The 5 most 89 LE LEVAIN Bread and pastry lovers may sometimes Via Luigi Santini 22 find Roman creations over-sweetened DELICIOUS BAKERIES Trastevere and and under-buttered. Le Levain is the Gianicolo ➆ antidote, a perfect fusion of French and +39 (0)6 6456 2880 Italian, where the croissants are savoury www.lelevainroma.it and the cheesecake is creamy. The wide selection of snack-sized paninos on fresh-made bread match well with an impressive selection of French and 86 SANTI SEBASTIANO This old-timey bakery (opened in 2015) only Italian wine and beer. E VALENTINO uses unprocessed flours and old-fashioned Via Tirso 107 Italian and German recipes. Apart from 90 COSE BUONE DAL With cute little white tables inside and Centre North ➈ scrumptious breads and desserts, they also FORNO – TREVISIOL out, this bakery takes its cue from Paris, +39 (0)6 8756 8048 serve carb-based dinners, such as pizza, Via di Val Tellina 66 offering coffee, pastries, and pre-cooked lasagna and cannelloni, served on very West �� meals as well as fresh bread. Trevisol nice marble tabletops. +39 (0)6 5823 3159 sticks out for its friendly and efficient www.cosebuone customer service, as well as its miniature 87 L’ANTICO FORNO A jewel in a tourist cess pool. Indeed, dalfornotrevisiol.it and regular pizzas, sandwiches, and tasty Via delle Muratte 8 the front end is guilty of selling souvenirs. supplì, the latter for just 1 euro. Trident ➃ But squeeze your way to the back bakery, +39 (0)6 679 2866 and treasures await: some of the best, most reasonably priced pizza, bread, and other baked goods in the whole city.

88 PANIFICIO PASSI Brace yourself for the sharp elbows of Via di Mastro the loyal grannies who shop at Panificio Giorgio 87 Passi, a bakery frozen in the 1970s, as are Testaccio and some of its prices: pizza rossa goes for Aventino ➇ 7 euros per kilo. It also sells cured meat, +39 (0)6 574 6563 pizza, and pre-cooked dishes. The house specialty is pane azzimo, a crunchy bread made without yeast. 89 LE LEVAIN

62 63 5 charming places to sip on an 153 RISTO-PESCHERIA If you fancy a glass of white wine and CONSOLI some fish as an aperitif, head to this APERITIVO Viale dei fishmonger between 6 and 8 pm (from Consoli 21–23 Tuesday to Sunday) for a quick fix. Among East Rome �� the most popular matches are a flute of +39 (0)6 4542 3991 prosecco with three oysters. But if you www.ristopescheria. prefer raw tuna, shrimp, or razor clams, roma.it you can select them yourself from the display fridges. The offer depends on the 151 LA.VI. A very classy restaurant, inside a catch of the day and follows seasonality. Via Tomacelli 23 beautifully restored building that fuses Trident ➃ seamlessly with the modern decor. 154 PIGNETO 1870 The cuisine at Pigneto 1870 covers surf +39 (0)6 4542 7760 The cuisine is contemporary Italian, Via del Pigneto 25 and turf, Rome and Sardinia, reflecting www.la-vi.it made with fresh and local ingredients, Centre East ➅ the roots of the chef-sommelier. The including homemade pastries. The +39 (0)6 702 1401 decor is essentialist, with exposed brick cocktails are terrific. Be sure to visit www.ristorante and an antique arch, accentuated by little the rooftop garden terrace. pigneto1870.it more than the blue and white wrought- iron tables and chairs. 152 IL BARETTO Tucked away on the slope of the Via Garibaldi 27 Janiculum Hill, this is a great spot 155 CORE BISTROT There’s a Zen-like, post-industrial Trastevere and to sip on a drink especially during the Via delle simplicity to Core: exposed brick walls, Gianicolo ➆ warmer days, as you can sit at a table Palme 71-B/F geometric wrought-iron tables with +39 (0)6 589 6055 on the terrace, surrounded by leafy trees. East Rome �� unfinished wooden tops, lighting fixtures Plentiful food comes for free with the +39 (0)6 8892 1996 that look plucked out of a coal mine. You’d purchase of a drink during aperitivo never guess it was a former gambling hour. There’s often a DJ set. house. Cuisine consists of cold antipasti, with craft beer, wine, and cocktails.

90 91 5 markets to 178 MERCATINO This flea market got its start in the DEL BORGHETTO 90s, inspired by American garage SHOP LIKE FLAMINIO sales. Vendors tend to be average joes 32 emptying the home of a deceased loved THE LOCALS Centre North ➈ one, or impoverished college students. +39 (0)6 588 0517 The 92-euro vendor’s fee ensures a level of quality above what you’d find in an American garage. There’s an entry fee of 1,60 euros. Open every Sunday. 176 MERCATO DEI FIORI Don’t be (too) alarmed by the utter Via Trionfale 45 decrepitude of Rome’s flower market. 179 MERCATO METRONIO Biodynamic vegetables, vintage clothes, Vatican ➁ With it’s broken windows and leaky roof, Via Magnagrecia 50 and fresh flowers are all in abundance +39 (0)6 3973 8027 this Fascist-era warehouse stands out in Centre East ➅ at the Mercato Metronio, which is worth sharp contrast to the beauty of its wares. the visit just for the mid-20th-century The prices are impossible to beat – you architecture. Unveiled by renowned might find a bouquet of roses for 6 euros. engineer Riccardo Morandi in 1957, the Open only on Tuesday, from 8 am to 1 pm. concrete space boasts early spiral car ramps and an unusual, ‘pleated’ façade. 177 PIAZZA MAZZINI An antique market with over 100 different Closed on Sunday. MARKET stands devoted to collectibles, vintage Piazza Giuseppe clothing, paintings, and handicrafts. It’s 180 MERCATO This gorgeous covered market was Mazzini open the first and third Sunday of every NOMENTANO recently restored, bringing back to life its Vatican ➁ month. From November through January 6 Piazza Alessandria 1 1920s brickwork, wrought-iron doors, and it becomes a Christmas market, offering a Centre North ➈ Liberty reliefs of Sabine women holding wide variety of gifts, including handmade +39 328 177 4008 fruit and vegetable baskets on their woodcrafts from Italy’s Alpine regions. heads. Vendors sell mostly local produce. But you’ll also notice a growing number of South Asian vendors specialising in avocados, cilantro and chilis.

102 103 5 cool examples of 229 LA CHIESA DEL Designed by American ‘starchitect’ DIO PADRE Richard Meier, the Jubilee Church stands CONTEMPORARY MISERICORDIOSO out for its giant concrete sails reaching Piazza Largo Terzo over 30 metres into the sky. Its white ARCHITECTURE Millennio 8 colour, made by adding Carrara marble East Rome �� and titanium dioxide to the mixture, +39 (0)6 231 5833 is a trademark of Meier’s other work, www.diopadre such as the Getty Center in Los Angeles. misericordioso.it 226 CHIESA DEL SANTO Rome’s outer neighbourhoods are plagued VOLTO DI GESÙ by modern churches that can only be 230 CHIESA SANTA Commissioned for the Jubilee of the Via della described as architectural monstrosities. MARIA DELLA year 2000 and designed by Studio Nemesi, Magliana 162 This, however, is not one of them. With PRESENTAZIONE the church was conceived not just as West Rome �� its hyper futurism, solid-white interior, Via Thomas Mann 14 a place of worship, but also as a building +39 (0)6 550 1063 and apsidal window recalling a vortex, Aurelio ➀ with social functions (mainly sports www.parrocchia you’d be forgiven for mistaking this +39 (0)6 614 7574 and theatre). The edifice is experimental, santovolto.it church for the set of a science-fiction film. www.nemesistudio.it contemporary and evocative of a con- struction site. 227 PALAZZETTO BIANCO Confronted with a narrow, triangular Via di San Fabiano 28 lot space, architect Paola Rossi and artist Trastevere and Massimo Faggioli created this residential Gianicolo ➆ building that seems to defy gravity by amassing volume as it extends upward. There’s something that recalls the Guggenheim museum in the balconied side of the building facing a patch of trees.

228 LA LANTERNA Composed of triangular panels of glass, AT: H&M this lantern-like glass sculpture juts Via del Corso 422 vertically through the middle of the H&M Via Tomacelli store and erupts on the roof. The work Trident ➃ by famed Roman architect Massimiliano Fuksas lights up kaleidoscopically at night. 228 LA LANTERNA

126 127 5 places to 279 100% BIO The perfect place for a healthy, delicious, Piazza di Porta and ethically sourced meal. They’ll even WATCH THE WORLD S. Paolo 6 give you a discount if you show up on Testaccio and your bicycle. You pay by the pound to go by Aventino ➇ eat at the vegetarian buffet. The sun- +39 (0)6 574 7778 drenched patio facing the ruins of Porta www.centopercento.bio S. Paolo and the Pyramid of Cestius is always abuzz with local colour.

276 TRAM DEPOT A full-service cocktail bar inside a 280 PIAZZA SAN The real heart of Trastevere, where locals Via Marmorata 13 decommissioned tram car, just off one COSIMATO still outnumber tourists, and where stores Testaccio and of the city’s main tram lines. Covered Trastevere and are more genuine. Come before lunch Aventino ➇ seating is outdoors, making this an Gianicolo ➆ to see the bustling open-air market, +39 (0)6 575 4406 ideal summer spot, under the shade of flanked by a child-packed playground. cherry blossoms. Food such as panini In the summertime, expect to see outdoor and chocolate cake are served on small screenings of independent films and cutting boards. international football matches.

277 TREEBAR As the name suggests, this cafe sits under Via Flaminia 226 the slender patch of trees that divides Centre North ➈ the Via Flaminia. Its geometric wooden +39 (0)6 3265 2754 structure feels more Danish than Roman. www.treebar.it The large patio is a favourite cocktail spot among the well-dressed en route to the nearby Auditorium Parco della Musica.

278 VILLA ALDOBRANDINI An elevated garden with camellias and Via Mazzarino 11 lemon trees that sits blissfully nearly Trident ➃ 100 steps above the noisy Via Nazionale. +39 (0)6 0608 This vantage gives good views of Trajan’s Market, the Quirinale Palace, and the Salita del Grillo walkway. The garden, with its statues and fountain, is the only 276 TRAM DEPOT part of the villa that you can visit.

150 151 5 museums you can see FOR FREE

331 MUSEO DI SCULTURA This beautiful building from the 15th ANTICA GIOVANNI century hosts the collection of Giovanni BARRACCO Barracco, donated to Rome in 1902. Corso Vittorio It consists of 380 pieces from the Near Emanuele II 166-A East (mostly Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece). 326 FONDAZIONE PASTIFICIO CERERE Centre West ➂ In the 1970s, a 4th-century Roman +39 (0)6 0608 structure was found underneath and www.museobarracco.it some of the recovered frescoes are on display on the ground floor.

332 VILLA DI MASSENZIO Built in the second century AD, this rustic Via Appia Antica 153 villa once belonged to Emperor Maxentius South Rome �� – the same emperor whose dead body 331 MUSEO DI SCULTURA ANTICA GIOVANNI BARRACCO +39 (0)6 0608 was decapitated after his defeat by villadimassenzio.it Constantine at the Milvian Bridge. Today his villa stands out in rustic decay off the amid a bucolic backdrop of the Alban Hills. As a nice bonus, the Villa complex contains the remains of a circus (racetrack for horse carriages). This circus is second in size only to the Circo Massimo, but it is better preserved.

332 VILLA DI MASSENZIO

176 177 5 hotels with a 419 LA TERRAZZA Truly one of the most privileged vantage DEL CESÀRI points in all of Rome, La Terrazza del GREAT VIEW Via di Pietra 89-A Cesàri gets its name from its terrace Centre West ➂ overlooking the Piazza di Pietra and the +39 (0)6 6749 701 Temple of Hadrian. From the right angle, www.albergocesari.it you can even spy the tip of the Column of Marcus Aurelius in the adjacent Piazza Colonna.

416 HOTEL RAPHAEL Just a short walk from the Pantheon 420 MAMA’S HOME ROME Facing the picture-perfect Campo de’ Largo Febo 2 in one direction and the Spanish Steps Piazza Campo Fiori, Mama’s Home Rome puts guests Centre West ➂ in the other, Hotel Raphael’s rooftop de’ Fiori 27 eye-to-eye with Giordano Bruno, whose +39 (0)6 682 831 terrace puts you on even footing with Centre West ➂ statue occupies the centre of the square. www.raphael the campaniles and cupolas of a phalanx +39 335 437 211 During market hours in the morning, hotel.com of nearby churches. Not to be missed www.mamas there’s no better place to people-watch. indoors is the collection of Picasso homerome.com Inside, the design of the hotel is a jewel ceramics and Mayan art. of contemporary and antique fusion.

417 HOTEL PALAZZO Built on the grounds where gladiators MANFREDI used to train, this luxury hotel overlooks 125 the Colosseum, the Imperial Forum, the 419 LA TERRAZZA DEL CESÀRI Colosseum and Palatine Hill, and the Caelian Hill. Sharing San Giovanni ➄ that view on the terrace is the hotel’s +39 (0)6 7759 1380 Michelin-starred restaurant, Aroma, www.palazzo which specialises in classic Italian dishes. manfredi.com

418 PALAZZO Palazzo al Velabro enjoys an unparalleled AL VELABRO view of the Arch of Janus, Rome’s only Via del Velabro 16 tetrapylon, a four-sided arched structure Colosseum and with a gate on each side. Beside it is San Giovanni ➄ the romantic church of San Giorgio al +39 (0)6 679 2758 Velabro, and the attached monumental www.velabro.it Roman gate, the Arcus Argentariorum.

218 219 5 fascinating 468 SONNETS Composed in Roman dialect, these 2279 by Giuseppe sonnets focus mainly on two themes: BOOKS Gioachino Belli critical parodies of everyday life in early 18th-century Rome, and fierce attacks about Rome on the powers that be, from the papacy to the aristocracy, from politicians to intellectuals, even peasants. This body of work was published posthumously, and was heavily censored. A complete edition 466 THE POPE’S What do you think would be the came out only in 1988. ELEPHANT appropriate pet for a pope? For King by Silvio Bedini Manuel I of Portugal it was a white 469 THE A novel set in modern Rome, following elephant, named Hanno, which he gave IMPERFECTIONISTS the private and professional lives of the to Pope Leo X in 1514. Hanno only lived by Tom Rachman staff of an English-language newspaper two years at the papal court, but he was struggling to keep up with upheavals a huge attraction, and paraded through in the digitising media world, and their the city on processions. He was buried in own lives. The author, who worked at the the Belvedere courtyard at the Vatican. Associated Press’s Rome bureau, knows what he speaks about. 467 THE WOMAN Regarded as one of Moravia’s most OF ROME critically acclaimed books, it tells the 470 THE RAGAZZI A fictional account by Italy’s most by Alberto Moravia story of a woman of humble origins, by Pier Paolo scandalous 20th-century writer about life Adriana, who prostitutes herself to Pasolini in the postwar slums of Rome, played out provide for her and her mother, and the by a gang of street kids surviving by their intricate relationships that stem from wits. Its bleak themes of betrayal, theft, it. Set during Fascism, it highlights such and prostitution are common in Pasolini’s themes as moral decline, corruption, sex, films such as Mama Roma. power, social climbing, and the intrinsic contradictions of the human condition, while attacking bourgeois moral values.

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