by the official guides who will take you around this beauty spot, full of peaceful, winding paths, which dates back to mediaeval days, when Pope Nicholas III moved his residence to the Vatican, and created a meadow, an orchard and a garden. Anyone who believes that this is the most secluded place they will find in the whole Vatican will be mistaken, as lying unexpectedly at the foot of the hill is the Vatican Necropolis: a underground town, set out in several layers that reveal the tombs of classical Rome: tombs of the first Christians, sepul-chres of supreme pontiffs and, of course, the tomb of Peter him-self, the first Catholic Pope. Endless beauty We return to the Gianicolo, the Roman hill that seduced the author of Mamma Roma, Pasolini. Nosing around the streets of Trastevere, you can access another of the city’s least obvious treasures, the Spanish Academy, housed in San Pietro in Montorio (Piazza di S. Pietro in Montorio, 3). Wandering around its cloisters and rooms, you imagine you can see Valle Inclán himself (he was one of the directors) and, you never know, you might catch a glimpse of the ghost of Beatrice Cenci who, accor-ding to legend, ‘lives’ there. The tempietto di Bramante forms part of the academy and it’s a real must-see. Both the Fountain of Acqua Paola, renamed as Il Fontanone by the Romans, who have always adored it and now they share this love with the fans of Sorrentino, and La gran-de bellezza (via Garibaldi). Its original aqueduct will lead you to the last stop: the Botanical Garden, located in the park of Villa Corsini (Largo Cristina di Svezia, 23 A), the residence of Queen Christina of Sweden in the 17th century. As Federico Fellini once said, ‘Talking about dreams is like talking about movies, since the cinema uses the language of dreams; years can pass in a second and you can hop from one place to another’. © Valerio Mei / Getty Images El Jardín Botánico. ENG // The Botanical Garden.