Monte Mario

Excavations carried out in the Cartoni estate, close to Monte Mario, have found a flint tool, some splinters of the same material and animal teeth.

In the Middle Ages Monte Mario was located on the Via Francigena; pilgrims referred to it as Mons Gaudii (Latin for Mount of the Joy).

The current name, according to some theories, comes from Mario Mellini,[7] a cardinal who owned a villa (since 1935 the seat of the Museo Astronomico e Copernicano of Rome[8]) and several hamlets around the hill in the 15th century.

Finally, a third hypothesis is related to the medieval name of the hill, Monte Malo ("Bad Mountain"), due to the murder of the patrician Giovanni Crescenzio that took place there in 998.

Monte Mario is also historically linked to the complex of the former Manicomio Santa Maria della Pietà, one of the largest and oldest mental health hospital in Europe.