Janiculum Hill

History and Mythology

The Janiculum was a center for the cult of the god Janus: its position overlooking the city made it a good place for augurs to observe the auspices. In Roman mythology, Janilumum is the name of an ancient town founded by the god Janus. In Book VII of the Aeneid by Virgil, King Evander shows Aeneas the ruins of Saturnia and Janiculum on the Capitoline Hill near the Arcadian city of Pallanteum. Virgil uses these ruins to stress the significance of the Capitoline Hill as the religious center of Rome. According to Livy, the Janiculum was incorporated into ancient Rome during the time of king Ancus Marcius to prevent an enemy from occupying it. It was fortified by a wall, and a bridge was built across the Tiber to join it to the rest of the city. During the war between Rome and Clusium in 508 BC, it is said that the forces of Lars Porsena occupied the Janiculum and laid siege to Rome.
19th century to present
The Janiculum is the site of a battle in 1849 between the forces of Garibaldi, defending the revolutionary Roman Republic against French forces, who were fighting to restore the temporal power of the Pope over Rome. Several monuments to Garibaldi and to the fallen in the wars of Italian independence are on the Janiculum. Daily at noon, a cannon fires once from the Janiculum in the direction of the Tiber as a time signal. This tradition goes back to December 1847, when the cannon of the Castel Sant'Angelo gave the sign to the surrounding belltowers to start ringing at midday. In 1904, the ritual was transferred to the Janiculum and continued until 1939. On 21 April 1959, popular appeal convinced the Commune of Rome to resume the tradition after a twenty-year interruption.
The hill is featured in the third section of Ottorino Respighi's tone poem Pines of Rome.
Resources from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janiculum

Sights

The Janiculum is one of the best locations in Rome for a scenic view of central Rome with its domes and bell towers. Other sights on the Janiculum include the church of San Pietro in Montorio, on what was formerly thought to be the sight of Peter's crucifixion; a small shrine known as the Tempietto, designed by Donato Bramante, marks the supposed site of Peter's death. The Janiculum also houses a Baroque fountain built by Pope Paul V in the late 17th century, the Fontana dell'Acqua Poala, and several foreign research institutions, including the American Academy in Rome and the Spanish Academy in Rome. The hill is also the location of The American University of Rome, Pontifical Urban University, and Pontifical North College, as well as the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Roma "La Sapienza" and the Palazzo Montorio, residence of the Ambassadors of Spain.

The Villa Lante al Gianicolo by Giulio Romano (1520-21) is an important early building by the Mannerist master, also with magnificent views.

Resources from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janiculum

Statues and monuments of patriots on the Janiculum

There are many busts of the Risorgimento, and foreigners who fought with weapons or words for the unification of Italy, on the Janiculum in Rome.
The Roman Republic commissioned marble busts to be displayed in the gardens of the Pincian Hill on May 28, 1849, for 10,000 lire. By the end of the war, the 52 busts had been made, but because of the temporary power of the Pope they remained in warehouses on Capitoline Hill.
In June 1851, Pius IX ordered the arrangement of the fifty-two busts in the gardens of the Pincian Hill. He excluded some busts because they were atheists. In 1860 the sculptors Achille Stocchi and Titus Sarrocchi were commissioned to create new busts. Their busts made a total of 228.
The initial placement of the statues took place between the end of 19th and early 20th centuries; the equestrian monument dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi was placed in 1896. In the 1920s, during the Fascist regime, the war memorial on the Janiculum was built for the Roman cause. It preserves the remains of some patriots.
The first restoration of the statues was done in the 1960s. Later more restorations were completed for the Great Jubilee, during which a Roman villa was discovered, and new statues were restored and relocated, including those of Anita Garibaldi, and their children.
Resources from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statues_and_monuments_of_patriots_on_the_Janiculum

Janiculum Hill

History and Mythology

Sights

Statues and monuments of patriots on the Janiculum

EDITED BY JINNIFER 蕭資庭