Intro/Reflection:
Testaccio: the two-faced neighborhood.
In the day time, Testaccio has a working class, proletarian feel. Instead of cobblestone, we walk on pavement. Clothes are left to dry on balconies and even in front yards everywhere. Testaccio feels real. Livable. Unlike most neighborhoods in Rome, Testaccio is not a disneyland. There are no attempts made to hide the mundane and sometimes harsh aspects of real life.
In the night time, Testaccio is a completely different place. The middle aged workers that crowded the streets in the daytime are replaced by young, hip party-goers. Instead of people dressed in conservative, modest work clothes, these teens are dressed in very chic, expensive, modern attire. The more chic, the more likely you are to get into the clubs –some of which are impossible to get into without paying a fortune regardless of how you look. The night is a stage for a competition to be the best looking, most desirable, and the wealthiest. This Testaccio takes on a very exclusive, modern, creative, youthful feel.
History:
Testaccio was once a river port where olive oil, wine, grain from Roman provinces arrived in huge terra-cotta urns. However, it is most well known for being Rome’s former meat packing district. In 1890, Mattatoio, a slaughterhouse, opened on Monte Testaccio. Animals were not only butchered, but also quartered there. Good meat was sold and the leftover “5th quarter” was given to workers as wages. The “5th quarter” is what they called the unwanted odds and ends. Eventually, these offal, hooves, tails, and snouts would turn up in a distinctive new cuisine born in Testaccio and still alive today in more modest trattorias. Common dishes included sauces made with pajata, baby veal intestines with mothers milk still inside, though today veal is often replaced with lamb for fear of mad cow disease.
When mattatoio closed in 1970s, the Scuola Popolare di Musica moved into abandoned spaces and grottoes of Monte Testaccio. Thus, Testaccio made a move towards becoming a more contemporary neighborhood.
Currently
Today, Testaccio has a flea market look and working class feel in the day time. The residents are the working class –the modest, average Roman. At night, a “new breed of young Roman, obsessed with la bella figura and in search of la dolce vita takes over the streets.” These are the visitors. Young Romans gather from all over Rome to visit Testaccio and enjoy the edgy clubs, galleries, and theaters with alternative music, art, and ideas. Testaccio also houses MACRO future, one of the vey few contemporary museums in Rome.
Coat of arms: Testaccio is the 20th rione of Rome, deriving its name form Monte Testaccio. The rione coat of arms depicts an amphora (type of ceramic vase with two handles and a long neck used mostly to store olive oil).
Route:
1. Park de la resistenza (+ memorial)
-Park of the Resistance of 8 September
-designed by garden architect Raffaele de Vico in 1939
-in the middle, there is fountain with an African Motif that represented the nearby Italian Ministry of African Affairs (today occupied by FAO). FAO stands for “Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations”.
-as you walk out of the park, you can see a memorial dedicated to those who fought to unify Italy.
2. Pyramid + Cat sanctuary + Protestant Cemetery
-Pyramid of Caius Cestius: Built around 12 BC as a mausoleum for a wealthy Roman magistrate. It also serves as a cat sanctuary. (It’s near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. Porta San Paolo: one of the southern gates in the 3rd century to enter through the walls of Rome. The Ostiense Museum is housed within the gatehouse.)
-Protestant Cemetery. In the 1700s, the Pope allocated this stretch of unused land for burial of non-Catholics. Before the Catholic Church prohibited the burial of non-Catholics in Catholic cemeteries in Rome—non-Catholics visitors that were mostly British. Often referred to as the “Englishmen’s Cemetery.” It is the final resting place of non-Catholics (not only Protestants or English people). One of the most famous graves is that of the English poet John Keats (died of tuberculosis in Rome). It also serves as a cat sanctuary. It is best to go there in the morning due to the confusing afternoon closing hours that changes seasonally.
3. Memorial
(for soldiers of all nations who died in battles of the Italian Campaign)
-First special service force association June 1984.
-Started with United States-Canadian Force.
4. Testaccio Market
-Located in the Piazza Testaccio, it is unlike many Roman markets since the stalls are housed in a more permanent structure. Market is filled with fruit, vegetables, meats, fish, dairy, and even shoes. It has a more distinctly working class Italians as buyers. Open from 6:30 to 1:30 everyday except Sunday.
5. MACRO Future
-an annex to citys Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma took over 2 newly restored pavilions in slaughterhouse
-notice that the outside of the building is not contemporary at all. Contradiction!
6. Monte Testaccio
-In ancient times, much of the Tiber River trade took place here, and the remains of broken clay vessels (amphorae) were stacked creating this artificial Testaccio hill (called Monte Testaccio), which today is a source of much archeological evidence as the history of ancient everyday Roman life. The countless numbers of broken amphorae shows the enormous amount of food required to sustain ancient Rome—hill estimated to contain the remains of 1.6 billion US gallons of imported oil (amphora=18 gallons)
7. Clubs
-hottest clubs took over caves long ago dug into the side of Monte Testaccio.
-Writers, artists, young professionals embraced this area, even moving into the housing projects that once accommodated workers
-Specific clubs include Alibi (gay club with a great dance floor upstairs and a diverse crowd), Akab (underground cave, hip hop music), Charro Cafe (one of our favorites, different DJ inside and outside, free entry, very diverse music including everything from 70s to modern day music from all over the world).
Riones (neighborhoods) of Rome
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