Passeggiata del Gelsomino

A suspended elevated park that may remind of New York's famous High Line, but instead of making its way among skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, winds suggestively and romantically through Rome's unparalleled beauty and millennial history.

It is the Passeggiata del Gelsomino (Jasmine Promenade), the pedestrian path that allows you not only to capture unprecedented glimpses of the city, but also to admire St. Peter's Basilica and its Dome from an unusual and exclusive perspective that offers great emotions and spectacular shots highly Instagrammable (tag us on Instagram @turismoromaweb).

Just under a kilometre long, the Promenade rises above what was once one of the tracks of the Vatican railway built after the signing of the Lateran Pacts in 1929 to connect the Papal State to the Kingdom of Italy. Initially intended for the transport of goods, on 4 October 1962, the line was used for the first time to transport Pope John XXIII on a pilgrimage to Loreto and Assisi.

The Promenade, a magical, almost secret place, certainly unknown to most, was created on the occasion of the Jubilee of 2000, after the decommissioning of the Vatican railway.

The route of the Promenade is bordered by the characteristic jasmine plants on which small white flowers with an inebriating fragrance blossom every year in late spring, framing, with their elegance, an already enormously evocative scenario.

The name of the Promenade thus derives both from these delicate flowers and from the Jasmine Valley it overlooks, which once stretched between the heights of the Vatican and the Janiculum Hill. This was named after Via dei Gelsomini, which already existed before the annexation of Rome to the Kingdom of Italy, on which stood the Osteria del Gelsomino, owned by a Tuscan innkeeper who had wanted to pay homage to the plant, probably brought to Rome from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

According to legend, the Grand Duke was so jealous of his jasmines that he forbade even his own gardener to give the flowers of his plants to others. Of course, the man disobeyed, because to win over the maiden he was in love with, he gave her a bouquet of jasmine. Thanks to that gift, the two got married and perhaps for this reason, jasmine in Italy symbolises love and happiness.

On the occasion of the Jubilee of 2025, the Jasmine Promenade has been completely redeveloped and has undergone a complex urban regeneration project with the creation of new natural spaces, new meeting places and social areas for citizens and tourists, and for those who simply want to enjoy a unique view and spend some quality time, taking a walk or reading a book.

A new 1.5-kilometre cycle path, adorned with a lovely garden of Mediterranean shrubs – lavender, sage, thyme and rosemary – for a relaxing break in the shade of the trees – Cercis Siliquastrum (Judas Tree), Gleditsia Triacanthos ‘Inermis’ and Gleditsia Triacanthos ‘Sunburst’ – connect on one side directly to the Jasmine Promenade and on the other to the five-kilometre cycle path between Monte Mario and Monte Ciocci.

To discover this hidden gem of the Eternal City, you can either walk up Via della Stazione Aurelia, from Via Aurelia, near the ramp of the same name, or enter Roma San Pietro Station, continue along platform 1 and turn immediately right.

Jasmine Promenade ph. Roma Capitale