Roseto Rose Garden Rome’s Roseto Comunale Rose Garden opens every year to mark Rome's birthday on 21 st April (and closes around the first week of June.) Many of the roses have yet to bloom, and the fact that people don't really know about it opening in April ensures it's usually very quiet and deserted. And stunningly beautiful! One of Rome’s most roman- tic gardens grows on the slopes of the Aventine, in front of the remains of Palatine Hill, just above the Circus Maximus. The site currently occupied by the rose garden has been dedicated to flowers since the 3 rd cen- tury B.C. Tacitus, in the Annales, speaks of a temple dedicated to the goddess Flora, who- se celebrations, “floralia”, took place at the Cir- cus Maximus each spring. The Roseto Comu- nale is today home to around 1,100 species of roses from all over the world. Among the most curious are the Rosa Chinensis Virdiflora, with its green petals, the Rosa Chinensis Mutabilis, whi- ch changes colour with the passing of the days, and the Rosa Foetida, a Persian rose. The largest area houses the collection of botanical roses, both ancient and modern.
Azaleas on the Spanish Steps Every spring, from around the last week of April until the first week or so of May, you will find the Spanish Steps covered in Azaleas. This spring tra- dition dates back more than 80 years. The plants are cultivated in the capital’s nurseries, where 3,000 azaleas of the Rhododendron Indicum va- riety have flourished for around a century. Once they stop flowering, these azaleas are usually re- turned to the city nurseries until the next spring. Rome’s famous Spanish Steps, built in the Roco- co style between 1723 and 1726, lead from the Piazza di Spagna square to the French Trinita dei Monti monastery church (built between 1502 and 1587). There are 135 steps and three different terraces, which represent the Holy Trinity (the Tri- nità). The top of the stairs near the Egyptian obe - lisk offers a beautiful view. The name can be so- mewhat confusing, as the construction of the steps was actually commissioned by the Fren- ch (Louis XII). During the 17 th century, the Spanish embassy was located on the square – ‘Piazza di Spagna’ – at the base of the stairs, hence the na- me ‘Spanish Steps’. Their official name is Scalina - ta della Trinità dei Monti.
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