Palatine Hill - the central of the seven hills on which Rome stands, and one of the oldest parts of the city. It rises 40 meters above the Roman Forum and the Circus Maximus. The name of the hill comes from the word «palace» - Palace.

According to Roman mythology, the Palatine Hill was the location of the very cave where the she-wolf found Romulus and Remus. According to legend, as adults, the boys killed their great-uncle, to take power from their mother's grandfather, and decided to build a new city on the banks of the Tiber. But the quarrel broke out between them, and Romulus killed Remus. The city was named in honor of Romulus - Rome. According to another legend, on the Palatine Hill, Hercules won Kakos, and fire-breathing giant ogre. It is said that Hercules so badly banged his giant club, which is south-east side of the hill there was a crack - later was built staircase Kakos.

If we talk about real events, the archaeologists have found that people living on the Palatine hill around 1000 BC Many wealthy citizens the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC - 44 BC) had a residence on the hill. Later, during the Empire, we settled here several emperors - the ruins of the palaces of Augustus, Tiberius, Domitian. Augustus ordered the construction of his palace next to the Temple of Apollo.

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

Towering over the Roman Forum, it is Flavian Palace which was built during the reign of the eponymous dynasty (1st century AD). It is also the Hippodrome of Domitian - the structure of the form of the Roman circus (racecourse), but too small for chariot races. It is known that it was used for sporting events, but what exactly - hard to say. Interestingly, most of the statues, now on display in the Museum of the Palatine, brought from that race course.

All the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum today is a great open-air museum, free for tourists. You can get here from the Via di San Gregorio, which starts just behind the Arch of Constantine.