Description
The Janiculum is the hill on the right bank of the Tiber, above Trastevere: it is not one of the traditional seven hills, but it is one of the most panoramic spots in Rome. From its tree-lined avenues you can see the whole city, from the domes of the center to the Alban Hills and the peaks of the Apennines.
The Janiculum Promenade is made up of two avenues of plane trees that meet in Piazzale Garibaldi and then wind down in hairpin bends toward the church of Sant'Onofrio. Along the way you pass villas, fountains and monuments to the Risorgimento.
The viewpoint at Piazzale Garibaldi, at 82 meters, offers the most famous panorama: the Capitoline in the foreground, the hills on the horizon with domes, bell towers and imperial ruins, and in the distance the white statues on the façade of St. John Lateran. In the middle stands the great equestrian statue of Garibaldi.
A little below, toward Via Garibaldi, is the Fontanone of the Acqua Paola, the grand water display commissioned by Paul V. Along the avenues, 84 marble busts of Garibaldi's followers commemorate those who fought with him, and a bit further on is the equestrian statue of Anita Garibaldi, with her remains in the base.
At the northern end stands the Janiculum Lighthouse, a gift from the Italians of Buenos Aires for the fiftieth anniversary of Unification: from its terrace you get what is considered the most complete view of Rome. Going down toward Sant'Onofrio you pass Villa Lante, the work of Giulio Romano, with its loggia open to the city.
Every day at noon sharp, below the statue of Garibaldi, a cannon fires a blank shot. Pius IX ordered it in 1847, so that Rome's bells would all ring together and not each at the hour of its own sacristan. On quiet days you can hear it as far as the Esquiline.
In 1849 the hill was the battlefield of the short-lived Roman Republic, defended for weeks against the French troops called in by the pope. On the viewpoint a balustrade carries its Constitution in full; after Unification the Janiculum became a public park and a memorial to the Risorgimento.
The Janiculum Promenade is made up of two avenues of plane trees that meet in Piazzale Garibaldi and then wind down in hairpin bends toward the church of Sant'Onofrio. Along the way you pass villas, fountains and monuments to the Risorgimento.
The viewpoint at Piazzale Garibaldi, at 82 meters, offers the most famous panorama: the Capitoline in the foreground, the hills on the horizon with domes, bell towers and imperial ruins, and in the distance the white statues on the façade of St. John Lateran. In the middle stands the great equestrian statue of Garibaldi.
A little below, toward Via Garibaldi, is the Fontanone of the Acqua Paola, the grand water display commissioned by Paul V. Along the avenues, 84 marble busts of Garibaldi's followers commemorate those who fought with him, and a bit further on is the equestrian statue of Anita Garibaldi, with her remains in the base.
At the northern end stands the Janiculum Lighthouse, a gift from the Italians of Buenos Aires for the fiftieth anniversary of Unification: from its terrace you get what is considered the most complete view of Rome. Going down toward Sant'Onofrio you pass Villa Lante, the work of Giulio Romano, with its loggia open to the city.
Every day at noon sharp, below the statue of Garibaldi, a cannon fires a blank shot. Pius IX ordered it in 1847, so that Rome's bells would all ring together and not each at the hour of its own sacristan. On quiet days you can hear it as far as the Esquiline.
In 1849 the hill was the battlefield of the short-lived Roman Republic, defended for weeks against the French troops called in by the pope. On the viewpoint a balustrade carries its Constitution in full; after Unification the Janiculum became a public park and a memorial to the Risorgimento.