PINCIAN HILL

Description

Essentials about the Pincian Hill in brief

The Pincian Hill, located in the north of the city, is not one of the Seven Hills of Rome, but even in ancient times, the hill high above the Piazza del Popolo was a coveted residential area among wealthy Romans, where they resided in pompous villas and enjoyed magnificent gardens. Lucullus, whose luxurious banquets became proverbial, was one of them. The victorious general had financed his estate on the site of today’s Villa Medici with the riches from his war booty. Another, no less famous landowner was the Roman historian Sallust. As governor of the province of Africa, he had made his money and invested in the luxury park Horti Sallustiani on the southern edge of the Pincian Hill. In this way several horti (gardens) were created, to which the Pincian Hill owed its name of that time “Collis hortulorum” (“Hill of the Gardens”). The name of the hill comes from the former villa of the Pincii family that lived here in the 4th century.

The history of the Pincian Hill

After the decline of the Roman Empire, the area became overgrown. Villas and gardens of the Roman nobility fell into disrepair. It was not until the 16th century, when the Villa Medici and the neighboring church Trinità dei Monti were built, that the hill revived. The French occupiers, who ruled Rome from 1798 to 1814, had brought with them the idea of a people’s park and had chosen the Pincian Hill as a field for experimentation. The Romans were very fond of the idea, and the park on the Pincian Hill became the city’s first green space open to the public.

The Roman architect Giuseppe Valadier, who also designed the Piazza del Popolo below the Pincian Hill, laid out the park between 1810 and 1818 as a classicist park, i.e. following the ancient design methods – straight, simple and strictly structured. With its eastern continuation, the Villa Borghese Park, the Pincian Hill soon became Rome’s most popular strolling and resting area.

In 1848/49, when revolutionary movements were trying to take hold in Italy, including Rome, as in countless other European cities and regions, one of the spokesmen of the Roman revolutionaries, Giuseppe Mazzini, pleaded for the erection of portrait busts of deserving Italians on the Pincian Hill. Although the Roman Republic survived only a few months, the memorial park for the greats of Italian history took shape. 228 can be seen there today, some somewhat damaged – an ear missing here, a nose there – but all are gathered who have ever moved minds in the regions between the Alps and Sicily, whether in art, politics or science, such as Dante, Galilei, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Garibaldi and Verdi.

The attractions on the Pincian Hill

The Balcony of Rome

Another highlight on the Pincian Hill is the “Balcony of Rome”, whose correct name, Piazzale Napoleone I, hides a large terrace resting on massive brick arches. It offers an overwhelming view over the Eternal City at your feet. Here you can experience particularly intense the constantly changing light over Rome and especially enjoy the beautiful sunsets of the Eternal City.

The Casina Valadier and the Antinous Obelisk

Those who want to dine in a beautiful atmosphere on the Pincian Hill can do so excellently at the Casina Valadier, which houses a noble restaurant with a splendid garden. A path leads from here directly to the Antinous Obelisk, so named after the lover of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was barely twenty years old. The beautiful youth drowned in the Nile and afterwards enjoyed divine veneration. The 9.25 m high obelisk was made of rose granite in Rome. It bears on its four sides the life story of Antinous written in hieroglyphics.

The water clock on Viale dei Bambini

An interesting object is also the water clock in Viale dei Bambini, near the bust of Petrarch. This technical masterpiece was shown at the Paris International Exposition in 1867 and amazed visitors with its hands, which responded precisely to water pressure, and even more with its designer, a Dominican priest.

The way up the Pincian Hill

If you want to climb the Pincian Hill, there are two ways to get there. Either via two hairpin bends up the steep slope from Piazza del Popolo, which were already designed as ramps by the architect Valadier so that carriages could also manage the hill. Or from Piazza di Spagna up the Spanish Steps and then past Villa Medici.