Palatine Hill

The Palatine is the hill where Rome says it began. Roman tradition put the she-wolf's cave, the Lupercal, at its foot and Romulus's founding of the city on its summit, and archaeology is not far off: huts of the early Iron Age have been found here. Later it was the smartest address in the Republic, and from Augustus onwards the emperors built over almost all of it, so thoroughly that the word "palace" comes from its name.

The site today is a large, green open-air museum. Its biggest structure is the palace of Domitian, built at the end of the 1st century AD, with the official wing usually called the Domus Flavia, and the private Domus Augustana. On the west side are the House of Augustus and the so-called House of Livia, known for its frescoes, close to the Temple of Cybele. Over the remains of the Domus Tiberiana are the Farnese Gardens, laid out in the 16th century when the Farnese family owned the hill. The Palatine Museum, in part of a former convent, holds sculpture and frescoes from the hill.

The rewards are space, greenery and a sense of layers: Iron Age huts, Republican houses, imperial palaces and Renaissance gardens on one hill. Paths lead down into the Forum.

Getting there

The Palatine rises in central Rome, beside the Colosseum. The quietest entrance is on Via di San Gregorio, a short walk from Colosseo station on metro line B. Ciampino Airport (CIA) is about 13 km away; Fiumicino is the main international airport.