Testaccio.
A residential quarter between the Aventine and the Tiber, with its covered market, its trattorias and its squares. Close to the sights, away from the crowds.
Rome as Romans
live it.
Testaccio is where Romans shop, eat and walk their dogs. There are no souvenir shops and few tour groups, yet the Aventine is a short climb away, Trastevere is across the river and the Colosseum is a long, beautiful walk.
“Spending time in Piazza Testaccio was so special, with what seemed like the entire neighborhood congregating in the evenings.”
- Pyramid of Cestius
- 12 min
- Orange Garden, Aventine
- 13 min
- Trastevere
- 19 min
- Circus Maximus
- 19 min
- Colosseum
- 34 min
- Pantheon
- 34 min
Trams 3 and 8 stop on Via Marmorata. Bus 170 runs from Termini station without changes, and Metro B stops at Piramide.
Built on amphorae.
Monte Testaccio
In ancient Rome, oil arrived by river in clay amphorae that could not be reused. They were broken and stacked here, shard by shard, into a hill about 35 metres high. The Latin for shard, testa, gave the quarter its name.
The Mattatoio
At the end of the 1800s the city built its slaughterhouse here, and Testaccio grew into a working quarter around it. The cheaper cuts, the quinto quarto, became Roman classics: oxtail, tripe, rigatoni with pajata. Today the old halls host galleries and the university.
The Fountain of the Amphorae
In Piazza Testaccio, a fountain made of stacked amphorae recalls the hill. It is where the quarter meets, in the morning for the market, in the evening for a walk.
From breakfast
to the last walk.
Breakfast at Pasticceria Linari, a family bakery since 1971, known for its maritozzi with cream.
The covered market, Monday to Saturday until 3:30 pm: produce, cheese, fish and street-food stalls such as Mordi e Vai and Box 47.
Trapizzino, Roman stews in a pocket of pizza, around the corner from our homes.
The Non-Catholic Cemetery beside the Pyramid, where John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley rest among the cypresses.
Cheese and cured meats from Volpetti, a historic delicatessen, or a glass at Oasi della Birra on the piazza.
A Roman trattoria: Felice a Testaccio, open since 1936, for cacio e pepe tossed at the table; Flavio al Velavevodetto, built into Monte Testaccio; Pecorino, family-run, for gricia and carbonara.
Piazza Testaccio, or a film at the Nuovo Sacher, the cinema run by director Nanni Moretti.
Tell us the evening and how many you are. Trattorias here fill up, especially at weekends.