Palatine Hill
The hill that gave every "palace" in Europe its name — and where Rome says it all began.
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The centremost of Rome's seven hills is where legend places the Lupercal cave — where the she-wolf found Romulus and Remus — and where the grown Romulus founded the city and killed his brother. Emperors then made it their address, so you walk over Augustus's rooms and Domitian's palace, with 9th–7th-century-BC huts buried below.
What to look for
- The surviving wall frescoes in the House of Livia — the structure the article flags as notable for its painted decoration
- The Farnese Gardens, laid out from the 16th century directly over the buried Domus Tiberiana — a garden atop an emperor's palace
- From the slope holding the "Palatine House" (possibly Augustus's birthplace), the view dropping away to the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine
The Palatine House sits on a slope overlooking the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, so pair the climb with a visit to them rather than a separate trip.
Palatine Hill is one of 40 sights worth the detour in Rome, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Rome pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Rome
- Vatican CityThe world's smallest sovereign state fits in 44 hectares — you cross its border by stepping over a white line.
- ColosseumAround 50,000 Romans packed this stone oval to watch spectacles staged over a two-level warren of cages beneath the arena floor.
- St. Peter's BasilicaThe world's largest church, built directly over the grave believed to hold St. Peter's bones.
- Sistine ChapelMichelangelo painted the ceiling standing up, not on his back — and cardinals still elect the pope in this room.
- PantheonA 1,900-year-old concrete dome with a hole punched in the top — when it rains in Rome, it rains inside too.
- Stadio OlimpicoOne 70,634-seat bowl, two cross-town tenants: AS Roma and SS Lazio both play here.