Visiting the Aventine Keyhole // Rome’s Most Unexpected View
If someone hadn’t told you, you’d probably never find it.
But someone did tell you, so you make your way to the towering green door along the edge of a small courtyard, and join a line of people waiting to step up the door. As you wait, you see the ivy spilling over the wall with the door and the trees on the other side of it.
The line crawls, or maybe moves in a hurry, but either way, your turn arrives, and you step in front of the door. You see a metal plate a bit below your eye level (or maybe above it, depending how tall you are); around it, the green of the door is worn away from repeated human contact.
In the middle of the plate: a small hole. You press your eye to the hole, peer through it, and see something wonderful.
This is what to know about visiting Rome’s Aventine Keyhole.
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What is the Aventine Keyhole?
Located on Aventine Hill — the southernmost of Rome’s famed seven hills — is a large green door that leads to the gardens of the headquarters of the Knights of Malta. Access to the gardens is limited, but never fear: what we’re interested in is outside anyway.
Indeed, what we’re looking for is a little round keyhole in that green door. If you look through the hole, you’ll find Rome’s most surprising view: St. Peter’s Basilica, 3 kilometers in the distance, framed perfectly by some shrubbery in the gardens.
Some say the view through the Aventine Keyhole was a happy accident — I say it was surely purposeful. But either way, thank you to whoever designed it that way!
How to Visit the Aventine Keyhole
This is where to find the keyhole, how to photograph the view, and other things you should know before you visit the Aventine Keyhole.
Location
Here’s exactly where you’ll find the Aventine Keyhole:
If you open this post on your phone while you are in Rome, you can click “Directions” at the top left corner of the map, and Google Maps will tell you how to get to the Aventine Keyhole from wherever you are.
Best Time to Go
The Aventine Keyhole is far from Rome’s most popular tourist destination, but it’s also not a secret, and the line to look through the door can be long.
As I discuss below, I visited twice (in mid-August) — once in the middle of the day, when the line was about 20 minutes long, and once at 9 am, when no one else was there. Meanwhile, my parents waited in line for an hour when they visited in 2022, so the wait really varies!
I recommend going there early in the morning to reduce the chances that you’ll encounter large crowds! The earlier lighting may also make it easier to take photos at the keyhole compared to the harsh mid-day lighting.
And though you might be tempted to visit the Keyhole in the evening golden hour, before sunset, be warned that the sun can be behind the basilica in the late afternoon and early evening at certain times of year (including the summer), which might make photography even trickier.
Photographing the Aventine Keyhole
Yes, the Aventine Keyhole can be very difficult to photograph. You have to get your lens to focus on the view through a small hole, and at most times of day the light is very challenging, with extreme contrasts between a dark, shaded garden in the foreground and the brightly lit basilica far beyond it.
Most smartphone cameras these days should do a pretty decent job at correcting for these issues, as long as you successfully line up your lens with the keyhole.
But if you are shooting on a different type of camera using manual settings, you will need to be more careful about the settings you try. Be sure to shoot in RAW format, if possible, so you retain more of the data! This will be crucial when you try to edit your photos.
I shoot RAW on a Fujifilm XT-4, and here’s a loose description of the camera settings that ended up working for me at the Aventine Keyhole:
- Low(ish) aperture
- Low ISO
- Medium-to-fast shutter speed
But heavy-handed editing will also likely be critical (especially if you are shooting with some other than a phone camera). Check out the difference between one of my RAW photos and the final product after I corrected the lighting and adjusted the colors:
Here are my exact camera settings for that photo:
Fujifilm XT-4 camera
70 mm zoom lens
1/250 sec at f/5.6, ISO 160
Other Tips
Be respectful of those waiting behind you. If there is a line, get your photos as efficiently as possible and move aside so others can take their own turns.
Food and drinks might be available while you wait. Both times I visited the Aventine Keyhole (in August), there was a small stand selling snacks and drinks at the back of the courtyard (otherwise, there’s not much else in the immediate vicinity).
You can visit the Aventine Keyhole on a vintage car tour of Rome. During my second visit to the Aventine Keyhole, when I was there mostly alone, a bright red vintage car pulled up and I quickly realized that a local was giving a tour of the city to two tourists in this very charming little Fiat 500.
Be sure to stop at the gardens next door. No, not the garden on the other side of the keyhole — the Giardino degli Aranci (or Orange Trees Garden), just a few steps down the road (find it here). This small park has orange trees, as promised, and absolutely wonderful views of the city.
My Experience at the Aventine Keyhole
I visited the Aventine Keyhole twice.
The first time, in a fit of optimism, I went there around noon.
This was foolish for at least two reasons: lighting (photography is almost always difficult in the middle of the day!) and crowds. The line was about 20 minutes long, and when I got to the front, I discovered that there were people walking around inside the garden — so I could not even get a clean shot of the famous view. Ultimately, I gave up and decided to return another time.
I did just that two days later, heading to the Aventine Keyhole at the beginning of my day. Wonderfully, when I arrived around 9 am, no one else was there! (This was in the middle of August.) This gave me some time to take photos and videos without the pressure of people waiting behind me.
After a few minutes, some other people arrived, and I stepped away to let them take their turns. When they finished, I stepped up the door again until more people arrived and a line started to form in earnest — at which point I left to go explore other areas of Rome.
You can see how I captured my experiences at the Aventine Keyhole on video here:
Final Thoughts
In short, the Aventine Keyhole is definitely worth visiting. But to have the best experience, go as early as you can, be prepared to wait, and have your phone or camera ready to snap away as quickly as you can.
Do you still have questions about visiting the Aventine Keyhole? Leave a comment or shoot me a message — I’d love to help!
More Information About Rome AND ITALY
ITALY ITINERARY | Spend 10 days in Rome, Florence, and Venice (COMING SOON!)
ROME ITINERARY | Learn how to spend one day in Rome or three days in Rome (COMING SOON!).
VIEWS | Find the best free views of Rome.
COSTS | Here’s how much I spent for one month in Italy.
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