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Visit Trastevere
Visit Trastevere in Rome
Visit Trastevere | restaurants and clubs by night. Others, such as Piazza Trilussa and Piazza della Scala, with Wine cellars, Wineries, pubs, and pizzerias, also come alive in the evenings. (Food Tasting and Wine Tasting in Rome).
When a Roman boasts “so Trasteverino,” more is meant than being a person who just happens to live in Trastevere. It means membership in a tightly-knit group of Romans who base their ancient heritage here, claiming that Trastevere is the oldest, most authentic section in Rome, the most Roman of anything and everything that is Rome. And it is true that if this isn’t the exact oldest section of the city, it certainly comes close.
There was already an Etruscan settlement here in 509 BC when King Tarquinius Superbus was expelled, and the Roman Republic declared. By the time of the Second Punic War in 218 BC, Rome was expanding, and Trastevere was infused with dock workers, sailors, and the services needed to maintain what was becoming the city’s port. Jews came as merchants from the Middle East to settle here, building their first synagogue and thriving until the 16th century when they were forced into the Ghetto.
Visit Trastevere | restaurants and clubs by night. Others, such as Piazza Trilussa and Piazza della Scala, with Wine cellars, Wineries, pubs, and pizzerias, also come alive in the evenings.
Trastevere boasted the strongest gladiators in the Roman Empire, and nobles kept their gardens and orchards here, as street names such as Via degli Orti di Cesare attest. In decline after the fall of the Empire, Trastevere began again to assert itself as the workers’ and artisans’ quarter around the 12th century and has continued to maintain this character. Although the erstwhile poverty and violence of such a district can occasionally still be seen in some of the narrow, dark back streets, Trastevere today is one of Rome’s most lively areas.
Bounded on the north by the Janiculum Hill, Modern Trastevere winds itself south along the bend in the river and ends across from the Testaccio area at Circonvallazione Gianicolense and the Ponte Testaccio. Trastevere is one district with many faces: distinctly separate neighborhoods, for example, are created by the generally north-south Viale Trastevere, the area’s most commercial street. To the east is the older neighborhood with small groceries, old apartments with flower-potted balconies, and apartment projects, with Trasteverini still working in the warehouses and workshops and by the riverfront.
Also, Rome’s famous flea market, Porta Portese, is a Sunday draw. To the west is the Trastevere of restaurants and discos, trendy shops and galleries, and a residential and commercial district.
To the north is John Cabot University, situated off Via della Lungara, another straight Papal road on which wealthy Renaissance Romans constructed their homes.
Visit Trastevere’s restaurants and clubs by night. Others, such as Piazza Trilussa and Piazza della Scala, with their Wine cellars, Wineries, pubs, and pizzerias, also come alive in the evenings.
The university has created a different atmosphere at this end of the district, with pensions, bars, inexpensive restaurants, and services designed for the student population. After the War, many old Jewish families returned to Trastevere, and among the ubiquitous Catholic churches, you’ll find a thriving Jewish community. There’s also an Indian section, and Americans and British are finding apartments here and settling in, making Trastevere the most multi-cultural area of Rome.
Still nonconformist, still independent, Trastevere has an atmosphere all its own. The action of Trastevere centers around several piazzas, especially the lovely Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, home to the city’s oldest official church, founded in about AD 220. By day, Trasteverini passed through the traffic-free square on their way to work, stopping in one of the many bars nearby for their caffeine jolt and chatting with friends. By night, this is the recognized meeting place for locals and visitors to head for the nightlife – restaurants, clubs, and bars steadily taking over the area.
Just to the south, Piazza San Cosimato hosts a varied, daily food market, crowded with the Trasteverini by day and a thoroughfare for people on their way to the restaurants and clubs by night.
Others, such as Piazza Trilussa and Piazza della Scala, with Wine cellars, Wineries, pubs, and pizzerias, also come alive in the evenings.
Trastevere is close to some of the city’s major parks, which are lovely for strolling, relaxing, and, in the case of the Janiculum to the north, for some of the best views of Rome. Villa Doria Pamphili—Rome’s largest park—is to the west, and the Villa Sciarra, with its fountains and statues, is in the heart of the district. Rome’s Botanical Gardens are also here.
So, in its cobbled alleys, unexpected parks, and piazzas, Trastevere creates a melting pot of the ancient and the modern, of tourists and locals, of tranquillity and noise. Next to a small, expensive restaurant will be an old family-run trattoria packed with Romans from all over the city. Next to an artisan shop with exquisite artistry will be one that sells electronic games, and next to one that sells expensive gifts to tourists will be a shop that caters efficiently to local needs.
Junkies walk the same streets as fun-loving tourists, but the crowded, rowdy streets in the evenings turn into serious workplaces by day.
Apartments in the newly trendy areas are being spruced up, and rents are spruced up, although some good prices can still be found. Buses and trams make this accessible to any other part of the city.
But since everything you might want, from Porta Portese’s flea market on Sunday to some of the city’s most expensive restaurants, is in Trastevere, there may be no reason to leave.
The adjacent area of Monteverde Vecchio is trendy for those who want to be near all this frenzy but not of it. Almost a suburb of Trastevere—developed in the 19th century for the upper classes—winds peacefully down from the Janiculum and consists of gardened homes and tree-lined streets, providing a haven for those who can afford tranquillity at home and Trastevere at their doorstep—perhaps the best of all worlds.
Monteverde Vecchio should be distinct, however, with Monteverde Nuovo, a solidly middle-class residential and commercial district southeast of Trastevere, bordering Villa Pamphili on its north. Comfortable postwar apartment blocks can be found here, and the area offers moderate rent prices and all services.
Circonvallazione Gianicolense to its south is a major artery connecting with Viale Trastevere, heading into central Rome.
