Insight Guides: Pocket Rome (Insight Pocket Guides) by Apa

Author:Apa [Apa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: APA
Published: 2016-04-18T04:00:00+00:00

The Aventine

Revered in ancient times as the ‘Sacred Mount’, when it stood outside Rome’s walls, the Aventine Hill (Monte Aventino) remains a quiet sanctuary above the clamour of the city. An aristocratic district in the Imperial era, the hill is still a favoured residential zone, with villas and apartments set in shady gardens.

The Aventine is also the site of some of the earliest Christian churches, the most beautiful of which is the basilica of Santa Sabina º [map] , built around AD 425. The 24 white Corinthian columns lining the nave give the church a classic harmony, while the beautiful carved 5th-century cypress-wood doors in the portico contain one of the earliest depictions of the crucifixion. Through an atrium window you can see a descendant of an orange tree planted by St Dominic in 1220. A few steps away stands the villa of the Cavalieri di Malta (Knights of Malta). Peep through the keyhole of the closed garden gates for a perfectly framed view of the dome of the distant St Peter’s.

The Tempietto

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