Recently I took a Japanese friend to Testaccio, the southwest district of Rome, set along the Tiber river near the subway station Pyramid, and there we tasted some of the most amazing cheeses and hams in Rome at Volpetti, the historical gourmet shop on via Marmorata, the main street of the quarter.

It is strange how things rapidly change here because Testaccio was once the working-class residential area of Rome, and now it is becoming a sort of ‘Village' attracting gourmet lovers from all around the world.
This transformation was helped by the recent restyling of the fruit and vegetable market and to Eataly, a 3-storey high tech building packed, as we say, 'con ogni ben di Dio' by every goodness of God of Italian food and wine. In between, many modern restaurants and ice cream shops have opened for the joy of the most discriminating tastes, enriching the already generous offer of this quarter.

For the happiness of beauty searchers, the area is also rich in historical attractions like the nearby ancient Caius Cestius Pyramid, the acatholic cemetery, where Keats and Shelley are buried, the Capitoline Museums in Centrale Montemartini, and the already mentioned Modern Art wing of the Macro Rome, a museum of contemporary art set in the old cattle market of Rome. Moreover, Testaccio is lately attracting many street artists like Blu, which embellish the side of condominiums, bridges, and abandoned buildings with their giant murals. Monte di Testaccio, or as the Romans fondly call it Monte de Cocci, was created in ancient times by broken vases called ‘testae,’ arrived at the river harbor full of wine and oil: the mountain was created by ancient trash.

​The cardinal created 3 branches from the town's aqueduct to feed his fountains, which use the Aniene river water. A hydraulic machine of 500 liters of water per second still works after centuries.
The most amazing fountains are the Fountain of the Organ, which produced music thanking a subterranean hydraulic system that was recently restored. The Fountain of Ovato with a waterfall under which I used to walk when I was a child.

The masters involved in the frescoes are the same that can be admired in the Gallery of Maps in the Vatican Museums. Every inch of the interiors is decorated with grotesque, and in every corner, the family symbol of the cardinal, the lilies, and the eagle can be found as well as the symbol of the grandfather of the cardinal, the bull  Borgia.


Practical information: You need to be determined to arrive in Tivoli by public transportation as the train doesn't run too often here. You will need to walk a while to reach the villa from the station.