Every Sunday the city's great secondhand market spills out around the old gate, while the streets to the south hide frescoed villas, museums and the quiet neighbourhood of Monteverde.
Last updated August 23, 2026
In a nutshell: the Sunday market is the great draw, but the south of Trastevere also holds Villa Farnesina, hidden corners, the Museo di Roma and quiet Monteverde. Start from the district overview, see Santa Maria in Trastevere, climb the Gianicolo or go out for food and nightlife.
A textbook Renaissance villa, beautifully symmetrical inside and out, surrounded by gorgeous gardens and decorated with impressive frescoes painted by Raphael and his pupils, among others, of scenes from mythology and ancient history. This 16th-century standard was one that all Roman families were quick to follow when commissioning their own residences.
Tip: There is little signage inside. The only English-language guided tour departs at 10am on Saturdays; other tours (in Italian) run at 12.30pm on Saturdays and at 12.30pm, 3pm and 4pm on the second Sunday of each month.
A peculiar owner: the villa was built at the beginning of the 16th century, between 1506 and 1512, for Agostino Chigi, a banker from Siena who was, as you might suspect, fabulously rich. So rich that he once famously awed the guests at one of his banquets by joyfully telling them to throw the solid gold plates they had just dined on out of the window. Of course, a shrewd banker like Chigi was not about to let perfectly good gold go to waste, so he had servants standing below with wide nets to catch the plates as they fell.
Chigi was one of the greatest patrons of the arts, known as far away as the Ottoman Empire, and he enjoyed the favour of not one but two popes, Julius II and then Leo X. After so much excess, the villa fell into disrepair after his death in 1520 and was one of the many places looted during the sack of Rome of 1527. It was bought by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in 1580, which is where the current name comes from. It has belonged to the Italian state since 1927 and is now the headquarters of the Accademia dei Lincei, one of the oldest scientific institutions in Europe.
The project for the villa's construction was entrusted to Baldassarre Peruzzi, who had studied under Bramante and who also completed the decorations of the Sala del Fregio. The building features two horseshoe-shaped floors that open onto an Italian-style garden, which has gone through several changes over the centuries. The real stunners, though, are the frescoes that decorate almost every surface. On the ground floor you can admire the Loggia di Galatea and the Loggia di Psiche, both painted by none other than Raphael and his pupils.
The Loggia di Galatea's most famous fresco is undoubtedly the Triumph of Galatea (1512), where the nymph rides a seashell chariot pulled by dolphins, surrounded by water nymphs and tritons. Galatea's face is said to be that of Raphael's lover Margherita Lute, the same woman depicted in his famous painting La Fornarina (Portrait of a Young Woman, 1518-19), now displayed in Palazzo Barberini. As for the Loggia di Psiche, the decorations follow her trials and culminate in the central fresco, which depicts her wedding to Cupid.
Agostino Chigi certainly was a unique character, and his events would more often than not contain some surprise to wow his guests. Besides throwing plates out of windows, he also famously organised a lavish banquet inside the villa's stables. It was a not-so-subtle dig at his fellow Roman patricians, a way of saying that even Chigi's stables were more luxurious than anything anyone else could ever build or possess.
Upstairs you find the Sala delle Prospettive, frescoed by Peruzzi himself and filled with optical illusions that were all the rage in the Renaissance. If you pay attention, you can even spot some of the graffiti left by the troops who made the villa their camp during the sack of 1527. Adjoining the Sala delle Prospettive is the bedroom used by Agostino Chigi and his consort, decorated with stories from Alexander the Great's life, the most famous of which is undoubtedly the scene of his wedding to the Bactrian princess Roxana.
Every city needs its own massive secondhand market, and the Mercato di Porta Portese definitely fills that role for Rome. This sprawling open-air market appears every Sunday around the area of the 16th-century gate after which it takes its name, and it has been doing so since 1945, when it took the place of the black market that had run during WWII in Campo de' Fiori.
While undoubtedly chaotic, it is the perfect way to immerse yourself in the local atmosphere of Trastevere, which has been captured time and again in cinema and music, like in Vittorio de Sica's Ladri di Biciclette (1948) and Pier Paolo Pasolini's Mamma Roma (1962). And who knows, maybe here you will find just what you have always been looking for. Depending on what that is, you can sort of decide where to go: head to the area between Piazza della Radio and Via Ippolito Nievo for clothing, while from Via Ippolito Nievo upwards to Piazza Ippolito Nievo you will find the antiques section. There is also a whole area of new clothes and everyday items occupying the space surrounding Via Porta Portese.
If you would rather experience a typical Italian farmers market, try the Mercato di Piazza San Cosimato, which opens every Monday and Saturday in Piazza San Cosimato and where you can stock up on all kinds of delicious goods.
Its pizzas sit between thin Roman ones and thicker Neapolitan-style ones, and they are absolutely delicious.
For something sweet, this quaint bakery is filled with French-inspired delicacies, well loved by locals.
This old-school 1920s deli is perfect for panini filled with cured meats.
Further over towards the Gianicolo, eat its fresh pasta on the go or sitting down.
A museum that focuses on the people of Rome rather than the city's works of art: a series of documents, photos and clothes tells the story of the citizens of Rome from the end of the 18th century to the early 19th century. It highlights all the myriad folk traditions that kept the city alive, from religious ceremonies to popular dances to jobs that have long since disappeared.
Official site →For another taste of the past, explore one of the most ancient pharmacies in Europe, the Antica Spezieria di Santa Maria della Scala. It was built around the mid-16th century and managed by Carmelite monks, who prepared tonics and other remedies with the herbs they tended themselves. It was such an important place that it eventually became known as 'the popes' pharmacy' and used to regularly supply medicine to the Holy See. The Spezieria has kept its original look, with wooden furniture and the myriad of jars that once contained all the ingredients the monks worked with. Visitors should book in advance by email ([email protected]).
Some of Trastevere's unique little gems are waiting just down an alleyway or around a corner you did not expect to turn. This walk runs from the Scalinata Ugo Bassi to Sant'Andrea de Scaphis, about 2.1 km and an hour on foot.
While the proper name of this neighbourhood is Gianicolense, everyone knows it as Monteverde. It sits on a hill made of tuff, which the ancient Romans dug out regularly to use in all sorts of buildings. One of the quietest parts of Rome, it shares none of Trastevere's happy chaos despite being so close to it. It is the perfect place to relax and soak in the air of a part of Rome that was beloved of a good chunk of its patrician families, who were happy to have their 'countryside' estates built here so they could retreat to them when the intrigues of the papal court weighed them down too much. What remains of their rich villas and palazzi forms the Monteverde Vecchio area, while the new houses built after WWII, when this area was one of the hot spots of the Roman partisan resistance, are in Monteverde Nuovo.
For a glimpse into everyday Monteverde life, head to Viale dei Quattro Venti and its secondhand Mercatino di Monteverde, smaller than its colleague in Porta Portese but still a perfect place to unearth some unique vintage gems, or to Piazza San Giovanni di Dio for the neighbourhood's farmers market.
In quiet Monteverde, this may be one of Rome's best trattorias.
Filled with cat decor for all cat lovers, it serves a wide range of pizzas, both traditional and unique.
Book ahead for a table at this family-run trattoria with incredible Roman cuisine.
This simple, traditional trattoria seems to have stepped out of time, and its menu is sure to satisfy all tastes.
A handful of further sights are marked on neighbourhood maps and are pleasant to stumble upon while wandering: the Belvedere Piccolomini and the Fortino della Madonnina on the Gianicolo, the Fontana del Prigione and the Chiostro di San Cosimato in the streets below, the Porta Settimiana gate on Via della Lungara and the Scalea del Tamburino staircase.