Palatine hill - the Central of the seven hills on which Rome, and one of the oldest parts of the city. It stands 40 meters above the Roman Forum and the circus Maximus. The name of the hill derives from the word "palace" Palace.

According to Roman mythology, the Palatine hill was the location of the cave where the she-wolf found Romulus and Remus. According to the legend, as adults, the boys had killed his great-grandfather, who seized power from their own grandfather, and decided to build a new city on the banks of the Tiber. But they quarreled, and Romulus killed Remus. And the city was named in honor of Romulus — Rome. According to another legend, it was on the Palatine hill Hercules defeated Kakosa, the giant fire-breathing Ogre. They say that Hercules so much struck the giant with his club, on the Southeast side of the hill there was a crack — later there was built a staircase of Kakosa.

If we talk about real events, the archaeologists have found that people lived on the Palatine hill about the year 1000 BC, Many wealthy citizens of the Roman Republic (509 BC - 44 BC) had a residence on the hill. Later, during the Empire, settled here several emperors — preserved ruins of the palaces of Augustus, Tiberius, Domitian. August had built near his Palace, the Temple of Apollo.

One of the buildings, which is considered the residence of Libya, the wife of Augustus, is currently under construction. Next to it you can see the Temple of Cybele, not yet fully excavated and closed to the public. And behind it is the so-called House of Tiberius.

Towering over the Roman Forum, is the Flavian Palace, which was built during the reign of the eponymous dynasty (1st century ad). Here is the Hippodrome of Domitian — structure, having the form of a Roman circus (Hippodrome), but too small for racing chariots. It is known that it was used for sporting events, but what exactly is hard to say. Interestingly, most of the statues, now on display in the Palatine Museum, brought from the Hippodrome.

The whole Palatine hill and the Roman Forum are now a large Museum under the open sky, free for tourists. You can get here on the via di San Gregorio, which begins just beyond the Arch of Constantine.