Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Lingering at wine bars and pottering around the bohemian-chic neighbourhood of
Hobnobbing with the bohos in
Pigneto
, the iconic working-class district immortalised
by Pasolini.
Taking in the splendours of
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
.
Admiring Michelangelo's mighty Moses-with-horns at the
Basilica di San Pietro in
Explore: Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
Esquilino is one of Rome's seven hills, and the area encompasses the sometimes scruffy
area around Stazione Termini and Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. It is also home to some
fantastic sights, including some of Rome's finest medieval churches, and the Museo
Nazionale Romano: Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, which displays stunning classical art.
Heading downhill, Monti was the ancient city's notorious Suburra slum - a red-light
district and the childhood home of Julius Caesar - but is now a charming neighbourhood
of inviting eateries, shops and
enoteche
(wine bars). You could say Monti is Rome's
Greenwich Village, and, as if to put the seal on its accelerating gentrification, Woody Al-
len filmed parts of
To Rome with Love
here in 2011.
San Lorenzo is a lively student quarter east of Termini, home to a beautiful, little-vis-
ited patriarchal basilica. It was the area most damaged by Allied bombing during WWII,
ironic given the area's vehemently anti-Fascist politics. By day the area feels hungover, a
grid of graffitied streets that nonetheless harbour some gemlike boutiques, but after dark it
shows its true colours as a student nightlife haunt; it's also home to some excellent res-
taurants.
A quick tram ride southeast, Pigneto is even more bohemian, the Roman equivalent of
London's Shoreditch. House prices are rising and its bars and funky offbeat shops attract a
regular crowd of artists and fashion-conscious urbanites.
