Rione XX
A hill of broken pots, an old slaughterhouse, and the best cooking in Rome.
Testaccio is built around Monte Testaccio, a hill made entirely of broken amphorae from the ancient port next door. In the late nineteenth century a slaughterhouse was built beside it, and the neighbourhood grew up feeding and housing the people who worked there.
That is why the food here is the food of the poor: offal, oxtail and the humble cuts that the workers were paid in. It is also why it is the best place in Rome to eat the city's classic dishes.
A hill about thirty-five metres high made of broken olive-oil jars that Rome threw away over the centuries. Some of its caves hold wine cellars and restaurants.
The market at Via Beniamino Franklin is where locals shop and where a handful of stalls sell excellent street food. Go on a weekday morning.
A white marble pyramid built around the time of Augustus as the tomb of a Roman magistrate, set into the old city wall beside Piramide metro station.
A quiet, tree-shaded cemetery beside the pyramid, where Keats and Shelley are buried. Check opening times before you go.
We name a place only when we have checked that it is still trading, and show the date. Where we have not, we tell you what to look for.
Via di Monte Testaccio 30
One of Rome's oldest restaurants, for the offal dishes Testaccio is known for. The wine cellar is dug into Monte Testaccio. Open for lunch and dinner Wednesday to Sunday.
Checked 4 October 2026. Turismo Roma hospitality listing
Via Beniamino Franklin
The covered market. Closed on Sundays. Go in the morning when the stalls are full.
Checked 4 October 2026. Visitor listings
Food
from€149per personStart at the covered market in Testaccio with a local cook, buy your own ingredients, then learn to make cacio e pepe, supplì and a classic Roman dessert in a home kitchen.
Next neighbourhood
Prati and the Vatican