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Quirky and Unusual Places in Rome

The most interesting unusual places in Rome are often streets and small details: a column shaft in an alley, a small basin next to a fountain, a hidden stairway. This guide gathers 24 of them. Almost all are free and need no reservation. For each one you’ll find what to look at and a link to the full write-up. Where an opening time or price isn’t certain, check the full write-up or the official website before you go.

This guide is part of our Rome attractions section. If you’re looking for something else, see also Government Palaces Open to Visitors in Rome and Best Views of Rome: Free Viewpoints and Terraces.

Unusual Places in Rome You Can Visit for Free: Lanes, Stairs and Streets

Let’s start with the spots that are public streets. They have no ticket office and no custodian, and you can visit them at any hour.

Orlando Furioso and the scar on the column

Vicolo della Spada d’Orlando, in the Colonna district, links Piazza Capranica to Via delle Colonnelle in about fifty steps. On the right-hand side as you come from Piazza Capranica, a column shaft a little over a meter tall rises from the cobblestones with a crack in it. Admission is free, day and night.

Via Piccolomini

A short street climbing uphill in the Aurelio neighborhood, between garden walls, pines and plane trees. People come for the perspective: at the far end you see the dome of St. Peter’s, which seems to shrink as you walk toward it. There’s no ticket and no opening time.

Scalea del Tamburino

In Trastevere, this ramp of brick and travertine links Viale Glorioso to Via Dandolo. No guidebook puts it on the cover, but for many Romans it’s a well-known address.

Salita dei Borgia

A covered stairway that joins Via Cavour to Piazza San Pietro in Vincoli, in the Monti district. It passes under the arch of an old small palazzo and is open at any hour. Romans also call it the “vicolo scellerato” (wicked alley), and the full write-up tells the story behind that nickname.

Via del Babuino

It links Piazza del Popolo to Piazza di Spagna and is the eastern arm of Tridente. It’s just under six hundred meters long and takes ten minutes to walk, fifteen if you stop to look around. Enter from the Flaminio or Spagna stop on Metro Line A and exit at the other end.

Fontanella degli innamorati

On the right side of the big fountain that closes the square toward Via della Stamperia, there’s a rectangular travertine basin with two spouts. It has no statues and no signs. It was part of the same architectural structure fed by the aqueduct, and Romans gave it this name.

Unusual Places in Rome: Satirical Statues, Legends and Ghosts

These spots only make sense with the story that goes with them. The full write-ups tell each one in full.

The Talking Statues of Rome

These are six sculptures on which, since the 1500s, Romans secretly posted satirical notes against popes and the powerful: Pasquino, Marforio, Madama Lucrezia, Abate Luigi, Babuino and Facchino. Five are reused ancient fragments. Only Facchino was made as a sixteenth-century fountain.

Pasquino

This marble torso sits at the northwest corner of Palazzo Braschi, about fifty meters from Piazza Navona. The word “pasquinade” comes from him. The marble is a fragment of a Greek group of which at least fifteen Roman copies are known, and archaeologists still debate the subject.

Obelisco della Minerva

It’s the smallest of Rome’s thirteen ancient obelisks: red granite, a little over five and a half meters tall, standing on the back of a small marble elephant. The design is by Bernini, the execution by Ercole Ferrata, and it was unveiled in 1667. Romans call it the “pulcino della Minerva” (Minerva’s chick).

Rome’s ghosts: legends and places

The write-up makes clear right away that these are tales, not verified apparitions. One of them is that of Beatrice Cenci, executed on September 11, 1599: the execution is documented, the ghost is not. The text explains what these stories were for in taverns and on church squares.

Leaning Tower of Rome

This is Torre delle Milizie, a little over fifty meters tall, above the Markets of Trajan. It leans because the ground gave way and a fourteenth-century earthquake took off the top floor. The story of Nero watching Rome burn from here is false.

Porta Alchemica of Piazza Vittorio

It stands in the northern corner of Nicola Calipari garden in the Esquilino district, near the Vittorio Emanuele stop on Metro Line A. You can see it through the fence in any daylight. To enter the enclosure you need a guided visit. For the Trophies of Marius, the Capitoline Superintendency lists €4.00 full price and €3.00 reduced.

Churches, Mithraea and Sanctuaries Off the Beaten Path

Mouth of Truth

It’s set into the wall of the portico of the basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, at Piazza della Bocca della Verità 18. Admission is free and no reservation is needed. For the photo with your hand in the mouth you wait in line under the portico, and in peak months the wait can top half an hour.

Skull of Saint Valentine

The skull of Saint Valentine is kept in the same basilica. Admission is free, and the church is in active use, not a museum. The official website lists opening from 9:30 a.m. to 5:50 p.m. and closing on January 1. Hours vary with services, so check again before you go.

Basilica of Sant’Eustachio

You recognize it by the stag’s head with a cross between its antlers at the top of the pediment. It sums up the legend that gives the church its name and is also the coat of arms of the family that paid for much of the eighteenth-century rebuilding. The full write-up also explains the link with the eighth district.

Sant’Agnese in Agone

It closes the west side of Piazza Navona, with its recessed facade and twin bell towers. It stands where it does because, five meters below, there are Roman-era rooms where tradition places the martyrdom of a girl of twelve or thirteen. The legend of the statue that raises its arm is impossible given the dates.

Basilica of Santa Prisca and Mithraeum

On the Aventine, above ground there’s a titular church of late antique origin. Below, down a side stairway, you reach a Mithraic sanctuary with frescoes of the seven grades of initiation. The complex came to light by chance in 1934. For visits to the Mithraeum, the Aventine guide notes suspensions: check first.

Barberini Mithraeum

It lies under a twentieth-century building between Via delle Quattro Fontane and Via San Nicola da Tolentino, near the Barberini stop on Metro Line A. Discovered in 1936, it preserves a large fresco of the bull-slaying scene (tauroctony) and ten side panels. The full write-up links it to guided visits.

Aventine: Things to See, from the Orange Garden to the Keyhole

You can tour the hill on foot in half a day, and the main stops cost nothing. The trouble is the hours: the Rose Garden opens only during the bloom, the Orange Garden changes its hours four times a year, and the garden of the Villa del Priorato di Malta can only be seen on an organized visit.

Towers, Bridges and Day Trips

Ponte Fabricio

It links the Jewish Ghetto to Tiber Island and was built in 62 BC by Lucius Fabricius, whose name appears four times in the inscription. It has two arches with a span of about 24.5 meters. You can cross it in under a minute, for free, at any hour.

Torre dei Caetani

It stands at the northeastern end of Tiber Island, where the bridge reaches the island. It’s a tall, narrow medieval brick tower, also called the tower of the Pulzella (the maiden) for a relief showing a woman’s face. Who the woman is isn’t known: what’s told about her is folklore.

Spazio Fontanella

This is a co-working space in the Ponte district, a few dozen meters from the Tiber. By day it works as a shared office. In the evening it hosts concerts, DJ sets, exhibitions, workshops and pop-ups. The program changes, so check each time.

Sanctuary of Juno Sospita in Lanuvio

It’s in the Castelli Romani area and takes about fifty minutes to reach by car. It asks for a little preparation: the write-up reconstructs the porticoes, the ninth-century BC hut village and the rite of the girl who entered the gallery with a cake for the serpent.

Santuario della Mentorella

It’s at Via della Mentorella 1, in Capranica Prenestina, on Monte Guadagnolo. Admission is free. On October 29, 1978, Karol Wojtyła went there, two weeks after his election as pope. For information, call 06 95471899.

Practical Tips for Choosing

Many of the unusual places in Rome described here are streets that are always open. For sites with guided visits or seasonal hours, the full write-up says where to check. You’ll find more ideas in our Rome attractions section.

FAQ: Unusual Places in Rome

Which unusual places in Rome can I visit for free?

Free to visit are the Orlando Furioso lane, Salita dei Borgia, Via del Babuino, Ponte Fabricio and the Mouth of Truth. Mentorella is also free to enter.

What are the opening hours of the basilica with the Mouth of Truth?

The official website of the basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin lists opening from 9:30 a.m. to 5:50 p.m. and closing on January 1. Hours can change with services, so check again before you go.

Can you go inside the Porta Alchemica?

You can see the Porta Alchemica through the fence. To enter the enclosure you need a guided visit. For the Trophies of Marius, the Capitoline Superintendency lists €4.00 full price and €3.00 reduced.

Which unusual places in Rome require a trip out of town?

The Sanctuary of Juno Sospita in Lanuvio, about fifty minutes away by car, and the Santuario della Mentorella, in Capranica Prenestina.

Are the legends about these places true?

It depends. The story of Nero on Torre delle Milizie is false, while the execution of Beatrice Cenci in 1599 is documented. The full write-ups separate fact from tradition.

All the places in this guide (24)

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