The mother of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, a Byzantine princess, set up her residence on the Aventine Hill where the memory of certain oriental traditions were still alive. The imperial palace was built in the area of the monastery of Santa Sabina and the Garden of Oranges from where you can enjoy one of the most beautiful views over Rome. In the wall surrounding the garden some traces still remain of the towers and the drawbridge of the Savelli Citadel.

Even after being abandoned by the Emperor, the Aventine remained the location of monasteries and sumptuous residences of noble families. During the 1084 sacking of Rome by the Normans, there was serious damage to the buildings in the area, but it revived when the Savelli Pope, Honorius III, established his residence here. The Savellis maintained that they descended from Aventinus, the legendary king of Albalonga who was supposed to be buried here.
If the truth be told, the choice of a stronghold on a high point overlooking the Tiber was dictated by strategic reasons: the family was already in control of the island in the Tiber, the Isola Tiberina, and they exercised hegemony over the river from their fortress which had been erected in the theatre of Marcellus. At the end of the 13th century, another Savelli pope, Honorius IV covered the summit of the Aventine hill with grandiose buildings that were to play host to the conclave held following his death.