Monte Mario

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The Monte Mario, a hill of Rome
In Latin / Italian	– / Monte Mario
Rione	Prati
Buildings	Villa Mellini, Villa Pigneto, John Felice Rome Center
Churches	Santa Maria Rosario
People	Mario Mellini

Madonna Salus Populi Romani, also known as the Madonnina. Statue of the Madonna by Jewish-Italian sculptor Arrigo Minerbi (1953) at the Don Orione Center in Monte Mario. The gilded statue is illuminated at night. (An exact replica of the statue, ungilded, is in East Boston.)

Monte Mario is the highest (139 m) hill of Rome. It lies in the NW side of the city. The name comes from Mario Mellini, a cardinal who around the middle of 15th century owned there a villa and several hamlets.

The east part of the hill is a nature reserve [1], on the west side lies the now-posh omonymous quarter. Atop one hill is the church and convent of Santa Maria Rosario. On the hilltop, now occupying the site of the 15th century Villa Mellini is the Rome Astronomical Observatory and the Museo Astronomico Copernicano (Viale del Parco Mellini, 84, Rome, 136 Italy). The side of the hill was the former site of the Villa Pigneto built by Pietro da Cortona. The ruins of the structure were razed in the 19th century.

The John Felice Rome Center, one of the four campuses of Loyola University Chicago, is located on the hill on Via Massimi.

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