History

The Pincian hill takes its name from the Pincii family, whose ancient Roman horti (estates) once occupied this site, followed by those of the Acili and Anici families. The celebrated gardens of Lucullus were particularly renowned. By the 15th century, the Augustinians of Santa Maria del Popolo acquired the land and cultivated vineyards there.

In 1810, the Napoleonic administration commissioned architect Giuseppe Valadier to create a public promenade connecting the Piazza del Popolo—redesigned as Rome’s principal northern entrance—with the Pinciano hill. The central government instead sent Louis Martin Berthault, who introduced the elliptical plaza design. After Napoleon’s fall, Valadier resumed the project in 1814, completing it during the Restoration through 1834.

The 1848 creation of the modern Municipality brought ownership of the Promenade to the Town Hall. War damage from the 1849 Roman Republic required repairs and prompted the first fifty commemorative busts. Between 1861 and 1866, gardener Francesco Vachez restructured the layout in the English style with curved paths and irregular flower beds, eliminating the racecourse.

From the late 19th century onward, the Pincio became an open-air pantheon of Italian memory, enriched by monuments to the Cairoli brothers (1883), Galileo (1887), the Free Municipalities (1911), and Enrico Toti (1922). The herms and busts of illustrious figures accumulated to 229 by the Second World War.