Orange Garden, Public park on Aventine Hill, Rome, Italy.
Orange Garden is a public park on the Aventine Hill covering roughly eight thousand square meters of planted grounds, with symmetrical paths winding between orange trees and Mediterranean greenery. The main terrace overlooks the rooftops of the city, the Tiber River, and the dome of St. Peter's Basilica rising in the distance among pines and cypresses.
The site belonged to the Crescenzi family fortress in the 10th century before passing to the Savelli family during the medieval period. In the 13th century, Dominic established a monastery here that later transformed into a Dominican church with an adjoining garden.
The garden's name comes from the many bitter orange trees growing here. According to legend, Saint Dominic brought the first orange sapling from Spain and planted it in this garden. Saint Catherine of Siena is said to have picked oranges from that tree and made candied fruit for Pope Urban VI.
Access is from Piazza Pietro d'Illiria, usually from 7 a.m. until dusk, depending on the season. The paths are flat and easy to walk, with benches along the main avenue offering resting spots with open views to the west.
The garden's fountain combines two older pieces: a Roman thermal bath basin and a marble mask carved in 1593 for Giacomo della Porta's fountain in the Campo Vaccino cattle market. After that fountain was dismantled in 1816, the mask was reused on a Tiber-side fountain from 1827, then stored in municipal warehouses after 1890 until it reached the garden entrance.
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