Insider's Rome
This village-like quarter is akin to the film version of the city everyone falls in love with: winding streets, trailing ivy and a café on every corner. Welcome to la dolce vita, says Imogen Lepere
Despite its location between some of Rome’s big-hitting sights (the Colosseum, the Forum and Quirinal Hill),
Monti feels like a secret village – although admittedly few villages have such impeccably dressed locals. Its colour palette of ochre, dusky pink and terracotta sizzles during golden hour, when children play football in the street and the Piazza della Madonna dei Monti is filled with the tinkle of ice in Aperol spritzes. The phrase ‘la dolce vita’ might have been coined in these winding streets, which are linked by stairs such as the Scalinata dei Borgia, where young couples share ice cream beneath trailing ivy. Once you’ve been awed – and disturbed – by the Colosseum’s bloody history, it’s on to more genteel pursuits. Given that the area is also home to the ruins of Trajan’s Market, thought to be the world’s oldest covered shopping centre, it seems appropriate that retail therapy remains one of Monti’s great pleasures. Every weekend, Mercato Monti draws bohemian types to
Via Leonina 46 to rummage through handbags and art by up-and-coming names, while boutiques like LOL
Roma, Mikiway and Moll Flanders never fail to deliver on Roman flair – for those with deep enough pockets.
THE HISTORY
As one of Rome’s oldest residential neighbourhoods, Monti (or Suburra as it was originally called) has been inhabited for 2,500 years.
While nobles wafted around lemon-scented villas on Rome’s seven hills, the people – slaves, artisans, performers, soldiers, sex workers – scrambled through life in the tangle of streets behind the Forum, the empire’s centre of power. Walls, which still stand today, were built to protect the government
WHERE TO STAY
Like most things in Monti, the hotel scene is best described as classic style with on-trend details. Tucked away in a former convent in the north-east corner of the quartiere, Roma Luxus romaluxushotel.com is case in point. Each of its 30 rooms is individually furnished in jewel colours with harlequin tiles, and some feature enclosed terraces. The booths in the hotel’s restaurant are filled with an off-duty fashion crowd sipping cocktails and savouring South American, Italian and Spanish-inspired dishes from Michelin-starred chef Riccardo di Giacinto. If the idea of soaking in a hot tub while watching the starlings swoop between red roofs appeals, opt for Villa Spalletti Trivelli villaspalletti. it with its rooftop sanctuary and atmosphere of an aristocratic houseparty.
Some would say the real charm of Monti, however, lies in its residential air, and this is best experienced by hiring an apartment. Plum Guide plumguide.com has some design-forward rentals in the area, such as the split-level, two-bedroom apartment Gloria, while Rome Loft romeloft.com mainlines in the sort of buildings that make history lovers go weak at the knees, with beams and original features aplenty. from Monti’s frequent fires and discourage the area’s ‘unsuitables’ from roaming too far into civilised society. However, a network of underground tunnels allowed nobles such as Emperor Claudius’ wife, Messalina, and Nero to slip in unobserved when they fancied sampling some earthier pleasures. Sensory delights are very much still on the menu, although today they come in the form of organic wine bars, gourmet street food and alfresco cafés populated by wealthy painters, architects and trust-fund creatives.
WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK
Monti’s restaurants are cool, casual and always humming. Breakfast may have little significance in the Roman diet, but elbowing your way to the bar at Antico Caffè del Brasile 00 39 06 488 2319 and shouting for a macchiato and cornetto (sweet croissant with orange zest) is a compulsory rite of passage. For a healthier – and less pulse-raising – experience, relax over an organic juice on Aromaticus’ aromaticus.it covered terrace. For lunch, try punchy Puglian small plates at Fafiuche, fafiuche.it – a modish bar with a 600-strong wine list and handful of tables outside. Their tiella alla Barese (potatoes, rice and mussels) is particularly good.
Time for a spritz? Libreria Caffè Bohemien lnx.caffebohemien.it is perfectly located for sun basking between 5 and 6pm if you can bag one of the tables on the terrace. Trattoria Valentino
00 39 06 488 0643 is more
Italian than pizza and Pavarotti combined. They serve faithful versions of Rome’s signature carbonara, amatriciana and cacio e pepe pasta dishes, in a white-washed dining room with tiled floors. If you have room, a takeaway Peroni and supplì (the Roman cousin of
Sicilian arancini) from Pizzeria La Boccaccia laboccaccia.it hits the spot. Join the locals on the steps next to the restaurant and watch the world amble by.