The Pincian Hill ( ; ) is a

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

in the northeast quadrant of the historical centre of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The hill lies to the north of the Quirinal, overlooking the

Campus Martius The Campus Martius (Latin for 'Field of Mars'; Italian: ''Campo Marzio'') was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which covers ...

. It was outside the original boundaries of the ancient city of Rome, and was not one of the

Seven hills of Rome The seven hills of Rome (, ) east of the river Tiber form the geographical heart of Rome, within the walls of the city. Hills The seven hills are: * Aventine Hill (Latin: ''Collis Aventinus''; Italian: ''Aventino'') * Caelian Hill (''Coll ...

, but it lies within the

wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or serves a decorative purpose. There are various types of walls, including border barriers between countries, brick wal ...

built by Roman Emperor

Aurelian Aurelian (; ; 9 September ) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 AD during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disinte ...

between 270 and 273.

Villas and gardens

Several important families in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

had villas and

gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

(''horti'') on the south-facing slopes in the late

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

, including the Horti Lucullani (created by

Lucullus Lucius Licinius Lucullus (; 118–57/56 BC) was a Ancient Romans, Roman List of Roman generals, general and Politician, statesman, closely connected with Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In culmination of over 20 years of almost continuous military and ...

), the Horti Sallustiani (created by the historian

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (, ; –35 BC), was a historian and politician of the Roman Republic from a plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became a partisan of Julius ...

), the Horti Pompeiani, and the Horti Aciliorum. The hill came to be known in Roman times as ''Collis Hortorum'' (the "Hill of Gardens"). Its current name comes from the Pincii, one of the families that occupied it in the 4th century AD.

Modern Rome

The Pincio as seen today was laid out in 1809–14 by Giuseppe Valadier; the French Academy at Rome had moved into the Villa Medici in 1802. The orchards of the Pincio were laid out with wide gravelled

allée In landscaping, an avenue (from the French), alameda (from the Portuguese and Spanish), or allée (from the French), is a straight path or road with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each side, which is used, as its Latin source ' ...

s (''viali'') that are struck through dense '' boschi'' to unite some pre-existing features: one ''viale'' extends a garden axis of the Villa Medici to the obelisk placed at the center of radiating ''viali''. The obelisk was erected by

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

in September 1822 to provide an eye-catcher in the vistas; it is a Roman obelisk, not an Egyptian one, erected under the

Emperor Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

in the early 2nd century, as part of a memorial to his beloved

Antinous Antinous, also called Antinoös, (; ; – ) was a Greek youth from Bithynia, a favourite and lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Following his premature death before his 20th birthday, Antinous was deified on Hadrian's orders, being worshippe ...

outside the Porta Maggiore. The Piazza Napoleone – in fact Napoleon's grand urbanistic example was set from a distance, as he never visited Rome – is a grand open space that looks out over

Piazza del Popolo Piazza del Popolo is a large Town Square, urban square in Rome. The name in modern Italian language, Italian literally means "People's Square", but historically it derives from the Populus, poplars (''populus'' in Latin language, Latin, ''pioppo ...

, also laid out by Valadier, and provides views to the west, and of the skyline of Rome beyond. Valadier linked the two spaces with formal staircases broken by generous landings, and a switchback carriageway. In 1873, a hydrochronometer on the 1867 design of Gian Battista Embriaco, O.P. inventor and professor of the

College of St. Thomas The University of St. Thomas (also known as UST or simply St. Thomas) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university with campuses in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Fo ...

in Rome was built on the Pincian Hill in emulation of the one at the

. Another version stands in the Villa Borghese gardens. Embriaco had presented two prototypes of his invention at the Paris Universal Exposition in 1867 where it won prizes and great acclaim. In the gardens of the Pincio, it was

Giuseppe Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (, ; ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the ...

's urgingAccording to (Touring Club Italiano), ''Roma e dintorni'' 1965:271 that lined the ''viali'' with busts of notable Italians. Though the Villa Ludovisi was built over at the turn of the 20th century, several villas and their gardens still occupy the hill, including the Villa Borghese gardens, linked to the Pincio by a pedestrian bridge that crosses the via del Muro Torto in the narrow cleft below; the ''Muro Torto'' is the winding stretch of the Aurelian Wall, pierced by the Porta Pinciana.

References

External links

Hills and walls of Ancient Rome
* ttp://www.romereborn.virginia.edu/ge/GF-015.html Pinician Hill at Rome Reborn at University of Virginiabr>"Cisterne, mosaici e terme private. La collina del Pincio scopre i suoi segreti" ''La Repubblica'' 11 December 2014
{{Authority control Hills of Rome Rome R. IV Campo Marzio

Villas and gardens

Modern Rome

See also

References

External links