The Rioni of Rome: Garbatella
Urban village

Garbatella is a hotbed of support for AS Roma

By Emiliano Pretto
february 2009

Perhaps the renaissance of the Roman working-class district of Garbatella can be said to have started in 1994, with cult director Nanni Moretti’s magical comedy Caro Diario (Dear Diary). The film, which won the Best Director’s prize at Cannes, follows Moretti as he rides a Vespa around a summery and semi-deserted Rome. His journey begins in Garbatella, which he doesn’t hesitate to qualify as the favourite neighbourhood in his hometown.

Garbatella, a maze of streets between via Cristoforo Colombo, via Ostiense and Saint Paul’s Basilica, did not exist at the start of the 20th century. In 1920 King Vittorio Emanuele III ordered the construction of a new district to provide cheap accommodation for the influx of working-class families coming to the capital.
Architects wanted to create a sort of Italian version of the British Garden Cities: there were small apartment buildings grouped around courtyards; allotment gardens were included to provide inhabitants with a valuable source of cheap, fresh vegetables.
The new neighbourhood grew up in separate developments designed by different architects: this produced a huge variety of styles and decorations, with many details reminding the viewer of medieval, Renaissance or Baroque patterns. The inhabitants did not find in the new quarter the alien landscape of so many modern urban developments, but rather a homely mixture of familiar styles. From the outset Garbatella was special, with the intimate characteristics of a village. In many ways it reminded the new residents of the small walled towns near Rome from which they came.
Tourists have only recently discovered the district. There might be no monuments of special interest but the area is perfect for a quiet stroll on a summer evening, ending perhaps with a visit to one of the many small restaurants serving traditional Roman food.

Most of the original buildings in the neighbourhood are owned by a housing

Recently the neighbourhood has rapidly moved upmarket and house prices have rocketed as middle-class incomers try and snap up the few houses on the market.
It’s unlikely, however, that attempts to gentrify Garbatella will get very far. Most of the original buildings in the neighbourhood are owned by a housing association whose charter obliges it to provide accommodation for low-income families. Tenants are allowed to pass on apartments from father to son, keeping the property in the family – and avoiding the speculation which has transformed the formerly robustly working-class district of Trastevere into a largely radical chic enclave full of nightclubs, restaurants, wine bars and art galleries – and where house prices have soared beyond the reach of most ordinary Romans.

The inhabitants of Garbatella are fiercely proud of its status as a stronghold of authentic Roman traditions, but they also realise the benefits to the quarter brought by the film crews seeking “typical” locations and the sprinkling of galleries and studios arriving with artists and intellectuals.
Fifty years ago the radical film-maker and author Pier Paolo Pasolini set key scenes of his hard-hitting novel depicting young members of the Roman underclass A Violent Life in the streets and alleys of Garbatella.
Now the neighbourhood forms the backdrop for a hugely popular television sit-com the Cesaroni, the story of an everyday Roman family running a local bar. Garbatella is also home to one of Italy’s most popular actors Gigi Proietti, by many regarded as a sort of unofficial ambassador of all things Roman.

The popular actor Gigi Proietti

Nothing could be more Roman than spending an evening at the dinner table with a group of family or friends. Garbatella is full of traditional trattoria where you can find Roman cuisine at its best.
Agli scalini de’Marisa (Via Roberto de’ Nobili 17) offers a choice of robust classical pasta dishes: alla Carbonara (with beaten egg, bacon and pecorino cheese) alla Cacio e Pepe (with cacio cheese and pepper) all’Amatriciana (with bacon and tomato) or main courses like Coda alla Vaccinara (Oxtail stew). Another sure bet is Tanto pe’ magnà (via Giustino de Jacobis 9/15) where you’ll find excellent pasta and hearty main courses.
Away from the table, the Teatro Palladium (Piazza Bartolomeo Romano) offers a variety of stage shows and live music while the 10b photographic gallery (via San Lorenzo da Brindisi 10b) run by internationally renowned photographer and photo-journalist Francesco Zizola features perhaps the finest selection of art photography in Rome.
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An unusual guest

On 11 December 1931 Gandhi met briefly in Rome with fascist leader Mussolini. Gandhi had no religious or political agenda for his visit but Mussolini sought to impress the Indian independence campaigner by taking him to Garbatella to show off the conditions in which workers lived under fascism.