Palatine Hill

The Palatine Hill stands at the heart of Rome, the central of the city’s seven hills. It was the first nucleus of the Roman Empire and remains one of the oldest inhabited parts of the city. The hill rises above the Roman Forum and Circus Maximus, offering sweeping views of ancient ruins and modern streets alike. Today it is a large open-air museum, with the Palatine Museum displaying finds from its long history. The site covers an area once enclosed by walls measuring 63 acres in antiquity, later expanded to 131 acres. Two summits once divided the hill: the higher Palatium and the lower Germalus. Imperial palaces were built here starting with Augustus, though wealthy Romans had lived on the hill long before. The hill’s importance comes from its role in Rome’s founding myths and imperial power. According to legend, Romulus and Remus were found by a she-wolf in the Lupercal cave on this hill. Romulus later chose the Palatine to found the city, and Hercules defeated the monster Cacus here. By the 1st century BC, the hill became home to the houses of Rome’s elite, including those of Cicero and Crassus. Augustus built his palace here, and later emperors followed, turning the hill into the exclusive domain of imperial power. The ruins of palaces built by Augustus, Tiberius and Domitian still stand today. Excavations have uncovered Bronze Age huts and aristocratic houses, confirming the hill’s continuous occupation since the 10th century BC. Visitors walk among the remains of imperial palaces, temples and aristocratic homes. The Palace of Domitian dominates the site, rebuilt over earlier structures by Nero and later expanded by the Severan emperors. Nearby are the Houses of Livia and Augustus, noted for their fine frescoes, and the Domus Tiberiana, once home to Tiberius. The Temple of Apollo Palatinus and the Temple of Cybele stand close by, while the Septizodium marks the hill’s southern edge. The Farnese Gardens, laid out in the 16th century, sit above the ruins of the Domus Tiberiana. At the hill’s summit, the Palatine Museum occupies part of a former villa, offering further insights into the site’s layered past.