never tears down the old city

It builds around it. A temple nearly two thousand years old still stands in its piazza; a scooter from the last century parks by a baroque fountain; the Colosseum keeps its broken side. This set is stacked the same way, every age on view at once, from the river in the tray to Michelangelo's dome against the moon.

The TiberBlue water with white ripples, Ponte Sant'Angelo and its angels, Castel Sant'Angelo, landing steps and a moored boat.
The streetThe Trevi Fountain with coins in its basin, ochre and terracotta houses with green shutters, two cypresses and a red Vespa.
Temple and marbleThe Pantheon and its obelisk fountain, and the white tiers of the Vittoriano with its winged bronze group.
The skylineThe Colosseum, St Peter's dome with the statues on its facade, and three umbrella pines.

Drag to turn the book. Tap a number for its story.

12 landmarks, from the dome to the river

Walk the set the way the film did, from the lantern on St Peter's dome down to the boat moored on the Tiber. Pick a landmark to see where it stands and what the model shows.

Up close

Travertine, terracotta and the blue Tiber

The street row of the Rome set seen from the front: in the middle a white fountain with a standing figure in an arched niche over white rocks and two sea-horses, spilling into a turquoise basin with gold coins; either side ochre, terracotta and pale yellow houses with red tile roofs, pale yellow-green windows between green shutters, green doors and a black iron balcony; a red scooter with a cream seat at the far left and a dark green cypress at each end; behind them a travertine temple front with columns at the left and the bright white colonnade of a marble monument with pale yellow-green panels and a dark green bronze group; a grey street strip and the navy frame below — The Trevi Fountain on its street: Oceanus over his sea-horses, coins in the basin, and a red Vespa parked at the corner.

The whole Rome set in the open navy book, seen from the front over the water: at the back the travertine Colosseum wall with lit arches, a cream church with a ribbed dome and umbrella pines against a dark indigo panel with cream stars; in front a travertine temple with columns and a grey dome, and the bright white colonnaded monument with dark green bronze statues; then the street of ochre and terracotta houses with green shutters, a white fountain over a turquoise basin, a red scooter and two cypresses; in the cream tray, the blue river with white ripples, a sand-coloured arched bridge with white angels on its parapet, a round brick castle drum and a small brown boat — The whole set from the river: the angels' bridge in the tray, the street behind it, and the Colosseum and the dome against the night.

The skyline of the Rome set under a large pale moon and cream stars on a dark indigo panel: at the left the travertine Colosseum wall with four storeys of round arches, some lit pale yellow-green, stepping down on its broken right side; in the middle a cream church facade with small statues along the top and a tan ribbed dome on a drum of columns with a slim lantern; at the right three umbrella pines with flat green crowns on brown trunks; in front, a travertine temple front with columns and a grey dome, and the white tiers of a marble monument with a dark green bronze group; red tile roofs along the bottom — The skyline: the Colosseum's broken ring, St Peter's dome and the umbrella pines, with the Pantheon and the Vittoriano in front.

Already have the book?

New York off, Rome on

Say your book holds New York. Each row clicks onto its frame with two magnets and two V-keys. Lift it straight up and it comes free.

Once New York's three rows are off, lift its harbor plate out of the tray.

Drop in the Rome plate: the blue Tiber, with the angels' bridge and Castel Sant'Angelo.

Set the Rome rows on, back to front, the Colosseum and the dome first. The magnets pull each row home. New York goes back on the same way, and Rome comes back whenever you want it, no coin in the Trevi needed.

What's in the Rome pack

The set

Three building rows and a Tiber plate that drop into your book and click onto its frames with magnets. No batteries: after a lamp has charged them, the windows glow brightest for 30 to 60 minutes.

Weight: about 5.8 oz 165 g
Made from: PLA
Building depth: up to 0.47 in, so the rows fold flat 12 mm

The closed Moonlit Atlas book: navy cover, cream page block and a brass button

Add-on: needs the Moonlit Atlas book

Rome needs a book to stand in

This pack is the city only. It stands up inside the Moonlit Atlas book, which is sold separately. The rows click onto the book's frames, so Rome swaps with New York or any other city set in seconds.

See the Moonlit Atlas book