Aventine Hill: the keyhole, the orange garden and the view
The Aventine is the southernmost of the seven hills, rising straight from the Tiber. It has no great monument and no crowd, and it is one of the loveliest walks in Rome.
- What it is
- Walk
- Time to allow
- 1 to 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Best time
- Late afternoon, for the light over the river
Rome this week
Why the Aventine Hill is worth it
In a city that can be exhausting, the Aventine is a hill of walled gardens, monasteries and embassies where you hear birds. Everything on it is within ten minutes' walk along one street, Via di Santa Sabina, and none of it costs anything.
The famous part is a keyhole. At the end of the street is a small square designed in 1765 by Piranesi, the engraver of Roman views, for the Knights of Malta. In the green door of their villa is a brass keyhole, and through it, at the end of a tunnel of clipped trees, you see the dome of St Peter's, exactly framed.
A few steps before it is the Orange Garden, a walled terrace planted with bitter orange trees. Its parapet looks over the river to Trastevere, the Janiculum and St Peter's, and it is the best free view in the city at the end of the day.
What to see
The keyhole
On Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta. You will know it by the queue at the door. It moves quickly: everyone takes one look and one photograph.
The Orange Garden
The Giardino degli Aranci, beside Santa Sabina. Walk straight through the trees to the terrace at the end.
Santa Sabina
A basilica of the fifth century, plain and full of light, as the first great churches were. One panel of its carved wooden door, as old as the church, is among the earliest images of the Crucifixion.
The rose garden
On the slope facing the Circus Maximus, the city's rose garden is open for a few weeks in spring, when it is in flower.
How to do it well
- Walk up from the Circus Maximus by the rose garden and Via di Santa Sabina. It takes fifteen minutes.
- For a photograph through the keyhole, hold the phone right against it and focus on the dome.
- The garden gates close at dusk, earlier in winter. Do not leave the view to the last minute.
- Come down the other side to Testaccio for dinner: the district below is where Rome's own cooking is at home.
- The Baths of Caracalla are ten minutes south, and make a good first half of the same afternoon.
Where it is
Address
Via di Santa Sabina, above the Tiber and the Circus Maximus
Nearest station
Circo Massimo, on line B
Museums and sights nearby
- Capitoline Museums900 m
- Colosseum1.1 km
- Pantheon1.5 km
- Trevi Fountain1.8 km
Distances are in a straight line.
Tickets and tours: Aventine Hill
Aventine Hill: common questions
- Where is the keyhole in Rome?
- On the Aventine Hill, in the door of the Villa of the Knights of Malta on Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta, at the end of Via di Santa Sabina. Through it you see the dome of St Peter's at the end of an avenue of trees.
- Is the Orange Garden in Rome free?
- Yes. The Orange Garden is a public garden, free to enter, and open from morning until dusk.
- How do you get to the Aventine Hill?
- Take metro line B to Circo Massimo and walk up past the rose garden, about fifteen minutes. The keyhole, the Orange Garden and Santa Sabina are all on the same street.
- How much time do you need for the Aventine Hill?
- Allow 1 to 1.5 hours. That is this site's estimate for an unhurried visit.
What visitors say about the Aventine Hill
Rating from Google
Things to do near the Aventine Hill
The nearest of this site's best things to do in the city. Distances are in a straight line.
- 11Meet the she-wolf at the Capitoline Museums900 m awayMuseum, 2 to 3 hours, ticket
- 9Spend an evening in Trastevere1.0 km awayWalk, 2 to 3 hours, free
- 1Walk into the Colosseum and the Roman Forum1.1 km awayMonument, 3 to 4 hours, ticket
- 15Walk through the Baths of Caracalla1.2 km awayMonument, 1 to 1.5 hours, ticket
Hotels near the Aventine Hill
The five-star hotels closest to it, of those this site lists in Rome. Distances are in a straight line.
- Orient Express La Minerva4.5Five-star hotel, Pantheon1.4 km away
- Six Senses Rome4.6Five-star hotel, Via del Corso1.5 km away
- Hotel Raphaël4.5Five-star hotel, Piazza Navona1.8 km away
- J.K. Place Roma4.8Five-star hotel, Via del Corso2.2 km away