The Rioni of Rome:
The changing face of Rione Monti

By Emiliano Pretto
december 2008

Ten years ago the Rione Monti was a neighbourhood deeply rooted in historic Roman traditions. The area with it’s old buildings is beautiful and typically Roman, and contains some of the most important sites of the city. But what was once a district dominated by craft workshops and small traditional commercial activities has undergone a rapid and startling transformation. The inhabitants of Monti once vied fiercely with the residents of Trastevere as to who were the most quintessentially Roman. In the 1980’s and 90’s the robustly working-class district across the Tiber rapidly went radical chic and now Monti is enjoying its own new lease of life as its narrow alleyways, winding flights of steps and oddly shaped piazzas are home to jazz clubs, fashion ateliers for international designers, bijou boutiques, a dazzling array of ethnic restaurants and food stores, tea shops, winebars and music schools.
The authentic essence of the old quarter nestling between via Cavour, via Nazionale and via delle Quattro Fontane remains, but the area now moves to a more modern, cosmopolitan beat.
By day even the most inveterate shopaholics will find a bustling embarrassment of riches: interesting, small boutiques are popping up everywhere, often with young emerging designers; within clothes, furniture and handicrafts. By night you can visit winebars, pubs, traditional trattorie or ethnic restaurants, listen to live music or dance till the small hours in any number of clubs.

A stroll through Monti offers a unique experience. The best place to start is without doubt the charming little piazza Madonna dei Monti, home to the 16th century church of the same name. There’s also a beautiful fountain designed in 1588 by sculptor Giacomo della Porta for Pope Sixtus V and the 9th century church of Santi Sergio e Bacco dedicated to the Roman martyrs Sergius and Bacchus. It is one of the three national churches of the Ukraine, and belongs to the Ukrainian National Church. The church is also known as the Madonna del Pascolo, after an icon kept there.
The piazza opens onto one of the most interesting streets in the neighbourhood, via dei Serpenti. In the past this was home to carpenters and blacksmiths. Now you’ll find some of the best ethnic restaurants in all of Rome. At via dei Serpenti 27, is Hasekura, one of the first Japanese eateries to open in the Italian capital and still one of the best places to eat sushi in Rome.
Food lovers adore the dazzling variety of restaurants in Monti. Unsurprisingly the quarter’s few remaining traditional craftsmen are less enchanted. “There’s nothing we can do about it. In the space of four or five years the old professions have more or less died out. Here they used to work wood or produce wrought iron, now it’s all ethnic restaurants and clothes shops,” laments one tradesman. There’s a clear feeling that the old craftsmen are an endangered species.

“ By now we’re rarities, but I for one am proud of my trade,” says Andrea, the owner of a blacksmith’s and metalworking shop in via Madonna dei Monti. “This business has been in my family for more than fifty years, but lately it’s been getting harder and harder simply to survive.”
Of course the economy is not flourishing in any sector, but according to Andrea the biggest blow to traditional craft workshops has been the increase in the big retail chains which have forced craftsmen out of the historic centre and towards the outskirts of the city.
“ Craftwork will not disappear,” continues Andrea, “But to stay here in the centre we have to focus on product quality and the special relationship with our customers. But if it just comes down to economics, there’s a real risk we’ll go to the wall,” – or at least out to the suburbs.

Walking up via dei Serpenti towards via Nazionale you pass some of the many Indian restaurants which now thrive in the quarter, including Mother India (no. 147), Il Guru (via Cimarra 5) and Maharajah (via dei Serpenti 124), which many consider the finest Indian restaurant in Rome. You then reach a small but elegant boutique which typifies the transformation the area has undergone. Le Gallinelle (via del Boschetto 76) now sells one-off designs by owner-designer Vilma Silvestri. Twenty years ago the shop housed a poultry butcher, but it then became the first traditional old shop in Monti to be reconverted to a more upmarket activity. Amidst the stylish displays of Le Gallinelle’s intriguing mix of new and vintage clothing and accessories you can still glimpse traces of the shop’s former trade: the huge refrigerator (now a storeroom) behind the cash desk and the wrought-iron hooks in the ceiling where the chickens were hung after having their throats cut.
Not all the district’s tradesmen have closed down or moved on.
Piero Secchiotti has run his quality butcher’s store in via Panisperna 245 for over half a century and has no intention of quitting. His customers not only include inhabitants of Monti’s bustling streets and lanes, but also a more sedate and elegant residence a stone’s throw away: the Presidential Palace on the Quirinale Hill. “I’ve been supplying the Quirinale for 25 years,” says Secchiotti with pride.
Monarchs and heads of state who dine at the Quirinale invariably feast on meat from Secchiotti’s store. They have included Queen Elizabeth II, US Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, former French head of state Jacques Chirac, Cuban leader Fidel Castro and the former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Italy’s current president, Giorgio Napolitano, was a long-time resident of Monti

Before taking up residence in the Quirinale Palace Italy’s current president, Giorgio Napolitano, a former Senator for the Italian Communist Party (PCI), was a long-time resident of Monti. “He’s a personal friend,” continues Secchiotti. “He lived just a few hundred meters from here and came in here to buy his meat – and we used to go to the same local headquarters of the PCI.”
According to Secchiotti, Italy’s head of state is a man of simple tastes. “He likes veal. But nowadays he no longer comes to my shop to buy his meat from me. I have to take it every day up to the Quirinale.”
Mr Napolitano may have been forced to move out of the neighbourhood but Monti can still boast many notable long-term residents including film directors Mario Monicelli and Roberto Faenza, actor Raoul Bova and ballet dancer Carla Fracci.

This delightful district is an invigorating mix of proletarian pride and Boho-chic.
New and intriguing shops and clubs are opening up throughout the quarter. For example, at via dei Serpenti 32 there’s Galleria dei Serpenti, a discobar where you can dance ‘till late which is also an art gallery.
At via del Boschetto 112/A you’ll find Il giardino del Tè. This sleek and modern space feels as much like an art gallery as it does a shop. On display are more than 120 international teas from Japan to Russia to Sri Lanka, including the rare and precious Chinese white tea and many interesting house blends, as well as a wide selection of all the accoutrements: strainers and tea cups and beautiful tea pots.
If you are in the mood for love, or at least sensuality and an insight into your most secret desires, stop off at Misty Beethoven at via degli Zingari 12. Sexy Vivienne Westwood leather boots, Agent Provocateur lingerie, downright dirty dresses by Jean Pierre Braganza, extreme underwear by Lascivious, Ophelia Fancy or Andres Sarda and a playful panoply of sex toys. Owner Ornella (whose English is excellent after ten years in London) describes her store as “Esotika, Erotika and Psycotika”.

Further down via degli Zingari, at number 34, you can enjoy a quieter evening at Libreria Bohemien, a wine bar, coffee and tea room, bookstore and art gallery with a laid-back literary atmosphere that’s open till late.
Jazz lovers will enjoy the Charity Caffé at via Panisperna 68 which is open till late and also offers an early evening concert (with aperitivo) on Sunday at six.
Monti is renowned for its ethnic restaurants, but Italian cuisine, both traditional and innovative, is by no means neglected. Urbana 47 (no surprises: it’s at via Urbana 47) offers an imaginative menu featuring only organic ingredients in a stylish setting.

Piero Secchiotti's famous butcher’s store in via Panisperna 245

At via Panisperna 75 there’s Le relazioni culinarie which specialises in traditional food from southern Italy, in particular Sicily. The homemade pasta dishes are excellent – and don’t miss the grilled swordfish with citrus fruit.
Still in via Panisperna (no. 225) there’s organic eating – and shopping – on the menu at Mia Market. You can drink, grab a quick lunch with bread and cheese, eat sushi, buy a vast assortment of fresh, locally produced organic fruit and vegetables and shop for a gorgeous range of designer homeware and gifts. They also serve Sunday brunch.
Mia offers the perfect example of how changing times have come to the ancient quarter of Monti, where even a centuries-old trade like selling fruit and vegetables can be switched on, stylish, innovative and intriguing.