There are areas of Rome that you should visit for the simple pleasure of having wonderful views. One of these areas is the Park of Colle Oppio, a green corner of Rome that overlooks the Colosseum. But, apart from the incredible beauty that the sight of the giant of Rome can give you, the Park of Colle Oppio has much more to offer us.

The Opium (that is the Latin name) is not one of the seven hills of the city, but one of the three hills that make up the Esquiline Hill: together with Cispius and Fagutal, in fact, this hill has a number of hills and today it is just covered with buildings, both historic and modern. For centuries, since the foundation of Rome, the Colle Oppio was abandoned, or, in part, urbanized by some roman domus. This little slice of land, now entirely occupied by the historical Monti district, was monumentalized by Nero, who built here the center of his extraordinary palace: the Domus Aurea. Imagine a series of environments, rooms, richly decorated with polychrome stuccoes, mosaics and marble elements that used to alternate with gardens and fountains, with a large artificial lake where it was moored on the private boat of the emperor. Now, imagine these environments and extended them for dozens and dozens of acres! A home worthy of a God (because Nero sometimes felt himself as a God). But according to the tradition, when the new human owner entered for the first time in his amazing and large palace, it seems that he said: ”Finally, a house worthy of a man.” Aside from the Nero's megalomania, even today the Colle Oppio offers us the amazing and well preserved remains of the Domus Aurea.

Underground rooms after two thousand years are still showing their beauty, with the stucco remains and the almost magical atmosphere that you can breathe even today. We are digging still today and then other surprises we will have in the future. It is not a coincidence if today we can visit just a small area of the Nero's palace, because after his death the emperors who came after him tried to erase his memory, building on top of his fantastic home other buildings. And therefore in the Park of Colle Oppio we can see a few masonry remains belonging to the ancient Baths of Titus, installed just above the Domus Aurea. A few fragments of a history as old as the city, but that tells the story of how Rome changed over the centuries. In fact the Colle Oppio, after an intensive occupation during the roman time, was abandoned over the centuries. So much that we have the opportunity to read  what buildings were erected over the centuries: the Nero's palace, the Titus' Baths, the Trajan's ones. In the modern times, at the beginning of the XIX century, some of the marvelous and giant rooms of these ancient buildings were used by the French soldiers (who were occupying Rome), as a warehouse for weapons). Do you understand how many things is and was the Colle Oppio? And today? A wonderful open air park, full of memories and archeological remains, just few steps far from the Colosseum.