The hill where Rome began and its emperors built their palaces — ruins, gardens, and the best view over the Forum.
Explore → Get Early AccessRome's birthplace and its Beverly Hills in one — emperors' palaces sprawl across the hilltop with the Forum on one side and the Circus Maximus on the other. It's the quiet, green, view-rich third of the Colosseum ticket most visitors skip.
Romulus, legend says, founded Rome here in 753 BC; Augustus deliberately built his (modest) house beside the founder's hut site, and every emperor after him expanded until 'Palatium' became the word for palace in a dozen languages.
Archaeologists really did find Iron Age hut foundations from the 8th century BC — the right age for Romulus — preserved under the imperial marble. The hill also hides the Lupercal, a grotto Augustus decorated as the she-wolf's cave.
Rome's best-preserved ancient building — a 1,900-year-old temple whose unreinforced concrete dome has never been surpassed.
The empire's greatest stadium — 250,000 Romans once roared here at chariot races; today it's a…
Hadrian's mausoleum turned papal fortress — secret corridors, panoramic terraces, and two thousand years of reinvention.
Heart of Ancient Rome's Political & Social Life
Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers in a square shaped by an ancient stadium — baroque…
World's Greatest Art Collection & Sistine Chapel
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