Among the perfume of oranges and much more…
Hello everyone, today my friend Laetitia and I will take you to discover one of the most romantic places in Rome that you absolutely must see.
Located on the Aventine Hill (rione ripa) there is Parco Savello known to everyone as the Garden of Oranges. Thanks to its excellent position, we can admire from above a good part of Rome. The panorama ranges from the Tiber, the Temples of the Foro Boario, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, up to the Janiculum and the monumental and unmistakable dome of St. Peter. It is located on the Aventine Hill and covers almost 8,000 square meters.
Between history and legend
It is located on the former fortress built by the Savelli family between 1285 and 1287 near the church of Santa Sabina on the Aventine. Thanks to the ingenuity of Raffaele de Vico who, in 1932, transformed this ancient place into a beautiful garden, today we can enjoy this incredible view, ideal for a romantic walk. The garden has been called in this way, because, as you can see, some fragrant orange trees have been planted. An ancient legend says that these oranges are even miraculous. The Orange Garden was once the vegetable garden of the Dominican friars. In reality, the magic tree, mentioned in the above legend, is the one planted in the garden of the cloister of the church of Santa Sabina, visible only through an opening in the wall that protects it. It is said that the tree was born spontaneously from the remains of the first plant of bitter oranges brought from Spain in 1200, by Saint Dominic of Guzman, founder of the Dominican order. The first tree was the one where S. Domenico, founder of the order, preached, preserved in the nearby cloister of S. Sabina and visible through an open hole in the wall of the porch of the church.
The Orange Garden was designed by Raffaele de Vico with a rigidly symmetrical structure, with an avenue placed exactly in the center. The main entrance of the Garden is in Piazza S. Pietro d’Illiria, enriched in 1937 by the portal coming from Villa Balestra. Two other entrances are in Via di Santa Sabina and in Clivio di Rocca Savella. Thanks to its spectacular panorama, the Orange Garden is one of the most romantic places in the eternal city.
What to see nearby
In addition to the impressive Garden of Oranges, there are several monuments and churches of great tourist importance that you should not miss: the Keyhole, where you can admire the Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, the Municipal Rose Garden of Rome, where there are roses from all over the world, the Circus Maximus, located between the Aventine and the Palatine, the largest and oldest stadium in Rome and the famous Bocca della Verità.
If you want to continue your romantic walk, click on this video
Aurora Macali 