Leonine City


The Leonine City (Latin: Civitas Leonina) is the part of the city of Rome around which the ninth-century Pope Leo IV commissioned the construction of the Leonine Wall. It is on the opposite side of the Tiber from the seven hills of Rome and was not enclosed within the ancient city's Aurelian Walls, built between 271 and 275. The Vatican City is within the enclosed area, but the Leonine City, containing also the Roman rione of Borgo, is much more extensive than the tiny Vatican City.