Unusual Places to Visit in Rome

In the first episode of "Dear Diary" (1993), Nanni Moretti rides around Rome on his Vespa. It's summer, the capital is deserted due to the summer holidays, and he rides his scooter through the city and its streets, rediscovering its neighborhoods and buildings. It's not summer, but Rome's perfect climate makes it the ideal destination in any season. So why not take advantage of the opportunity to visit and rediscover its squares and streets, especially the quietest and most hidden ones?

Rome never ceases to amaze and, beyond its monumental beauty, there is a more hidden city made of streets from other times, ancient shops, masterpieces of extraordinary magnificence but little known, and places where the street art. It revolutionized the life of entire neighborhoods.

Here then an itinerary different from the usual ones, to visit Rome at a slow pace. Ten places to discover and rediscover, an “outside the box” itinerary for those who have always known Rome and for those who dream of visiting it, as soon as it is possible to do so.

Index of topics

Ancient Pharmacy of Santa Maria della Scala

Photo credit: Underground Rome – Facebook

In the heart of Trastevere, in Piazza della Scala, in the convent of the Discalced Carmelite Fathers adjacent to the Church of Santa Maria della Scala, lies Rome's oldest pharmacy: the Spezieria di Santa Maria della Scala. Located on the second floor of the convent, it dates back to the second half of the 16th century. Originally created for the personal use of the friars, who cultivated medicinal plants in the convent garden to make medicines, it was opened to the public in the late 17th century, becoming an important landmark. Princes, doctors, cardinals, and even popes flocked there: indeed, it is also known as the "Pharmacy of the Popes."

A fascinating place, where time stands still. The Carmelite friars continued to produce the remedies and medicines offered in the apothecary until 1954: since then, everything has remained intact, year after year. Inside the apothecary, browsing among the wooden shelves, you can see the ancient tools used to make the medicines, the medicinal herbs, and the boxes and vials in which they were contained. There is a laboratory where the medicines of the time were prepared, equipped with a device that transformed the medicines into pills, and a small room dedicated to medical examinations. On the cabinet doors are paintings of some of the most famous physicians, starting with Hippocrates. During the 1700th century, the apothecary also became a place of learning, open to all who wished to learn the characteristics of plants, to then transform them into effective remedies for physical health. The ancient apothecary of Santa Maria della Scala can only be visited on certain occasions. Guided tours are organized by various associations, including Underground Rome.

House – Hendrik Christian Andersen Museum

Photo credit: Hendrik Christian Andersen Museum/Facebook

There are countless museums to visit in the capital, some of which are among the most famous in the world. Among these are others that are less frequented because they are off the beaten path, such as the Hendrik Christian Andersen House and Museum, just steps from Piazza del Popolo. Located at Via Pasquale Stanislao Mancini 20, in the Flaminio district, it is a truly evocative place, a haven from the hustle and bustle of the city. Admission is always free.

The House Museum houses the works of the sculptor and painter Hendrik Christian Andersen. Of Norwegian origin, born in Bergen in 1872, he lived most of his life in Rome. Over two hundred large, medium, and small-scale sculptures in plaster and bronze are on display. There are also over two hundred paintings. Over three hundred graphic works. The collection centers on the utopian project of a "World City," a laboratory of ideas in the arts, sciences, philosophy, and religion. Andersen believed that art could bring peace and harmony to the world—a goal to be achieved, above all, through monumental art. At the heart of Andersen's works are figures of heroes and heroines such as those that can be admired inside “Villa Hélène,” the house-museum dedicated to his mother, designed in neo-Renaissance style by Andersen himself between 1922 and 1925 and then bequeathed to the Italian State following his death in 1940, which today houses the museum.

Some of the most significant sculptures are currently housed in what was the artist's atelier, his studio. The room is illuminated by a skylight in the ceiling: the light floods the works and instills a sense of serenity.

Arch of the Acetari

There are so many hidden gems in Rome's streets. Strolling along the cobblestone streets, you only need to turn the corner to be surprised and enchanted by the city's extraordinary grandeur. Take a stroll through Campo de' Fiori and, after admiring this historic square, enlivened in the morning by the sounds and voices of the fruit and vegetable market, turn onto Via del Pellegrino. Take a look up so you don't miss the 1700th-century shrine you'll pass along the way, and continue along the street until you come across the Arco degli Acetari. Cross it and then walk down the small, narrow street that characterizes it: as if by magic, you'll feel like you've been transported to a medieval village. It's a closed, inhabited courtyard, so please respect the privacy and tranquility of its residents. It's characterized by small, old-fashioned houses with balconies and windows decorated with flowers and plants. The Arco degli Acetari owes its name to the sellers of vinegar water who lived in the area and sold their product in the Campo de' Fiori market a few meters away.

Santa Maria in Vallicella and Rubens's Motorized Painting

smariavallicella 0 — Photos by Tourism Rome

After visiting the Arco degli Acetari and the medieval courtyard hidden behind its walls, head to the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella, traditionally known as the Chiesa Nuova, just a few meters from Campo de' Fiori. Take some time to marvel at the vault, dome, and apse, decorated by Pietro da Cortona. And the frescoes on the apse's high altar, created by Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens.

Look carefully at the main altar: the altarpiece “Angels in Veneration of the Madonna”, created by Rubens in 1608 is a wonderful “baroque machine” which houses a fresco from the 1400s, the painting “Madonna with Child Jesus and Two Angels(Madonna della Vallicella). This work, in the period before the reconstruction of the church, begun in 1575, was kept outside a "stufa," a room used as a public bath. As tradition has it, after being hit with a stone, the Marian icon began to bleed. The miraculous sacred image was thus placed on the high altar of the New Church. To protect the fresco from deterioration, Rubens created the splendid altarpiece. “Angels in Veneration of the Madonna”It is a motorized painting on a copper plate that, thanks to a special mechanism, lowers and raises, revealing and protecting the Marian icon underneath. An unmissable masterpiece.

And that's not all: next to the church stands the Oratorio dei Filippini, in Baroque style, built by Francesco Borromini between 1637 and 1667.

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

After admiring the Oratory of the Filippini, stay in the area because we're moving towards Via del Quirinale to admire another masterpiece by the extraordinary architect. Borromini is responsible for the construction of a church of imposing beauty: San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane. It was 1634 when the Spanish Trinitarian Fathers decided to entrust the young Borromini with the task of restoring their small church dedicated to the Holy Trinity and Saint Charles Borromeo. And it is precisely because of its small size (it is said to be as large as a pillar of the dome of Saint Peter's) that the Romans affectionately refer to the church as "San Carlino."

Initially, Borromini dedicated himself to the construction of the convent and cloister, then focused on the church, a project he continued until his death in 1667. The concave-convex façade, with a statue of Saint Charles Borromeo at its center, was completed in 1670 by his nephew Bernardo. Enter the church: you will be amazed by the ingenious oval dome, characterized by complex geometric shapes that expand the perception of space.

Colonna Gallery

From wonder to wonder. In the center of Rome, just steps from Via del Corso and Piazza Venezia, stands Palazzo Colonna, one of the oldest private palaces in Rome. Inside, the majestic Galleria Colonna, a true jewel of Roman Baroque, extends. Its construction began around the mid-1600s. The original design was by architect Antonio del Grande. In the final decades of the 1600th century, it was expanded upon by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the Austrian painter and architect Johan Paul Schor, and the architect, sculptor, and engineer Carlo Fontana.

Inside the Colonna Gallery, precious sculptures and furnishings frame masterpieces by Pinturicchio, Guido Reni, Tintoretto, Bronzino, Guercino, Vanvitelli, and many other 15th- and 16th-century Italian and foreign artists. Among the most famous paintings is Annibale Carracci's Bean Eater. Lose yourself in the immense beauty of the fresco decorating the ceiling of the Colonna Gallery's Great Hall: a true treasure trove of wonders.

The Great Hall is also characterised by the cannonball positioned on the flight of stairs leading down to the Gallery: it is still located exactly in the same spot where it landed after being fired from the Janiculum in 1849, during the period of the Roman Republic.

Jasmine Walk

It's impossible to stroll through Rome and not be amazed at every step. Visiting Rome, and even experiencing it, is a constant discovery. Surely, each of us has visited St. Peter's Basilica at least once in our lives. Perhaps, however, you didn't know that it's possible to admire the Dome from a completely unusual perspective: the Passeggiata del Gelsomino (Jasmine Walk). This is a former track of the Vatican Railway, which once connected Italy to the Vatican City. Today, it's transformed into a path along which you can stroll, immersed in the intense scent of jasmine. The valley the path overlooks was once known as "Jasmine Valley" and stretched from the Vatican to the Janiculum Hill. Of the two tracks that characterized the Vatican Railway, built in 1929 and considered the shortest international railway in the world, only one remains today.

To reach the Passeggiata del Gelsomino, simply go to San Pietro station, enter as if you were taking the train, walk along platform 1, and immediately turn right. The avenue leads to the Rampa Aurelia, the steps that run along the Vatican Walls.

Tor Marancia Condominium Museum

Photo credit: Tor Marancia Condominium Museum/Facebook

There's no corner of the city where you can't be amazed. And that's what happens in Tor Marancia, where the cultural project Big City Life, conceived by 999Contemporary, a non-profit cultural institution, has revolutionized the neighborhood, redeveloping it and transforming it into an open-air art gallery. Twenty-two artists from all over the world have decorated the neighborhood with their own works. murals, the facades of the buildings, transforming Tor Marancia into a veritable condominium museum. A participatory public art project in which the neighborhood's residents participated: the artists were "adopted" by the residents (they even brought them lunch every day), and some of the murals depict stories and memories.

The Tor Marancia condominium museum represented Italy at the Venice Biennale, 15th Architecture Exhibition, Designing for the Common Good.

Coppedè District

Among the most fascinating places in Rome is the "Coppedè district," an architectural complex within the Trieste neighborhood, more than a neighborhood itself, located behind Via Tagliamento and a short walk from Piazza Buenos Aires. A fairytale-like corner, steeped in mystery, where Art Nouveau and Art Deco art, as well as Greek, Gothic, Baroque, and medieval architecture, coexist in a wonderful way. Its magical nature is immediately apparent as soon as you enter the entrance, featuring a beautiful, enormous wrought-iron chandelier. Once you pass through the richly decorated archway connecting the two Palazzo degli Ambasciatori, you arrive directly in the heart of the Coppedè district: Piazza Mincio, the spider building, the fairy villa, and the frog fountain, where, in 1965, the Beatles bathed fully clothed after a concert at the Piper, the historic club on Via Tagliamento.

The neighborhood takes its name from the eclectic architect who designed and built it between 1915 and 1927: Gino Coppedè. An almost surreal setting that, year after year, has served as the backdrop for numerous films, including those by director Dario Argento. And after visiting the Coppedè neighborhood, why not relax in the greenery of Villa Ada or Villa Borghese? A short stroll will take you to both parks, among the most beautiful and largest in the capital.

Montemartini

Photo credit: Montemartini Power Station/Facebook

A place in perfect "waste not" style, an extraordinary example of restoration and conversion of a long-abandoned industrial building into a museum. The Montemartini power plant, now the second exhibition center of the Capitoline Museums, was the capital's first public electricity generation plant. Inside, among turbines, diesel engines, and a gigantic steam boiler, you can admire countless classical sculptures unearthed during excavations conducted in Rome between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Machine Room is magnificent, with its exquisite Art Nouveau furnishings. An evocative setting in which the sculpture masterpieces blend seamlessly into the space shared with the industrial machinery, enhancing the monumental and industrial grandeur of the museum.

Inaugurated in 1917 to produce electricity for public lighting and the first private households, and operating until the mid-1960s, the power plant, named in memory of the Councilor for Technology, Giovanni Montemartini, was converted into a museum in 1997 with the transfer of a selection of sculptures and archaeological finds from the Capitoline Museums. "The Machines and the Gods" was the title of the temporary exhibition opened to the public in October 1997 and then transformed into a permanent display in 2001. In 2016, Boiler Room No. 2 of the Montemartini Power Plant was restored to house the carriages of the Train of Pius IX.

The most unusual places to visit in Rome