As the world's most beautiful ghost town begins to emerge from quarantine, Romans are stepping slowly out into the spring sunshine, greeting their home city like a long-lost friend, relishing with new eyes its faded grandeur, its ruins, fountains and noble palaces.

Over the last two months, nature has reclaimed the city: the once-thronged piazze are now tinged with green carpets of grass. Museums remain closed, with hopes to reopen in mid-May; restaurants and bars have reopened for take-away, with the hope of opening their doors, under strict conditions, in early June.