By Susan Spano
Los Angeles
Times Staff Writer
May 30, 2008
I seldom see
people on bicycles in Rome,
probably because of the traffic and uneven pavement. Then, too, the Eternal City is full of hills, seven of which
are famous.
Aventine
Many Rome aficionados know this
hill south of the Forum because of the moderately priced Hotel Aventino, www.aventinohotels.com,
and its nearby sister hotels, the San Anselmo and the San Pio. They
occupy 19th century villas in a lovely, quiet residential neighborhood that,
for some, may be a little too far removed from the heart of the historic
center.
But the
Aventine has its own attractions, including a promenade on top that looks
across the Tiber River to Trastevere,
the early Christian Basilica of Santa Sabina and the Circus Maximus.
It's within walking distance of the Porta Portese Sunday morning flea
market in Trastevere and Testaccio,
a neighborhood known for butcher shops and, more recently, nightclubs.
Caelian
The Caelian
is the Aventine's
neighbor, between the Colosseum and the Baths of
Caracalla. As quiet as the Aventine and even more off the beaten track, it has
the church of Santi
Giovanni e Paolo, built on Roman ruins, the Villa Mattei, home
of the Italian Geographic Society, and three beautiful chapels attached to the church of San Gregorio Magno.
Capitoline
In Rome, where it's called the Campidoglio,
this hill is ground zero, the religious center of the ancient empire, a
government enclave in the Middle Ages and the
Renaissance and now the seat of the city's
mayor. Its views over the Forum are unparalleled, and the Capitoline's central square, created by Michelangelo, remains
one of the greatest spaces in Rome, despite the
looming presence of the Victor
Emmanuel Monument.
On top is
the Capitoline Museum,
with its priceless collection of ancient art, including an Etruscan bronze
statue of the mythological wolf that suckled Rome's founders, Romulus
and Remus.
Tucked on the Victor
Emmanuel Monument
side of the hill is the Museo Centrale
del Risorgimento. Dedicated to the 19th century unification of Italy, it also
has special exhibitions such as a Renoir show, which is there until June 29.
Esquiline
The
Esquiline is the highest of Rome's seven hills, with four summits.
One of
these, the Oppian Hill, overlooking the Colosseum from the north, is veined by the subterranean
ruins of Nero's 300-room Golden
House and crowned by the church
of San Pietro in Vincoli, with Michelangelo's
moving statue of Moses.
Another
summit serves as a plinth for the huge Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, begun
after the Council of Ephesus officially recognized Mary as the "mother of
God" in AD 431.
However,
legend has it that on Aug. 5, 352, the Virgin appeared to Pope Liberius in a dream, commanding him to build a church in a
place marked by a miraculous snowfall. The next morning, there was snow in
summer on the Esquiline.
Palatine
Near the
low-lying Tiber River
port area where Rome grew up, the Palatine was
an enclave for the rich and powerful of the expanding Roman
Empire. Augustus Caesar built a home there. Its ruins, including
four exquisitely frescoed rooms, are open to Forum visitors, as is the whole
garden-like summit of the Palatine.
Quirinale
This fine
promontory in the center of Rome
is topped by the Baroque Piazza and Palazzo del Quirinale,
the official residence of the Italian president since 1948. The Via XX Settembre, leading to it from the northeast, has a fine
collection of Baroque churches, including Francesco Borromini's San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane and Gian Lorenzo Bernini's
Sant'Andrea
al Quirinale, as well as two pretty parks known
mostly to locals.
A tunnel
below the Quirinale takes traffic from busy Via
Nazionale to the Spanish Steps area.
Viminale
Between the
Esquiline and Quirinale, the Viminale,
no tourist mecca, is the smallest of Rome's
seven hills. It is topped by the Italian Ministry of the Interior, occupying a
palazzo built around 1910.
But its
southwestern flank leads to the old Roman area known as the Subura,
a fine place for wandering and eating pizza.