In the immediate vicinity of our room rentals near Piazza del Popolo, there is one of the most charming areas of Rome: the terrace of the Pincio. The Pincio is famous for the incredible view over St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, the Campus Martius and the historic center of the Eternal City.
In the nineteenth century, Napoleon Bonaparte decided to entrust the reconstruction of the Pinciano hill (which is part of the terrace of the Pincio, Piazza del Popolo and Villa Borghese) architect Giovanni Valadier, who created a symmetry so perfect that made the hill one of the most revealing places of all of Rome, because of its beauty and its importance of topographic covering, being the majestic and triumphant entrance of the historical center of Rome.
Valadier designed also the elegant cafe that is located a few steps from the terrace of the Pincio, the "Casina Valadier", which was built in in order to create a fashionable meeting point located in a really scenic spot. Now the "Casina Valadier" is one of the finest restaurants in Rome, where you can soak up the atmosphere of the past, thanks to the elegant frescoes in the neoclassical style that can be found inside.
Another must-see while you stroll along the Pincio and Villa Borghese, surrounded by greenery and the romantic and enchanting atmosphere of this Roman "villa", is also the "hydrochronometer", a bizarre clock that uses water as its energy source to scan seconds and that is an imitation of a tree trunk.
The "hydrochronometer" is actually more accurate than a standard hourglass, so that it was used for military purposes. Time is visible from every direction the clock, because it has four quadrants. The Pincio water clock was made by the father Giovan Battista Embriaco in 1867, who made another similar clock in Palazzo Berardi, in Rome.
