The Aventine Hill rises quietly above the Circus Maximus and the Tiber, one of the seven hills of ancient Rome and now one of its most peaceful residential areas. The streets are lined with walled villas and religious institutions — the hill has accumulated monasteries and priories since early Christian times — and the whole neighbourhood has an almost monastic quiet even on summer afternoons.
The Giardino degli Aranci, the Orange Garden, sits at the hill's northern edge and offers what is often described as Rome's finest panoramic view: across the Tiber, over the dome of St Peter's, and along the rooftops to the Janiculum. Nearby, a small circular keyhole in the gate of the Knights of Malta provides a perfectly framed glimpse of the Vatican dome at the end of a long avenue of trees — one of the city's most visited micro-spectacles. The Basilica of Santa Sabina, a fifth-century church in extraordinary condition, stands a short walk away, its wooden doors carved with biblical scenes dating to around 430 AD.