The seven hills of Rome: where are they ?

THE SEVEN HILLS OF ROME: WHERE ARE THEY ?

A sunrise over Rome, as seen from the Spanish steps or from the Janiculum hill is truly a memorable experience, with the mixed clouds and the churches bells ringing everywhere. The seven hills of Rome are actually the eroded remnants of a plateau dissected over many centuries by streams. The valleys are less evident because man made debris from more than three millennia has smoothed the original terrain.

Why was this site chosen for Rome of the Republic, Rome of Imperial times, and eventually Rome of the popes and Rome, the capital of unified Italy? For many reasons: proximity to a major river with access to the sea, affording protection, nearby sources of building materials, but most significantly, clean drinking water from springs in the Apennines. Most of us recognize Rome as source of inspiration for historians, architects, artists, musicians and theologians. The terrain with its underlying geologic framework has played an important role in the success of Rome as city and an empire. The Tiber river, crucial to water transport into ancient Rome , was tapped on the west by the fault blocks of the Janiculum and the Vatican hills. The Tiber’s east banks are volcanic plateaus, composed of deposits from explosive eruptions in the Alban Hills. In addition to forcing the Tiber toward the west, these deposits make up the Seven Hills of Rome.
Many of us have heard the city of Rome is built on seven hills but when we tour in Rome, it seems we can not locate these hills. They do exist but are not nearly as high as one might imagine; in fact today none are higher than 250 feet.

- Palatine Hill: this is the hill where Romulus was supposed to have founded the city in 753 BC and it is a hill between the roman forum and the Coliseum.
- Capitol Hill: it’s the highest of the Seven Hills of Rome and it’s at the beginning of the Roman forum. The Capitol square has been redesigned by Michelangelo in the renaissance period and it’s today the City Hall of Rome.
- Quirinal hill: it’s located just at the end of via Nazionale and it’s the hill behind Trevi Fountain. This hill hosts today a marvelous palace where are the offices of Italy’s president of republic.
- Aventine Hill: famous hill where originally the plebeians lived ; you can see this hill from the Palatine and from the Circus Maximus, which was the largest stadium ever built in the ancient world with a total capacity of 250.000 seats.
- Esquiline Hill: this hill is located near the main train station of Rome Termini and has on top one of the four basilicas of the Vatican in Rome: Santa Maria Maggiore, famous also because the artists Bernini and his father Peter are buried in this church.
- Viminal Hill: located between Esquiline and Quirinal guests today the Ministry of Home Affairs ( Ministero degli Interni ) and the general headquarter of the Italian state police.
- Caelian Hill: after a visit to the Colosseum you can go to visit the cathedral of Saint John in Lateran crossing the Caelian hill that contains remains of Nero’s aqueduct and the Churches of santo Stefano Rotondo and Santa Maria in Dominica.

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