The Janiculum and the noon cannon

From the Janiculum terrace your eyes take in all of Rome, from the domes to the hills. Here in 1849 Garibaldi's volunteers defended the Roman Republic: dozens of busts along the avenues remember them, with the equestrian monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi in the middle of the square.

Did you know: Every day at noon a cannon below the terrace fires a blank shot: the tradition dates back to 1847, when it gave the exact time to the city's bell towers.

✦ The legend: The name comes from Janus, the two-faced god, who according to myth founded his city on this very hill. More concrete and just as punctual is the cannon: since 1847 it has fired a blank every day at noon to give the exact hour to the bells of Rome's churches, which before then each rang as they pleased.