Contains the ruins of several large villas that belonged to wealthy Roman families. You can buy a combined ticket for the Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum here, avoiding the long lines at the Colosseum. While the Imperial and Roman Fora are probably more spectacular, overall, there are amazing sights on the Palatine Hill, so unless you are terribly short on time or find it too challenging to climb the hill, allow an hour or more for these sights, too.

The Palatine Hill , which is the centremost of the seven hills of Rome, is one of the most ancient parts of the city; it has been called "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire". The site is now mainly a large open-air museum and the Palatine Museum houses many finds from the excavations here and from other ancient Italian sites. Imperial palaces were built there, starting with Augustus. Before imperial times the hill was mostly occupied by the houses of the rich. The hill originally had two summits separated by a depression: the higher summit was called Palatium; the lower Germalus . Using the Forma Urbis its perimeter enclosed 63 acres ; while the Regionary Catalogues of the 4th century enclose 131 acres .