Monte Mario (English:Mount Mario orMount Marius)^{[1][2][3][4][5]} is the hill that rises in the north-west area ofRome (Italy), on the right bank of theTiber, crossed by theVia Trionfale. It occupies part ofBalduina, of the territory ofMunicipio Roma I (Roma Centro), ofMunicipio Roma XIV (Roma Monte Mario) and a small portion ofMunicipio Roma XV of Rome, thus including part of theQuartersTrionfale,Della Vittoria andPrimavalle.

The same toponym also identifies the urban area which extends over the hill, close to Via Trionfale and the first stretch of Via di Torrevecchia, with therailway station of the same name.

It is the highest (139 m) hill in the town and, together with theJaniculum and thePincius, one of the most scenic spots in the city, especially in the place called "Zodiac", which offers a south and west view of the main architectural monuments of the city, of theVatican City, of theAlban Hills, of the Monti Tiburtini, of theMonti Prenestini and of the highest peaks of westerncentral Apennines. Here, moreover, begins the longest Linear Park in Rome, which connects the town to theParco di Monte Ciocci.

The location has been chosen astrigonometrical station in theGauss–Boaga cartographic projection, giving rise to thedatumRoma 40.

Although it is the highest hill in the modern city of Rome, Monte Mario is not one of the proverbialSeven Hills of Rome, being outside the boundaries of the ancient city.

Excavations carried out in the Cartoni estate, close to Monte Mario, have found aflint tool, some splinters of the same material and animal teeth. The remains date back to about 65,000 years ago and are the oldest finds in the area of Rome.

In theMiddle Ages Monte Mario was located on theVia Francigena; pilgrims referred to it asMons Gaudii (Latin forMount of the Joy).^[6] The Via Francigena came from theLeonine City and continued towardsLa Giustiniana and thenLa Storta; then, having passedIsola Farnese, it continued north.

The hill was known asMons Vaticanus orClivus Cinnae (from the name of the ConsulLucius Cornelius Cinna) during the ancient Roman period.

The current name, according to some theories, comes fromMario Mellini,^[7] acardinal who owned a villa (since 1935 the seat of theMuseo Astronomico e Copernicano of Rome^[8]) and several hamlets around the hill in the 15th century. A second hypothesis derives the name from the wordmare (Italian for "sea"), referring to the fossil shells found there or to the fact that from some heights is it possible to see the sea. Finally, a third hypothesis is related to the medieval name of the hill,Monte Malo ("Bad Mountain"), due to the murder of the patricianGiovanni Crescenzio that took place there in 998.

The eastern part of the hill is a nature reserve^[9] and on the west side lies the now upmarket district of the same name. Atop one hill is the church and convent of theMadonna del Rosario. On the hilltop, in the site of the 15th-century Villa Mellini, rises the Monte Mario Observatory, part of theRome Observatory, and the Museo Astronomico Copernicano. This location (12°27'8.4"E ) was used as the prime meridian (rather than Greenwich) for the maps of Italy until the 1960s. The side of the hill was the former site of theVilla del Pigneto, built byPietro da Cortona. The ruins of the structure were razed in the 19th century.

TheJohn Felice Rome Center, one of the four campuses ofLoyola University Chicago, is located on the hill in Via Massimi.

The other settlements on the hill include:

• the headquarters and administrative offices of theNational Institute for Astrophysics (INAF);
• theTransmitting center of Monte Mario, which houses theRAI repeaters;
• theOspedale San Filippo Neri;
• the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery "Agostino Gemelli" of theUniversità Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and theAgostino Gemelli University Policlinic;
• theRoma Monte Mario weather station.

The built-up area of the hill include middle and high-bourgeois residential districts, such asBalduina, Trionfale, Belsito and Della Vittoria, as well as a more popular area, corresponding to the northernmost part of Primavalle.

The part of Della Vittoria Suburb overlooking Piazza Nostra Signora di Guadalupe is calledMonte Mario Alto ("High Monte Mario") and develops close to Colle Sant'Agata, where, in the 1920s, a cooperative of post and telegraph workers built the first settlement. Other popular housing units were added in the 1930s, while the full edification was completed between the 1960s and the 1980s.

Monte Mario is also historically linked to the complex of the formerManicomio Santa Maria della Pietà, one of the largest and oldestmental health hospital in Europe.

• Riserva naturale di Monte Mario: a nature reserve with an area of 204 hectares.
• Riserva naturale dell'Insugherata: a nature reserve that hosts most of the herbs surveyed in Rome, whose name derives from the abundant presence ofcork oaks (Italian: "querce da sughero"). Its accesses are in the workshops of the Ospedale San Filippo Neri, in Via Andrea Angiulli and in Via Augusto Conti. It is an important biologic corridor between the urbanized area north of Rome and theVeii Regional Park, north-west of the Capital. The new delimitation of theGrande Raccordo Anulare has considerably reduced the protected area on the north side.
• Parco regionale urbano del Pineto: it is a nature reserve, established in 1987 by the municipality of Rome, which covers about 240 hectares and provides an integral reserve area of 26 hectares. It can be accessed from Via della Pineta Sacchetti and Via Proba Petronia.
• Linear Park: it occupies the route of the former Rome-Viterbo railway line and was inaugurated on June 14, 2014. It is the largeslinear park of Rome and includes a pedestrian and cycle track linking the area of Monte Mario Railway Station, from the complex of Santa Maria della Pietà, to the Park of Monte Ciocci. The path, five kilometers long, has ten entrances integrated with the traditional mobility roads, intersections with four stations of FR3 railway line (Monte Mario, Gemelli, Balduina, Appiano), three play areas for children and a skating rink, turnstiles between one road and another, to prevent entry to cars and mopeds; moreover, ten standpipes and more one hundred benches. The route has an average gradient of 1%.

In 2004, thanks to Moto Guzzi Roma and under the patronage of theLazio Region, of theProvince of Rome and ofRoma Capitale, the Monte Mario Circuit was reborn: it is a circuit crossed byTazio Nuvolari with hisBianchi 350 (the legendaryBlue Arrow) on February 24, 1925.

• Pallottino, Luigi (1991).Monte Mario tra cronaca e storia. Roma.

• Info about Monte Mario (in Italian)
• Agrinet
• Romanatura
• "Images of Monte Mario Observatory".
• Panorama from Monte Mario (1700)Archived 14 May 2006 at theWayback Machine, Oil on canvas by Giovan Battista Lusieri
• Monte Mario Nature Reserve on the website ofLegambiente
• "Riserva Naturale dell'Insugherata".
• Riserva naturale di Monte Mario su www.parks.it, web portal of Italian parks
• "Monte Mario Nature Reserve on RomaNatura website". Archived fromthe original on March 29, 2019. RetrievedDecember 21, 2015.

41°55′30″N12°27′6″E / 41.92500°N 12.45167°E /41.92500; 12.45167

• Hills of Rome
• Loyola University Chicago
• Rome Q. XIV Trionfale
• Rome Q. XV Della Vittoria
• Rome Q. XXVII Primavalle
• Rome S. X Trionfale

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