The Savello Park or the Orange Garden

The Savello Park or Orange Garden stands on the Aventine hill, in the area of ​​the ancient fortress built by the Savelli family towards the end of the 13th century at the church of Santa Sabina; the fortress was built on a pre-existing 10th century castle belonging to the Crescenzi.

The large medieval walls of the fortress now surround the Park or Orange Garden, a small rectangular garden very popular because from the belvedere overlooking the river you can enjoy a splendid view of Rome from the bend of the Tiber to St. Peter's Basilica.

The trees that give it its name were planted in memory of Dominic de Guzmán, who founded the convent right here in the thirteenth century: the orange at which the saint preached is kept in the nearby cloister of S. Sabina and is still visible through a hole in the wall of the church porch.

The park, characterized by a symmetrical layout with a median avenue aligned with the belvedere, was built in 1932 on a project by the architect Raffaele De Vico, who enhanced the space enclosed between the ancient walls. In the enclosure wall, on the side opposite the side wall and the apse of Santa Sabina, the traces of the towers and the drawbridge of the castle are clearly recognizable.

The walls bear the signs of a subsequent refurbishment of the area, carried out at the end of the sixteenth century by the architect Domenico Fontana on behalf of Sixtus V. In addition to the walls, the thirteenth-century castle and its subsequent extensions only remain a few granaries and warehouses underground, while the building was almost completely demolished in 1613.

Leaving the Orange Garden and turning right, you reach Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta, designed by the famous engraver Giovan Battista Piranesi in 1765. From the lock of the door that leads to the Villa del Priorato di Malta, you can see Saint Peter’s dome, framed by the garden hedges.