Image by Annalaura D'Errico

Are you Protestant, Jewish, or Christian Orthodox? If so, and if you happened to die while visiting Rome in the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries, perhaps of ‘mal-aria’ in the summer months, chances are that you would be buried in the Cimitero Acattolico near Piramide, aka as the Protestant Cemetery.

Catholic law in fact used to prohibit any non-Catholic from being buried in Catholic churches or cemeteries. Given that there were growing numbers Danes, Germans, English, Americans, Russians and Swedes who came to visit, study or live in Rome during in the 1800′s, the Cimitero Acattolico became the designated area to bury these ‘stranieri’.

Now, it is the place where you can get away from it all while contemplating the graves of the Great. In what seems like a peaceful garden just meters away from the bustle of the Piramide area, you will find the tombs of Shelley, Keats, and Gramsci, to name the most famous of the many poets, historians, archaeologists, painters, sculptors, diplomats and intellectuals buried here. For a complete listing please visit the Cemetery’s website or the Cemetery’s Information Center.

In addition to Keats’ gravestone where you will be able to read the famous ‘here lies one whose name was writ in water’, a lovely gravestone is that of sculptor William Wetmore Story and his wife with the statue of the grieving angel.

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Cimitero Acattolico | Art & culture, Relaxing | Donation € 2.00
Via Caio Cestio 6 | Testaccio & Ostiense | +39065741900
Mon – Sat 09:00 – 17:00, Sun 09:00 – 13:00 (last entrance 16:30 & 12:30)

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Image by Fabio Fontanella

I have been told about the Magic Door when I was a child and its mysterious inscriptions and its odd placement in Piazza Vittorio had always intrigued me while growing up. I had almost forgotten about its existence until recently when I went to watch a movie in the open-air cinema which each summer occupies the piazza.

There it was, with its two guardians, pasted to a wall among some ancient ruins and closed off by a gate. Somehow, it looked less grand and mysterious than when my mother would take me to see it. Nonetheless, it is quite a curious thing and people who are intrigued by mysteries and esotericism might like take a look at it while strolling in the piazza.

Who knows, perhaps you can decipher its formulas and become rich, immortal or omniscient! The formulas on the door, in fact, are said to contain the secret to the philosopher’s stone. Yes, the Stone!

If you have seen the first Harry Potter movie, the philosopher’s stone is that which is guarded by that charming, loving three-headed dog. If you haven’t watched the movie, it is a substance that is allegedly capable of turning cheap metals into gold as well being an elixir of life to beat disease and achieve immortality and omniscience. It might well be worth trying. Why not give it a shot?

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Porta Magica | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Piazza Vittorio | City center
Sunrise – sunset

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Image by Annalaura D'Errico

The Tiber is not an impressive river by all means. Any other river in other European capital is much more striking in terms of sheer size or width. Yet, the Tiber is an interesting river. It is not a boring river that simply flows slowly through its city without doing anything! No, the Tiber is an eclectic little river which surprises you with rapids, low points, a small waterfall, vegetation on its sides, an island and lots of different bridges, including a broken one.

Yes, Ponte Rotto (a.k.a. Pons Aemilius), literally Broken Bridge, is one of the small peculiarities which make the Tiber such an interesting little river. What other city river has a fragment of a bridge standing in its course? I am told that the river in Genova does but that’s besides the point. Ponte Rotto is a small gem, often disregarded in Rome’s treasure trunk with more important jewels. Romans go by their busy day and rarely look at it, tourists have more important sites to visit in their two-day tour of the city.

Yet, Ponte Rotto is well worth a small pause. It is there, useless, yet beautiful in its decadence. Stones at its feet, weeds springing from its cracks, it sits proud and glorious, even if younger, stronger, more efficient bridges have taken over the job. It is powerless, injured, yet alive and willing to speak to anyone bothering to take a moment to admire it.

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Ponte Rotto | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Best admired from Isola Tiberina | City center
Best time to admire: sunset

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Image by Annalaura D'Errico

Villa Doria Pamphilj is the “green lung” of Rome. It is Rome’s largest park and a shot of oxygen when life in Rome gets too stressful and smoggy. Indeed, Villa Pamphilj is an all-time favorite for Romans to go running, go for a bike ride, take a stroll, walk their dog, or have a picnic.

Like many other city parks, Villa Pamphilj was originally the countryside estate of a noble Roman family, which in more recent times became property of the Rome Council. It is an interesting, diversified park, with beauties of historical and artistic interest, as well as areas of naturalistic interest. An intriguing, curved bridge over the busy traffic of the Via Olimpica connects the two spirits of this park.

On the eastern side, you will find the civilized, historical part with the villa, its statues, fountains and landscaped gardens. On the western side, you will find the wilder and more natural section with its striking vegetation and unexpected fauna.

Additionally, Villa Pamphilj has one of the most active runners’ communities in Rome. I keep telling myself that it would be nice to join the groups of joggers of all ages who run here daily. There is even a gathering point with showers and dressing-rooms. Needless to say, this thought remains one of my resolutions and, for now, I will join the myriads of other Romans who simply lie in the sun.

Park entrances: Via Aurelia Antica, Via Leone XIII (Olimpica), Via della Nocetta, Via Vitellia & Via di Porta S. Pancrazio

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Villa Doria Pamphilj | Art & culture, Relaxing
Via Leone XIII (Olimpica) | Vatican & Prati
Sunrise – sunset

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Image by Annalaura D'Errico

The city of Rome isn’t bike-friendly yet but luckily some of its parks are. One of these parks is the Parco Regionale dell’Appia Antica and, every once in a while, on Sundays, when it shuts down to traffic, I like to ride my bike there.

It has some excellent bike-routes which will allow you to get some good exercise while admiring beautiful sites of historical and artistic interest. You can choose to ride along the ‘queen of all roads’ the Appian Way, or along one of the different trails in the greener and wilder sections of the park, such as the Caffarella Valley or the Tormarancia estate.

On the Appia Antica, I think the most striking part is really the actual road –the cobblestones. They are simply amazing and beautiful. I also like the milestones. Here you really appreciate –physically understand- the true meaning of a milestone. If you choose one of the other trails, you will find yourself immersed in nature just at a stone’s throw from the city. In fact, you can watch the line where the buildings of the city stop and the green protected area begins.

Unlike Villa Borghese or Villa Pamphilj which are comely due to their aristocratic origin, the Caffarella and Tormarancia sections make this one of the more ‘natural’ parks of Rome. Here, you will find meadows, bushes, hills, ditches, hamlets, caves, a fully functional farmhouse, sheep, a river and springs –all interspersed with Roman ruins. Now, this is truly a bike ride!

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Parco Regionale | Art & culture, Relaxing | Bike for a day € 10.00
Via Appia Antica 42 | Appio Tuscolano | +39065135314
Park:sunrise – sunset daily | Bike rental: Sun & holidays 09:30 – 17:30

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Image by Annalaura D'Errico

I had never been to this park until recently. I had seen some of the aqueducts from the train when going South, but I never knew it was a park. Technically, the Parco degli Acquedotti is part of the Parco Regionale dell’Appia Antica but it isn’t all that immediate to think of it in that way since it is a bit removed and sandwiched in between Via Appia Nuova and Via Tuscolana. Anyway, its peculiarity -as its name suggests- are the numerous ruins of the various Roman aqueducts and these are simply breathtaking.

A stroll in this park, in addition to being extremely pleasant, can be the best way to rapidly review the last 2000 years of this city, almost a trip through time which will take you from the glory of the first years of the Roman Empire to the recent years of a neighborhood in the peripheries.

So, as one admires the ruins of the Aqueduct Claudio (52 AD), restored by Pope Hadrian I (776 AD), pillaged to obtain building material in the 15th century, one may happen to run into a pile of rocks with some flowers which may have been placed there by some dog-owner to commemorate some dog his pet (2006), or a flock of small parrots which have claimed this unusual habitat for them (2008).

Amongst old hamlets, ruins, meadows, flowers, common and less common people, relax and meditate on the interpretation of time, history and human nature that this park can inspire.

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The Acqueducts | Art & culture, Relaxing
Via Lemonia | Appio Tuscolano | +39065135314
Sunrise – sunset daily

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Image by Annalaura D'Errico

I stumbled across this piazza unexpectedly a few years ago. I was on my motorino, on the way to somewhere else and, all of sudden, among the tight-knit housing buildings, space opens up to a large square and an enormous church.

I stop and take a look at this entirely new environment no one has ever told me about, after over three decades of being a Roman. The piazza is something of a déjà-vu. Its whole ‘feng shui’ is influenced by the colossal presence of the church, with Fascist-era looking buildings all around, cold and a bit gloomy.

All this, however, contrasts with the vitality of the gardens at the center: there are elderly people chatting on lawn chairs, mothers pushing strollers and kids playing football completely oblivious to their surroundings. I like this piazza and I recommend it.

Obviously, there are tons of churches and piazzas in Rome and most are of greater historical and artistic significance than Piazza Don Bosco and its church.

However, this is a good place to visit if you’d like a taste of life in the peripheries of Rome. Take a stroll here and sit on the park benches. A note on the area: this neighborhood sprung up with the creation of the Cinecittà Film Studios and the Don Bosco Church right after WWII.

The church was inaugurated in 1957. Fellini used this piazza as the setting for some scenes of La Dolce Vita since it was close to the studios and resembled the Rome’s EUR neighborhood.

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Piazza Don Bosco | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Piazza Don Bosco | Appio Tuscolano
Optimal time to visit: afternoon

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Image by Sabrina Favoriti

Parco Pappacci is a park near my house and it is a nice park to go relax, bring your dog (there is a separate area just for your pets), run or bring your children.

I go mainly to relax and walk around and maybe sit down on a bench and catch up on some reading, I usually do this during the spring time where you can catch some rays of sunshine as well, while I read or do some people watching and take a break from work and home.

In March when spring time is close you can admire the trees blossoming and the daisies which make the park so much prettier. I keep on going during the summer as well because the shades of the trees makes the heat so much more bearable, even though there is less people watching to do.

During the colder months, the parks get more people walking or jogging around than sitting at the park! You can still enjoy the people walking and stop and chat with one of the elderly ladies from the neighborhood, which always have great stories. And if you want to warm up there is nothing like a run or jog in the park to do the trick!

And now they added more events like a pony ride around the park…the children love it, and for the adults there is some evening music, which is a great way to meet the people that live in the neighborhood.

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Parco Pappacci | Music, Relaxing | Free
Via di Grottarossa 124 | Cassia & Montemario
05:00 – 22:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Rome

Image by Eleonora Baldwin

The acronym stands for Strategic Business Unit, but the name is misleading. We’re talking about one of the city’s most stylish jeans shops, the one where Roman VIPs and stars go to for their vintage low cut Japanese denims. Overseas, the luxury SBU brand is sold at Jones and The Library in London, Fred Segal in Los Angeles, and Beans in Tokyo, to mention a few.

The Rome flagship store is just around the corner from busy Piazza Navona, and specializes in denims, but also designs a sophisticated range of casual clothing, sportswear and tailored leather collection, shoes and very posh fashion accessories, like the 100% cashmere balaclava. I love their crisp white cotton T-shirts, stylish motorcycle jackets and canvas plimsoles.

The old wooden counters, stacked drawer chests, and cast iron columns of this former 1800s draper’s workshop provide the perfect, understated setting for the Perfetti brothers Cristiano and Patrizio’s range of classic and ink-dyed jeans. The pair I bought was a superb indigo stretch denim, which looks perfectly worn and feels oh so soft and supple, and a men’s leather combat boot, which–if properly treated–keeps my feet chic and dry in all weather conditions.

Besides the large street-front rooms, one for the men’s collection–with a suspended racing scull hanging from the ceiling–and the women’s collection room, there is a photography studio and a small hidden backyard, which is perfect for a relaxing moment between shopping sprees.

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SBU | Relaxing, Shopping
Via di San Pantaleo 69 | City center | +390668802547
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 13:00 & 15:30 – 19:30, Sat 10:00 – 19:30

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Rome

Image by Eleonora Baldwin

I walk by this perfumy corner roughly three times a week, on my way to work. Every time, I am compelled to slow down, take in the aromas and colors of the gorgeous floral display that graces the windows and sidewalk. I love flowers, and this place fuels my passion. If I had a garden, I would probably be broke, and Formiche Verdi’s biggest investor!

Formiche Verdi-the three green ants-is a centrally located florist, that grows its many local and exotic varieties of flowers, plants and trees at a nursery in the Capannelle area. The store has also recently extended to include a stall in the Città dell’Altra Econimia farmer’s market in Testaccio.

Every time I find an excuse to walk in-like buying seeds for gifts, or courting a jasmine topiary-the kind employee is always very patient with my botanical questions. I think he recognizes me. I’m seen here often admiring the fruit trees and floral growth that make the inside of the shop look like a forest. I dream of having a garden, with a little vegetable patch. I daydream of what plants I’d buy, I envision myself scattering seeds for grass and potting peonies, planting tomatoes…

Should I ever be lucky enough to actually have a garden, I could call upon the skilled Formiche Verdi staff to come landscape it, and do maintenance. Besides tending to gardens, parks and other green areas, the qualified team of professionals behind the the “green ants” also provides wedding floral arrangements and other decorative services.

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Formiche Verdi | Relaxing, Shopping
Via Arenula 22 | City center | +390668193266
Mon – Sat 09:00 – 19:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Rome