Trastevere has always been there, and Testaccio is also a given. For years San Lorenzo, across the Termini railway tracks and close to the Sapienza University in Rome, was the new happening area and at present it is the turn of Pigneto. The neighborhood has rapidly become the city’s number 1 hipster district.
Pigneto Neighbourhood Rome
The Pigneto neighborhood starts just beyond Porta Maggiore, the square where most of the ancient aqueducts end and where most of Rome’s tram lines come together. The area has the form of a triangle with the Via Prenestina bordering it in the north, the Circonvallazione Casilina in the east and the Via Casilina on the southern side.
Pigneto is characterized by the presence of houses, rather than flats like in the rest of the center of Rome and therefore has a more village-like atmosphere. Its main street, the Via del Pigneto is partly pedestrian and very interesting in the evening when the alternative crowd sits outside, drinking beer or wine and listening to music. In the mornings, there is a market in the Via del Pigneto.
Some well-known restaurants are Primo (Via del Pigneto, 46), Necci (Via Fanfulla da Lodi, 68), which can be a bit hard to find, but has a gorgeous outdoor area, and Quarantuno (Via del Pigneto, 41/43), with rather formal, but friendly waiters, and excellent antipasti.
Circolo degli Artisti (Via Casilina Vecchia, 42) is Rome’s most important venue for alternative music and Fanfulla 101 (Via Fanfulla da Lodi, 101) organizes concerts and DJ sets.
One of the main characteristics of Pigneto is the presence of a lot of street art.
A brief history of the Pigneto district
Until the unification of Italy, the area was mainly taken up by private villas and farmland. Then Rome became the capital of the new country and parts of the city became building sites. One of these parts was Pigneto, although most of the construction being done was unauthorized and random. In the early 20th century, the district became a neighborhood for industrial workers.
The district was one of the few that were heavily bombed during World War II.
In the 1960s Pigneto developed a predominantly left wing part of Rome. The central figure in this transformation was the movie maker Pier Paolo Paolini.
Curiosities
Pigneto is not the official name of the district. Most of the neighbourhood is part of the district Prenestino-Labicano (Q. VII) en what is left is part of Tiburtino (Q. VI).
Public transport
The Pigneto stop on metro line C is located at the end of the pedestrian street. From Termini you can take bus 105 and from Piazza Vittorio Emanuele tram 5.