Pincio

One of the legendary seven hills of Rome (54 metres above sea level). Extending to the east in the direction of the Villa Borghese, it includes an extensive sculpture park and boasts a beautiful view over the Piazza del Popolo, the Vatican, St Peter’s Basilica and the whole of ancient Rome. Grieg climbed this hill on 11 December 1865, the first day of a four-month stay in Rome, and he would come here many more times before he left. In his diary, he described in particular a trip he made on New Year’s Day 1866, which led from Porta St Giovanni, via the Lateran Basilica and the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, to Monte Pincio and took six hours. Grieg also remembered a beautiful fireworks display on 3 April 1866, although he noted that it was far inferior to those he had seen in Paris. Three years later, probably under the sway of the beautiful landscape stretching out from this hill, Grieg composed the song ‘From Monte Pincio’, Op. 39 No. 1, to words by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson.