Running 7 Hills Of Rome

  I decided to make this web site to help runners find and run the 7 Hills of Rome, since I could not find a good reference on the Internet.  I am a long time marathon and ultra runner, and the first thing I do when I visit a new city is find a good run ... no better way to get a grand tour of the city.  My wife took me to Rome for my 50th birthday and helped me search out good runs in Rome on our recent trip, and her "Why don't you run the 7 Hills of Rome?" was the genesis of this site.  You can run the 7 Hills in any order you want, of course -- I started running them from my hotel located in an upscale neighborhood (where all the embassies are located) in the northeast of Rome.  Get a detailed street map of Rome from your hotel (every hotel has them - tear out the side advertisements to make it easier to carry), and circle the 7 hills below on your map (I put a picture of my map with the 7 hills circled below). 

  The 7 Hills of Rome are the original 7 hills upon which King Romulus founded the city of Rome.  They were first occupied by small settlements which were not grouped nor organized as a city, but as these groups began to participate in a series of religious games, then bonded as a group, and became Rome.  The Servian Walls were constructed in the early 4th centure BC to protect the 7 hills.

Here are the 7 Hills of Rome (all are located east of the Tiber River - the Vatican is west of the Tiber River & you might want to take a short diversion run to the Vatican right between Campidoglio and Aventino hills below):

(Note:  there are actually 10 hills of Rome, but the Vatican Hill, Pincian Hill, and Janiculum Hill, are not counted among the traditional Seven Hills, but I would highly encourage running all 10 hills to make your run more interesting and incorporate a better sightseeing tour of Rome)

1.  Quirinale:  the northerly most hill.
2. Campidoglio (Capitolino)
3. Aventino:  this is the farthest south hill.
4. Celio (Caelian):  this hill is in the middle of Aventino, Palatino, and Esqulino hills
5. Palatino:  this hill is in the middle of the Roman Forum & Circus Maximus
6. Esquilino:  this is the highest and largest hill
7. Viminale

  I started my run from my hotel running down a large thoroughfare of Rome, Via Nomentana toward downtown Rome -- this turns into Via Settembre, which turns into Via Del Quirinale, which, as the name implies, runs right into your first hill, Quirinale.

1) Hill #1 - Quirinale:  At the top of this hill sits Quirinale Palace, which is now the official residence of the President of the Republic (the Italian Head of State) - you can take tours of this on Sundays. 

  From Quirinale, take Via Maggio - this winds down hill toward your 2nd hill, Campidoglio (Capotoline Hill)

2) Hill #2 - Campigoglio (Capitoline Hill):  this hill, which used to have sheer cliffs on each side (making it a formidable defensive hill and is the only hill to withstand the attack of the Gauls), is located between the Tiber River and the Roman Forum, but over the years was home to numerous temples (including the temple of the Roman goddess Juno Moneta, where Roman coins were minted, providing the etymology of our current word "money"), and Michelangelo created the Campidoglio Square at the top of an elegant staircase, where you can find the New Palace and the Conservatory Palaces which today hold the Capitoline Museums.

   Run to the top of the steps to the Capitoline Museums, then back down the steps and down Via Del Teatro Di Marcello toward the Tiber River and Aventino Hill.  When you get down to the Tiber River, you will run past The Mouth of Truth (which is a marble man-like face located in the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin - legend says it serves as a lie detector and that your hand will be bitten off if you arenot telling the truth). 

 3) Hill #3 - Aventino Hill:  this hill is located farthest south of the city.  It is separated from Palatino Hill by Circus Maximus and, in contrast to Palatino Hill, which housed only noble families, Aventino Hill housed regular plebeians.  Legend has it that Remus selected Aventino Hill to live on, and his brother Romulus selected Palatino to live on.  Today this hill houses a park overlooking all of Rome and several churches, including Saint Sabina of the Aventine, Saint Saba, and Saint Maria of the Priory.

  I was impressed by very friendly satisfied looking Roman kitty on top of Aventino Hill, but few hours later my wife pointed out the bird feathers right in front of the cat ... now I know why he was licking his chops.

  From Aventino run down hill to Viale Aventino towards Circus Maximus (now a large public park, once the site of an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium) and up the steps diagonally to you right up to Celio Hill.

 There is a nice coffee shop on the bottom of Aventino Hill right before you head toward Celio Hill where you can grab a quick Café Americano and croissant.  Wind your way up a brick tree lined road to a nice park at the top of the hill.  You can tell from my photos below that I thought Celio Hill was the most scenic of all of the hills.

4) Hill #4 - Celio Hill:  this site now contains two churches, Saint Maria in Dominica and Basilica of Saint Stefano in the Round, but over the years contained ancient housing and roman domus (roman name for "homes"), temples, and basilicas.  One one side is Basilica of Saint John in Lateran on the site of an ancient military base. 

  From Celio Hill, run down the hill, around left side of the Colosseo, and up Palatino Hill.  You cannot get all the way to the top of Palatino Hill without paying admission, but there is a cobblestone and  brick road that winds up to a church on top of the hill (we were lucky to see a wedding party there on Sunday).  You hit a dead end right past the church front door - head back down to the Colosseo and around the left side up to Esquiline Hill.

5) Hill #5 - Palatino Hill:  this is one of the oldest sites in Rome.  Legend is that Rome was founded by King Romolo here on April 21, 753 BC.  All of the great Roman Emperors built their palaces on this hill.  Today it is an important archeological site.

Esquiline and Vimino Hills are on either side of the top of a road, Via Del Monte Oppio.  I was not impressed by either of these hills, as they have parks with homeless and trash.

6) Hill #6 - Esquiline Hill:  This is the highest and largest of the 7 hills of Rome and home to two major neighborhoods, Monti and Esquiline.  This hill contains the Colosseo at its base (which is, obviously, the most jaw dropping sight in all of Rome - take a tour inside of it later).   It is famous for the Roman emperor, Nero, building his domus aurea (golden house) upon it in 64 AD, but Nero's palace remained on top of Quirinale Hill.

7) Hill #7 - Viminale Hill:  the smallest of the 7 hills, located inside the Monti neighborhood and contains the Ministry of the Interior, Opera Theatre, and Square of the Republic. 

  Running in Rome is slow and somewhat challenging due to lots of traffic and crowds and street lights ... cobblestone and brick roads can be torture on ankles and feet.  Bring a camera and take your time and enjoy all the history and sites (and sights :), and, of course, take in a few good restaurants and wine afterwards.