The Aventine (Aventino) area

Quick jump to:     • What to see      • Getting around      • Activities

The nearby Monastary gardens, the Circus Maximus and the beautiful Tiber River right below offer plenty of opportunities to breathe fresh air and to stretch the legs.
There is no Rome public transport service that reaches Aventine Hill, but there is a Tram, 2 Metro stops, Buses and Tourist Bus stops nearby. See transport options further down the page.

What to see in the Aventine area?

At the top of Aventine Hill in Via di Santa Sabina stands the Santa Sabina Monastary. Founded in the early 5th Century it was restored at the beginning of the 1900s.

Inside the church you will find beautifully decorated marble friezes, flooring, and well lit nave, however most tourists can be seen in Parco Savello (the monastary's gardens) admiring the views over and across the Tiber River towards st Peters.

As you exit the monastary turn right and only a couple of steps away at the end of Santa Sabina you will find the square: "Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta", on the right hand side of the square you will find the large white sculpted entrance facade of the Military Order of The Knights of Malta.

In these gates you will find a brass keyhole where you can look through three lands (Malta, Italy and The Vatican) and see the Cupola of St Peters.

Views from Aventine looking up the Tiber River

Caius Cestius Pyramid

Bizarre: Down Aventine hill and at the Piramide Metro stop (refer to the Aventine street map above) you will find the pyramid of Caius Cestius. The pyramid is actually the tomb of a very wealthy (and eccentric) Roman magistrate who died in 12BC.
If you think this 36m (118 ft) high pyramid looks out of place today I'm not convinced it would have looked any less inappropriate 2000 years ago?!

Slightly less Bizarre: The hill of Testaccio, Monte Testaccio (Via Galvani) was only recently discovered to have been man-made! The Testaccio area was originally full of goods warehouses, and the clay casings (Testaes) used to protect the transported goods were dumped here - Testaccio.

In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills lies the Circus Maximus. The site was used for public games as far back as the 4th Century BC, and around 50 BC the Circus Maximus became The venue for Chariot races. The structure was continually embellished and added upon until its last races in AD 549.
Today the site is a grassed park and the venue of many music concerts. The only reminder that the world's largest stadium (even to this day) was once here are the sloped grass embankments.

Looking from Aventine across circus maximus and towards Palatine hill

Getting to and from the Aventine area.

(Refer to the street map of the Aventine area above.)

Rome Tram: The No 3 tram runs from Via di Porta Portese (Trastevere) along Via Marmorata (between Aventine Hill and Testaccio) up Viale Aventino past Circus Maximus and towards the ancient Roman Colosseum and San Giovanni in Laterano.

Rome buses: The main bus stop is at Termini Station.

• Bus no 170 goes from Lungotevere (running parallel to the Tevere/Tiber) to Piazza Venezia.
• Tip: Bus no 23 runs along the Tiber/Tevere on Lungotevere (the road's name means along the Tevere/Tiber river) to the Vatican. It passes Bocca della Verita, Claudius Amphitheater, the Jewish Ghetto and Tiber island. Piazza di Campo de Fiori, Piazza Navona and the Roman Pantheon are only a short stroll from the stops closer to the Vatican.
• From Via Marmorata you can take the no 30 express bus to the Roman Pantheon. It has only 3 stops on the way: Bocca della Verita, Piazza Venezia and Largo di Argentina (between Pantheon and Campo de Fiori).

For more about the buses in Rome see my dedicated page Rome buses and Rome public transport.

Rome taxi: The main taxi rank is at Piramide (by the Caius Cestius Pyramid) in front of the train station.

Train Station: The Roma-Ostia train station is handy for those wishing to travel to Fiumicino Airport with the FM1 Metropolitan train, price 5€, or alternatively to Ostia Antica or Ostia Lido (the beach) with the Roma Lido, at a whole 1€. The service operates from 5:18Am unti 11:30Pm 7 days per week and at an average of 9 trips per hour to Ostia.

Rome tourist buses: There are 2 tourist bus stops close at hand:

• Piazzale Ugo Malfa on Via del Circo Massimo (between Aventine and Circus Maximus)
• and at the Piazza della Bocca della Verita (the Mouth of Truth squre)

Note: If you haven't already heard about it on my site then the ATAC public transportation in Rome site has a great tool for calculating the quickest route from point A to point B anywhere in Rome. When you arrive at the website click on the English language option to the right. Fill in your departure address and arrival address.

• Rome buses
• Rome trams
• Rome Metro