Palatine Hill - Rome, Italy

The Palatine Hill is located between the Roman Forum, the Velabrum and the Circus Maximus. To me it's one of the most beautiful sites in Rome. While walking through the gardens you feel as though you've been transported back to the mightily Roman era. The girls and I enjoyed walking through the gardens and imagining what it would have been like to live in those Ancient times. We even purchased a book that has overlays of then and now.

The Palatine Hill is one of the seven hills of Rome. It is probably the site of some of the first settlements, as traces of archaic houses from the 10th century BC has been found there. Roman mythology indicates the western side of the Palatine Hill as the site of the dwelling of Romulus, and the cave where Romulus and Remus were supposed to have been raised by the she-wolf. During the republican era the Palatine Hill was the preferred quarter for the ruling elite, and this tradition was continued when the roman emperors built their palaces on the hill. In the end the imperial palaces covered the entire hill.

The name of the hill has at least two possible etymologies. It can be derived from the Latin word 'palus', meaning marsh or swamp, with reference to the areas of the Roman Forum and the Velabrum before they were drained. Alternatively it can stem from 'Pales', an old pastoral deity, whose main feast was on April 21th, coinciding with the mythological date of the foundation of Rome. Later the word 'palatium' was associated as much with the imperial palaces as with the hill, and with time gave rise to the very word 'palace'.

From republican times the House of Livia, the House of Augustus and the House of the Griffins have survived. Not all parts of the hill is accessible to tourists, but the imperial palaces, the House of Livia, the House of Augustus, and the Farnese gardens can be visited.

Here are some more beautiful pictures of the gardens, architecture, and landscapes.