Celio () is the 19th of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy, identified by the initials R. XIX, and is located within the

Municipio I Municipio I is an administrative subdivision of the municipality of Rome, encompassing the centre of the city. It was first created by Rome's city council on 19 January 2001 and has a president who is elected during the mayoral elections. On 11 ...

. Its coat of arms depicts the bust of an African, with an

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

headdress with golden tusks on a silver background, in memory of an African bust that was found in Via Capo d'Africa.

History

Up to 1870, the area was moderately inhabited, with some major religious building and many archaeological remains appearing in the vast filed and vineyards. Following to the

unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...

, the district was among the first to be urbanized, between 1872 and 1873, with new service buildings and residences for the newcomers. Particularly, a military hospital was built on the summit of the Caelian hill between 1885 and 1891, close to the medieval site of Santo Stefano in Formis, an ancient monastery with an annexed hospital. Up until the postwar period, the road scheme has been reworked in the lower part of the ''rione'', near the

Colosseo The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

, and in 1968 a big public housing complex, that was located among Piazza Celimontana, Via Claudia, Via Annia and Via dei Simmachi, was demolished: the plot, facing the military hospital, is now a public park (Parco della Pace).

Geography

The ''rione'' was established in 1921, detaching portions of land from Monti and

Campitelli Campitelli is the 10th of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. X, and is located in the Municipio I. Its emblem consists of a black dragon's head on a white background. This symbol comes from the legend that Pope Silvester I threw out a ...

. It is moderately inhabited and scarcely congested, and can be considered a working-class borough, if compared with more central ''rioni''. However, the ''rione'' is dense with hotels and B&Bs for tourists, because of its position, very close to the

Boundaries

Northward, Celio borders with Monti (R. I), from which is separated by Piazza del

, Via di San Giovanni in Laterano, Via di Santo Stefano Rotondo, Via della Navicella and Piazza di

Porta Metronia Porta Metronia is a gate in the third-century Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. The gate is located in the southern section of the wall between Porta San Giovanni to the east and Porta Latina to the south. During the tenth century, beyond this gat ...

. Eastward, it borders with ''

Quartiere A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the title of (). Formed a ...

Appio-Latino Appio-Latino is the 9th ''quartiere'' of Rome (Italy), identified by the initials Q. IX. The name derives from the ancient roads Via Appia and Via Latina. It belongs to the Municipio VII and Municipio VIII. History The origins of the territor ...

(Q. IX), whose boundary is defined by the stretch of the

Aurelian Walls The Aurelian Walls () are a line of city walls built between 271 AD and 275 AD in Rome, Italy, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Aurelian. They superseded the earlier Servian Wall built during the 4th century BC. The walls enclosed all the ...

between Porta Metronia and

Porta San Sebastiano The Porta San Sebastiano is the largest and one of the best-preserved gates passing through the Aurelian Walls in Rome (Italy). History Originally known as the Porta Appia, the gate sat astride the Appian Way, the ''regina viarum'' (queen of the ...

. To the south, it borders with San Saba (R. XXI), from which is separated by Via di Porta San Sebastiano, Piazzale

Numa Pompilio Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions are a ...

, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Via di Valle delle Camene. Westward, Celio shares a short border with Ripa (R. XII), marked by Piazza di

Porta Capena The Porta Capena was a gate in the Servian Wall in Rome, Italy. The gate was located in the area of Piazza di Porta Capena, where the Caelian, Palatine and Aventine hills meet. Probably its exact position was between the entrance of Via di Va ...

. It also borders with

(R. X), whose boundary is marked by Via di San Gregorio and Piazza del Colosseo.

Places of interest

Archaeological sites

Arch of Constantine The Arch of Constantine () is a triumphal arch in Rome dedicated to the emperor Constantine the Great. The arch was commissioned by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312 ...

Arch of Dolabella The Arch of Dolabella and Silanus (Latin, ''Arcus Dolabellae et Silani'') or Arch of Dolabella is an ancient Roman arch. It was built by senatorial decree in 10 AD by the consuls P. Cornelius Dolabella and C. Junius Silanus. Arch The arch is l ...

Ludus Magnus The Ludus Magnus (lat.:''Domus Vectiliana''), also known as the Great Gladiatorial Training School, was the largest of the gladiatorial schools in Rome. It was built by the emperor Domitian (r. 81–96 C.E.) in the late first century C.E., along ...

Villa Celimontana The Villa Celimontana (previously known as Villa Mattei) is a villa on the Caelian Hill in Rome, best known for its gardens. Its grounds cover most of the valley between the Aventine Hill and the Caelian. Location The Villa Celimontana is situat ...

Churches

San Giovanni a Porta Latina San Giovanni a Porta Latina (Italian: "Saint John Before the Latin Gate") is a Basilica church in Rome, Italy, near the Porta Latina (on the Via Latina) of the Aurelian Wall. History According to Tertullian, as quoted by Saint Jerome, in the ...

San Giovanni in Oleo San Giovanni in Oleo is a chapel adjacent to the churches of Rome, church of San Giovanni a Porta Latina in Rome. It commemorates the place where, according to legend, in 92 AD, at the hands of the emperor Domitian, the apostle Saint John the Evan ...

San Gregorio Magno al Celio San Gregorio Magno al Celio, also known as San Gregorio al Celio or simply San Gregorio, is a Catholic church in Rome, Italy, part of a monastery of the Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine Order. San Gregorio is located on the Caelian Hill, ...

Santa Maria in Domnica The Minor Basilica of St. Mary in Domnica alla Navicella (Basilica Minore di Santa Maria in Domnica alla Navicella), or simply Santa Maria in Domnica or Santa Maria alla Navicella, is a Roman Catholic basilica in Rome, Italy, dedicated to the Bless ...

(Santa Maria alla Navicella) *

Santo Stefano Rotondo The Basilica of St. Stephen in the Round on the Caelian Hill (, ) is an ancient basilica and titular church in Rome, Italy. Commonly named Santo Stefano Rotondo, the church is Hungary's "national church" in Rome, dedicated to both Saint Stephen, ...

* Santi Giovanni e Paolo *

Santi Quattro Coronati Santi Quattro Coronati is an ancient titular and conventual minor basilica and Augustinian convent in Rome, Italy. The church dates back to the fourth or fifth century, and is devoted to four anonymous saints and martyrs. The complex of the ba ...

Other

* Fontana della Navicella {{Coord, 41.881799, N, 12.495317, E, source:itwiki_region:IT_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title 01 Rioni of Rome