Palatine Hill top 10 Features
1.Domus Flavia
Marked today mainly by the remains of two fountains, this imposing edifice was the official wing of a vast emperors’ palace, built by Domitian in AD 81.
2.Livia’s House
This 1st-century BC structure, now below ground level, formed part of the residence of Augustus and his second wife. Here you can examine a number of mosaic pavements and wall frescoes.
3.Palatine Museum and Antiquarium
This former convent houses a wealth of artifacts unearthed here, including pottery, statuary, ancient graffiti and very fine mosaics. You can also study a model of the Iron Age Palatine.
4.Romulus’s Iron-Age Huts
Traces of the three 9th-century BC huts were uncovered in the 1940s. Legend says that this tiny village was founded by Romulus, who gave Rome its name .
5.Stadium
Possibly a racetrack, or just a large garden, this sunken rectangle formed part of Domitian’s palatial 1st-century abode.
6.Domus Augustana
All that remains of the private wing of Domitian’s imperial extravaganza are the massive substructure vaults.
7.Temple of Cybele
The orgiastic Cult of the Great Mother was the first of the Oriental religions to come to Rome, in 191 BC. Still here is a decapitated statue of the goddess. Priests worshipping Cybele ritually castrated themselves.
8.Farnese Gardens
Plants and elegant pavilions grace part of what was once an extensive pleasure-garden, designed by Vignola and built in the 16th century over the ruins of Tiberius’s palace.
9.Cryptoporticus
This series of underground corridors, their vaults decorated with delicate stucco reliefs, stretches 130 m (425 ft). It connected the Palatine to Nero’s fabulous Golden House .
10.Domus Septimius Severus
Huge arches and broken walls are all that remain of this emperor’s 2nd-century AD extension to the Domus Augustana.