Some compare it to London’s Soho, others to New York’s Greenwich Village, yet others to the Marais in Paris. But the comparisons are valid only in that this ancient neighbourhood of Rome is today a place where Romans and tourists alike love to come for its restaurants, cafés and boites.

Otherwise, Trastevere (pronounced Tras-TEH-ver-ay) is unique with its warren of narrow cobblestoned  streets, its old buildings, some dating back three or four centuries, its courtyards, its  centuries-old churches, its antique fountains and country-village atmosphere.

I moved here quite by accident when I arrived in Italy; a girlfriend had offered to share and I took her up on it immediately even though I had no idea what the neighbourhood was like. And now you’d have to drag me away, kicking and screaming.

Yes, it’s noisy. Yes, it’s dirtier than it should be, partly because a lot of Italians have no problem with littering and partly because AMA, the Rome garbage company, doesn’t realize it has to make a special effort to keep this place clean. But it has a mystique that is priceless (both real estate values and rents are sky-high) and an ambience that is – to say the least - enchanting.

Almost everyone on your street will get to know you, neighborhood shopkeepers can be counted on for favors as well as gossip and chit-chat. And you will get a good idea of what life was like here in past centuries.

The past is always present in Trastevere. This is one of the oldest parts of Ancient Rome on this side of the Tiber. Indeed, the name  - Tras Tevere, originally Trans Tiberim   in Latin – means across the river.

This is the part of Rome where newcomers to the city settled in the first century AD,  which in those days meant mostly foreigners - Jews, Arabs and the members of other Eastern religions. For centuries, aside from beautiful Tiber Island there was only one wooden bridge connecting it to the rest of the city and later most of the people crossing the “new” bridges such as the beautiful Ponte Sisto (built by Pope Sixtus V in 1475) were pilgrims heading a bit further north to the Vatican.

Today, too, there are lots of foreigners in Trastevere. When I have my morning coffee I hear people speaking a variety of languages -- including “romanaccio”  as the local dialect is called.

In more recent times, Trastevere was a workers’ quarter, inhabited mostly by generations of low income Romans. But after the war it gradually became a Mecca for  foreigners – artists, students and writers - looking for cheap food and lodgings. Gradually, Italians, too, starting getting the Trastevere bug, all of which explains the rise in real estate values. And, like me, all of these people leqarned it was a charming, scenic and friendly place to sit and schmooze in a café or to get a good meal.

Basilica di Santa Maria Photo by Gaspa

But Trastevere also has some wonderful, not to be missed art works. At least once a month I duck into the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere to see the Byzantine frescos. A visit to the Villa Farnesina with its marvellous Raffaello frescos is always refreshing as is the church of San Crisogono where the exquisite Byzantine pavement dates back to 1300. Carlo Maderno’s poignant statue of Santa Cecilia and …. Marvellous frescoes adorn the church of the same name, and don’t miss the first century ruins underneath. And Bernini’s Ecstacy of the Beata Ludovica is simply amazing.