Giardino degli Aranci

The Giardino degli Aranci, also known as Parco Savello, is an enclosed garden on Rome's Aventine Hill. Bitter orange trees and a central avenue lead the composition towards a terrace overlooking the Tiber and the dome of St Peter's.

Why it matters

The garden places a twentieth-century landscape design within the remains of a medieval fortress. Its relationship with nearby Santa Sabina also preserves a Dominican association in the planting and the memory of Saint Dominic.

What to notice

Surviving walls retain the enclosure of the former Savelli stronghold. The symmetrical avenue gives the belvedere a clear axis, while the orange trees soften the military setting. The entrance portal, transferred from Villa Balestra in 1937, adds another reused architectural element.

Context and history

The Savelli fortress was built in 1285–1287 over an older fortified site. Much of it was demolished in 1613, and the ground later served as a Dominican orchard. Raffaele De Vico designed the public garden in 1932. Its orange planting recalls the tradition associated with Saint Dominic at Santa Sabina, linking the new park with the religious history of the hill.