Romanian Orthodox Church in Rome

The Romanian Orthodox Church in Rome is not a single building. It is a network of parishes of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy, which depends on the Patriarchate of Romania and has its seat at Via Ardeatina 1741. The Roman parish with the earliest founding date among those published by the diocese celebrates at Via Gallia 162, in the San Giovanni area, in the parish hall of the Catholic church of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. You enter the liturgies freely, with no ticket and no reservation.

So there is no single building to visit. The Romanian Orthodox communities of the capital pray in crypts, chapels and halls granted by Catholic parishes and religious institutes, in a chapel inside a facility of Municipio VI, and in a few cases in churches inaugurated or acquired by the communities themselves, as in Ostia and Prima Porta. The diocese’s official list counts more than 15 parishes with the name of Rome, some of which are in neighboring municipalities. The language of the services is Romanian.

Data checked on September 29, 2026 on the official website of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy, on the pages of the individual parishes published by the diocese, on the diocesan news portal and on the other sources cited later in the text. For Via Gallia parish the diocese indicates four liturgies a week but does not publish the times. The point of reference to ask is the parish priest, at the number published by the diocese, or the diocesan chancery at 06 7197343, open from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 14:00 to 17:00.

At a glance: address, times, how to get in

• Diocese seat: Via Ardeatina 1741, 00134 Rome, with the chapel of the Dormition of the Mother of God.
• Historic parish in the city: Nativity of the Mother of God, Via Gallia 162, at the Catholic church of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Operator: Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy, Patriarchate of Romania, Bishop Siluan.
• How to get in: free entry during services, no reservation, no ticket.
• Times: published by the diocese only for some Roman parishes, for Via Gallia four weekly liturgies with no time indicated.
• Contacts: diocesan chancery 06 7197343, from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 14:00 to 17:00, Via Gallia parish priest +39 342 316 40 55.

Where it is and what you actually see

Anyone looking for a single address has to choose between two points. The diocese seat is at Via Ardeatina 1741, on the southern outskirts of the city, inside a park of 2.7 hectares bought in 2008 with the contribution of the Romanian Patriarchate and the government of Romania, according to the diocese’s history page. It is the administrative center, with the chancery, the offices and the chapel of the Dormition of the Mother of God, where the seat’s priests celebrate.

The second point is the parish at Via Gallia 162, in the San Giovanni neighborhood, between the Lateran basilica and the Aurelian Walls. The diocese presents it as the parish of the Nativity of the Mother of God. The community celebrates in the parish hall of the Catholic church of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, designed by Tullio Rossi and built between 1936 and 1937. From outside you therefore see a 20th-century Catholic church, with the bell tower rising on the left side.

Inside, during the Romanian liturgies, everything changes. The services follow the Byzantine rite in the Romanian language, with chant, incense and icons, and in the Orthodox tradition the faithful stay on their feet for a long time. The parish serves families, elderly people and children who come from distant neighborhoods too. It is not a museum and there are no panels for visitors. What you see is a community at prayer, in a borrowed space adapted every week.

The rest of the Romanian presence is scattered through the neighborhoods. On the Tuscolana, at Via Alessandro Viviani 24, the parish of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross has celebrated since 2005 in the crypt of the church of the Suore dell’Assunzione, near Parco degli Acquedotti. In Ostia the parish of the Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem has a church inaugurated in 2014 at Via Ostiense 1551. Other communities are in Aurelio, Monte Sacro, Tor di Quinto, La Rustica, Trullo, Torre Spaccata and Torre Angela.

A curiosity about the Romanian Orthodox Church in Rome

The first Romanian Orthodox parish in Italy was born in Rome itself, in the autumn of 1940, with the priest Gheorghe Tilea. The diocese’s history page says so, and adds a bitter detail: the parish functioned only until the beginning of 1941. Europe was at war, and that first Roman experience closed within a few months. To find a stable parish again you have to wait until 1975 and move to Milan, according to the same source.

The sources on the Milan date don’t agree. The diocese gives February 9, 1975 for the birth of the parish of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in Milan, with the priest Traian Valdman. The CESNUR volume Le religioni in Italia, on the page devoted to the Patriarchate of Romania, speaks instead of 1974. The one-year difference may depend on the moment chosen as the founding, that is the decision or the first celebration, but neither source explains it.

The second curiosity concerns the calendar. Many people think Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7. For Romanians that’s not so. Romania adopted the revised Julian calendar on October 14, 1924, and since then the fixed feasts, Christmas included, fall on the same day as for Catholics. Easter, however, is still calculated with the Julian calendar, as in almost all Orthodox Churches, and usually doesn’t coincide with the Catholic one.

2026 offers an example. On April 5, 2026 the Catholics of Rome were celebrating Easter. The same day, according to the diocese’s portal, Bishop Siluan presided over the Divine Liturgy in the Ostia parish for the patronal feast of the Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem, that is Palm Sunday. For Romanian Orthodox Christians, Easter arrived a week later. Anyone who lives in Rome and has Romanian neighbors knows this double spring calendar well.

Something nobody tells you about the Romanian Orthodox Church in Rome

Almost no Romanian community in Rome prays in a church it owns. The parish pages published by the diocese speak of crypts, parish halls, chapels of religious institutes, spaces granted by Catholic priests, in one case an oral agreement renewed with monthly requests. The diocese’s history page says it in general terms: the communities in Italy needed a stable place for the liturgy, and this led to the purchase or the grant of Catholic spaces and churches for long periods.

The opposing view worth keeping in mind: in our judgment it is wrong to look in Rome for a Romanian Orthodox church to visit as a monument. Anyone who arrives with that idea is disappointed, because they find halls, crypts and adapted chapels, not a building built for the Byzantine rite. The value is elsewhere, in the liturgy and the community. For Orthodox architecture designed as such, in Rome, the page to read is the one on the Russian Orthodox church of Santa Caterina.

A second little-known thing: the first Romanian parish in Rome of the recent era was not born in a Catholic church. According to CESNUR, the first seats of Romanian parishes in Italy were offered by local Catholic authorities, with the sole exception of the first parish in Rome, hosted at the Roman seat of the Anglican Church. The source does not indicate the building or the year. On the site you will find the page on the Anglican church of All Saints, the main Anglican presence in the city.

A third, practical thing: the name of the parish and the name of the church almost never coincide. On Via Gallia the Orthodox parish is dedicated to the Nativity of the Mother of God, while the Catholic church that hosts it is dedicated to the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. On the Tuscolana the parish is that of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, but the building is the church of the Suore dell’Assunzione. Anyone searching for the address on maps under the wrong name risks ending up somewhere else.

Which are the Romanian Orthodox parishes of Rome?

The list published by the diocese counts 19 entries that begin with the name of Rome. The first is the diocesan seat at Via Ardeatina 1741, with the chapel of the Dormition of the Mother of God. Then come the neighborhood parishes: Aurelio, Borghesiana, Laurentina at Trigoria, Monte Mario, Ostia, Prima Porta, San Basilio at La Rustica, San Giovanni, Tor di Quinto, Torre Spaccata, Tuscolana, Monte Sacro, Prenestina, Torre Angela and Trullo. Three entries are outside the municipality: Monterotondo, Palestrina and Pantano, toward Monte Compatri.

Three parishes have the best documented history. San Giovanni, at Via Gallia 162, born in the autumn of 1999 and moved in 2000 from the church of Santa Maria del Buon Consiglio. The Tuscolana, at Via Alessandro Viviani 24, founded on March 15, 2001, hosted in a parish hall until 2005 and then in the crypt of the Suore dell’Assunzione. Ostia, established on January 1, 2002, with a church inaugurated on November 9, 2014 at Via Ostiense 1551, according to the diocesan portal.

Among the communities born after 2005 are Prima Porta, at Via di Santa Cornelia 72-75, which in 2021 acquired a church of its own of 152 square meters, and La Rustica, at Via Bernardino Bernardini 55, hosted since September 2020 by the Catholic church of San Cleto. In Aurelio the parish of San Panteleimon, at Via Adriano I 189/B, celebrates in the church of the Oblati di San Giuseppe. At Tor di Quinto, at Via Tuscania 12, the parish of the Protection of the Mother of God uses the chapel of the church of San Gaetano.

The most recent communities still have provisional seats. Monte Sacro has celebrated since 2017 in the chapel of Sant’Elena, at Via Nicola Festa 50, granted by the Catholic parish of San Ponziano with the permission of the Vicariate. Torre Spaccata, at Via di Torre Spaccata 157, uses a chapel of the Bruno Buozzi center, a facility of Municipio VI. Trullo, at Via di Monte Cucco 127, was inaugurated on September 5, 2020 in a building that used to house a childcare facility. Laurentina is listed as a parish in formation.

The Roman parishes do not form a single block. The diocese groups them into deaneries, called protopopiate in Romanian. The official pages cite a protopopiat Lazio I, west center, of which Borghesiana is a part for example, and name as dean of Lazio I Father Ciprian Baltag, parish priest of the Tuscolana. Father Gabriel Ioniță, parish priest of Prima Porta, is named as dean of Lazio II. For anyone looking for a contact and getting no answer from the individual parish, the dean is the second point of reference after the chancery.

My advice for visiting the Romanian Orthodox Church in Rome

Choose a parish with published times. Among the Roman ones, the diocese gives precise times for Aurelio, with the Sunday Divine Liturgy at 9:30 preceded by matins at 8:00, and for La Rustica, with matins at 8:30 and the Divine Liturgy at 10:00. For Via Gallia, the historic parish, the times are not published. Before going, it’s best to phone the parish priest or the diocesan chancery and ask the time of the Sunday liturgy.

Arrive before the start and stay at the back. The Orthodox liturgy is long, and the faithful come and go discreetly to light a candle or kiss an icon. A visitor doesn’t have to do anything in particular. It’s enough to stay quiet, not cross the space in front of the altar and not get in the way of the priest’s movements. Sober dress, with shoulders and legs covered, is the most respectful choice, as in any church in Rome.

Don’t treat the liturgy as a show. No photos and no video during the service, unless the priest explicitly permits. No phone in hand. If you want to understand what is going on, it’s best to read something beforehand on the Byzantine rite and the Divine Liturgy, because on the spot there are no aids in Italian and the language is Romanian. Anyone who knows another Romance language, though, will recognize many words.

The best moment for a first contact is the end of the liturgy, when the priest is not busy with the service. It’s the chance to ask politely if you can come back, if there are services with a part in Italian or if the parish organizes open meetings. For the big feasts, Christmas and above all Easter, it’s best to ask the times first, because they change and the churches fill up.

Do you need to book, and when is the Sunday liturgy?

There is no need to book and nothing to pay. The Romanian Orthodox parishes of Rome are places of worship, and you enter the services freely. There are no official guided tours by the diocese aimed at tourists, and no paid tour dedicated to the Romanian churches of Rome appears to exist. The offering for candles and for the parish is voluntary. Anyone who wants a meeting with the priest, for a study group or a class, must ask the parish directly.

The diocese publishes precise Sunday times only for some Roman parishes. For the others it gives the priest’s name and phone. The table reports the times published on the parishes’ official pages and, for Via Gallia, the generic indication given by the diocese. The official channel for information is the website of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy, with the parishes section and the contacts of each community.

Parish and address	Sunday, times published by the diocese
San Giovanni, Via Gallia 162	four liturgies a week, time not published
Aurelio, Via Adriano I 189/B	matins 8:00, Divine Liturgy 9:30, parastas 11:30
San Basilio La Rustica, Via Bernardino Bernardini 55	matins 8:30, Divine Liturgy 10:00
Tuscolana, Via Alessandro Viviani 24	three liturgies a week, time not published

For the other parishes, the times have to be asked of the priest. Via Gallia page also gives confessions on three days of the week, the Tuscolana one on Thursday and on request, La Rustica on Thursday and Saturday at 16:30. In Aurelio the liturgy is celebrated on Saturday at 8:00 and the sacraments are booked between 11:00 and 18:00. These are data published by the diocese and may change during feast periods.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely cited

That Romanians are one of the largest foreign communities in Italy, everyone knows. Few know how much their Church has grown. CESNUR, on the page about the Patriarchate of Romania, reports about 50 Romanian Orthodox parishes in Italy in 2001, 166 in 2011 and 285 in February 2023, plus 13 in formation, grouped in 26 deaneries, with 6 monasteries and 301 priests. The diocese, on its history page, speaks of 280 parishes in 24 deaneries.

The second well-known and rarely cited fact is that the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy is young. The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church approved its establishment on June 21, 2007, and elected the first bishop, Siluan, on March 5, 2008. The installation took place on May 8, 2008, not in Rome but in Lucca, in the church of Sant’Anastasio of the Romanian parish of Sant’Antonio il Grande, according to the diocese’s history page.

Third fact: legal personality. According to CESNUR, the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy, based in Rome, obtained legal personality by a decree of the President of the Republic of September 12, 2011. The diocese recalls having filed the documentation with the Prefettura di Roma on October 7, 2009 and indicates that the procedure for an agreement with the Italian State is still under way. Legal recognition and the agreement are two distinct steps.

The last fact concerns language. According to the English Wikipedia entry on the Romanian Orthodox Church, it is the only autocephalous Church of Orthodoxy to use a Romance language in the liturgy. For anyone entering Via Gallia for the first time, the consequence is concrete: many words of the chant, like Dumnezeu for God or biserica for church, sound less foreign than you would expect, and you can hear the Latin root of Romanian.

The right photo to take at the Romanian Orthodox Church in Rome

The right photo is not taken during the liturgy. Anyone who wants an image of the Romanian presence in Rome should think of the exterior and of the moments before or after the services. On Via Gallia you can shoot the facade of the church of the Nativity of Our Lord, with the rose window, the central portal and the bas-relief of the Annunciation in the lunette, described by the Wikipedia entry on the church, and the bell tower rising on the left side.

Inside, icons and vestments are photographed only with the priest’s permission, and never during the Divine Liturgy. In spaces shared with a Catholic community the setup can change between Sunday and the rest of the week, and not everything you see belongs to the Romanian parish. Asking at the end of the liturgy is the right way. If the priest agrees, it’s best to photograph the icons up close, without flash and without framing the faithful at prayer.

People should be left out of the frame, or shot only with their consent. The Romanian community in Rome is made largely of workers, families and elderly people, and the privacy of those who pray comes before any photo. No images of the Sunday school children, no close-ups of anyone confessing or lighting a candle. The rule holds in all parishes, even those with a church of their own like Ostia and Prima Porta.

The most suitable image, in our judgment, is that of the church of Ostia at Via Ostiense 1551, inaugurated in 2014, with the altar and iconostasis consecrated on May 19, 2018 by three Orthodox bishops, according to the diocesan portal. Here the Byzantine rite has a space designed for itself. The photo should be taken from outside or with the parish’s permission, on a day without services. The light of early morning is the best for the facade.

How do you get to the Romanian churches from central Rome?

For Via Gallia 162 the diocese does not publish public transport directions. The church is in the San Giovanni neighborhood, south of the basilica of St. John Lateran, beyond the Aurelian Walls at the level of Porta Metronia. The bus and tram lines in the area change with roadworks, so for the route of the day it’s best to use the calculator on the ATAC site or call 060608.

For the Tuscolana parish, at Via Alessandro Viviani 24, the official page gives the Lucio Sestio metro stop as the reference. The church of the Suore dell'Assunzione is near one of the entrances of the Aqueducts Park. For Torre Spaccata, at Via di Torre Spaccata 157, the parish indicates the nearby Torre Spaccata metro station. For Tor di Quinto, at Via Tuscania 12, the reference given is the intersection between Corso di Francia and the Cassia Nuova.

The diocese seat, at Via Ardeatina 1741, is far from the center, on the same consular road that inside the city passes by the Ardeatine Caves Mausoleum and farther out of the gate toward the Santuario del Divino Amore. The diocese does not publish transport directions. Anyone going for an appointment at the chancery should get organized well in advance and check the route on the ATAC site.

For Ostia, Via Ostiense 1551, the road is the one that leads from the center to the sea passing the basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura. To get your bearings among metro, buses, urban trains and tickets, the page on getting around Rome is useful. By car, the outlying churches are more convenient, but on Sunday mornings the surroundings fill with worshippers who arrive from all over the city.

Some important events that happened here in history

In the autumn of 1940, the first Romanian Orthodox parish in Italy was born in Rome, with the priest Gheorghe Tilea, and it functioned until the beginning of 1941, according to the diocese. In 1974 or 1975, the sources don’t agree, the parish of the Descent of the Holy Spirit was born in Milan. In the autumn of 1999, with Metropolitan Iosif, the parish of the Nativity of the Mother of God was founded in Rome, moved in 2000 to the San Giovanni area.

On March 15, 2001 the Tuscolana parish was born, on January 1, 2002 the one in Ostia. In August 2004, according to CESNUR, the Patriarchate appointed a vicar bishop for Italy. On June 21, 2007 the Holy Synod approved the birth of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy. On March 5, 2008 Bishop Siluan was elected, installed on May 8 in Lucca. On September 7, 2008 the first liturgy was celebrated in the new seat on Via Ardeatina, inaugurated on October 9.

On October 7, 2009 the diocese filed with the Prefettura di Roma the documentation for legal recognition, which came with the presidential decree of September 12, 2011 according to CESNUR. In 2012 the Aurelio parish reactivated the church of the Oblati di San Giuseppe, which in previous years had been turned into a theater hall. On November 11, 2012 Father Ioan Ivan took over the pastoral guidance of Via Gallia parish, according to its monograph.

On November 9, 2014 the church of Ostia at Via Ostiense 1551 was inaugurated, with the altar and iconostasis consecrated on May 19, 2018. In 2017 the Monte Sacro parish was born in the chapel of Sant’Elena. In September 2020 the Rustica community entered the church of San Cleto and on September 5 the Trullo parish was inaugurated. In 2021 Prima Porta acquired a church of its own. On April 5, 2026 Bishop Siluan celebrated the patronal feast in Ostia.

Who has passed through the Romanian Orthodox Church in Rome

The first name is Gheorghe Tilea, the priest of the short-lived Roman parish of 1940, remembered by the diocese as the initiator of the Romanian Orthodox presence in Italy. Then comes Metropolitan Iosif, according to CESNUR Ilie Pop, born in 1966, head of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of Western and Southern Europe, the structure on which the Italian diocese also depends. The parishes of Via Gallia and the Tuscolana were born with his blessing, in 1999 and 2001.

The bishop of the diocese is Siluan, according to CESNUR Ciprian Şpan, born in 1970, elected in 2008. The diocesan site names Atanasie of Bogdania as vicar bishop. The seat on Via Ardeatina, according to the history page, was acquired with the blessing of Patriarch Daniel. On Via Gallia the first parish priest was Constantin Bălăucă, appointed on July 1, 2000 and remaining until October 2012. Since November 2012 the parish has been entrusted to Father Ioan Ivan.

On the Catholic side, the parish pages remember who opened the doors. In Ostia, in February 2002, the Maria Assunta chapel was granted by Monsignor Rino Fisichella, and in January 2005 the community found a place in the Catholic parish of Stella Maris thanks to don Plinio Poncina. In Aurelio the church was granted by the rector of the Oblati di San Giuseppe, Father Brian Crawford. In Monte Sacro the chapel comes from the parish of San Ponziano, with the permission of the Vicariate.

Above all, the faithful have passed through, and still do. Workers, men and women, who came from Romania after 1989, families that have put down roots in the city, students, elderly people. The Monte Sacro parish, according to its page, was born to offer spiritual assistance to the Romanian women who work in the area. The Tor di Quinto one is aimed in particular at the Orthodox faithful of Bessarabia, that is the present-day Republic of Moldova, who speak Romanian.

Why do Orthodox communities celebrate in Catholic churches?

What the documents say: the diocese’s history page explains that the communities in Italy needed a permanent place for the liturgy, and that for this reason they bought, or received on long-term grant, Catholic spaces or churches. CESNUR adds that the assignment of disused Catholic places of worship continues in most places. The pages of the Roman parishes indicate case by case who granted the space.

The formulas used change from parish to parish. On Via Gallia the community received permission to use the parish hall. At the Tuscolana it celebrates in the crypt of the church of the Suore dell’Assunzione, which granted it. In Monte Sacro the chapel was granted by the parish of San Ponziano with the permission of the Vicariate of Rome. In Torre Spaccata the community uses a chapel of a Municipio VI facility with an oral agreement and monthly requests, in a situation that the parish itself calls provisional.

What remains without proof: the published pages almost never indicate the legal form of the agreements, that is if it is a loan for use, a convention or a simple permission. The term comodato, often used in the press for these situations, does not appear on the official pages of the Roman parishes. To know how a specific case works you have to ask the parish or the diocese chancery, at 06 7197343.

What it means for visitors: in many of these churches two communities live together. On Sunday morning there may be Catholic Mass upstairs and the Romanian Divine Liturgy in the crypt or the hall. It’s best, then, to enter from the right side, follow the posted signs and not disturb one while looking for the other. Anyone who can’t find the entrance can ask the faithful in the churchyard, who usually point the way helpfully.

What do the parishes do besides the Sunday liturgy?

Sunday is only one part of parish life. The pages published by the diocese describe a full weekly calendar. On Via Gallia the liturgies are preceded by vespers, the akathist or matins, confessions are held on three days of the week and the anointing of the sick is celebrated periodically. In Aurelio the second Sunday of the month, at 14:00, is devoted to the sacrament of anointing, and after the Sunday liturgy the parastas is celebrated, the prayer for the dead.

Via Gallia parish, in the monograph published on the diocese’s site, also lists activities that go beyond worship: Sunday school for children, catechesis for adults, youth initiatives tied to the Nepsis movement, pilgrimages discovering the Rome of the early Christians and social and charitable work aimed at the most vulnerable. For a community of immigrants, the parish is also a place where people speak their own language and find help and contacts.

At La Rustica the third Friday of the month, at 19:30, the anointing is celebrated, and confessions are held on Thursday and Saturday at 16:30, according to the parish page. Prima Porta also lists vespers and catechesis on Tuesday at 19:15 in Campagnano di Roma, outside the city. These are details that show how a Romanian parish in Rome often serves a wide territory, with worshippers arriving from neighboring municipalities and priests who travel to reach them.

The Ostia parish has a particular history in material terms as well. Its page recalls that in 2013 the community acquired a plot of land to build a new church, and that in 2015, during the excavations, archaeological finds from the Roman era emerged. The detail doesn’t surprise anyone who knows the area, a short distance from Ostia Antica: in Rome, even an outlying church built in the 2000s can run into the ancient subsoil.

Where are the other non-Catholic churches and communities in Rome?

The Romanian presence fits into a city with many non-Catholic Christian communities. The other major Orthodox presence with a building designed for the rite is the Russian Orthodox church of Santa Caterina. The Protestant world has in Rome the Waldensian evangelical church in Piazza Cavour, the Christuskirche of the Lutherans, the Methodist evangelical church and the Baptist church on Via del Teatro Valle.

The Anglican and Episcopal world has the church of All Saints on Via del Babuino and the American church of St. Paul Within the Walls on Via Nazionale. Anyone interested in the Eastern Christian traditions in communion with Rome will find Sant'Atanasio dei Greci, San Biagio degli Armeni and, inside the Vatican, Santo Stefano degli Abissini. Outside the city, in Grottaferrata, there is the Greek abbey of San Nilo.

Beyond Christianity, Rome hosts the Great Mosque in Parioli, the Synagogue of Rome on the Lungotevere, the Mormon temple and the Soka Gakkai Buddhist Institute. The place that best tells the story of the Rome of non-Catholic foreigners, however, is the Non-Catholic Cemetery in Testaccio, where Protestants, Orthodox Christians and people of other faiths rest.

For anyone who wants to know Romania in Rome outside the churches, the cultural reference is the Accademia di Romania in Valle Giulia, which organizes exhibitions, concerts and meetings. Putting together a Sunday liturgy in a Romanian parish and a visit to the Accademia lets you see two faces of the same presence: the religious life of a community of workers and families, and the country’s cultural institution, active in Rome for much longer.

When is it closed and what shouldn’t you expect?

The churches where the Romanian communities celebrate have no opening hours for visitors. The hall on Via Gallia, the crypt of the Tuscolana and the neighborhood chapels open for liturgies, confessions and parish activities. Outside those times you may find open the Catholic church that hosts the community, with its own hours, but not the space used by the Romanians. Arriving in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday without notice usually means finding it closed.

Don’t expect a single great cathedral. The diocesan seat on Via Ardeatina is an administrative center with a chapel, not a church designed for large crowds of visitors, and the chancery receives during the stated hours, from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 14:00 to 17:00. Don’t expect aids in Italian, panels or visitor routes either. The liturgy is in Romanian and lasts a long time. Anyone who arrives with a museum idea has the wrong approach.

Don’t expect Easter to fall on the same date as for Catholics. The Romanian Orthodox Church calculates Easter with the Julian calendar, and the two dates coincide only in some years. In 2026 the difference was one week. Christmas, on the other hand, is celebrated on December 25. For Holy Week and Easter night the parishes publish special programs, and it’s best to ask for them in advance, because the churchyards fill well beyond capacity.

Finally, don’t expect all the published data to be up to date. The granted spaces change, parishes move, priests are reassigned. The story of Via Gallia, which went from the center of Rome to San Giovanni and from a hall for meals for the poor to the parish hall, proves it. Before you set out, a call to the parish number or the diocesan chancery avoids a useless trip to a closed door.

Eating in the area

The San Giovanni neighborhood, around Via Gallia, is a residential area with places designed for the people who live and work there. On Sunday at lunch, after the liturgies, the neighborhood families and those coming out of the churches move together, and the places fill up early. It’s best to decide beforehand where to go, or to move a few streets away from the main axes, where tables free up more easily.

The real traps are concentrated near the places with the most tourist traffic, like Piazza di Porta San Giovanni and the area around the basilica. The signals are always the same: the tout on the sidewalk, the menu with photographs of the dishes, items without prices, a different menu outside and inside, a kitchen open continuously with no break. Romans avoid these places because the quality depends on passing trade and not on regular customers.

The practical rule is to choose where you see people from the neighborhood, with a short menu written or printed daily and clear prices. Anyone curious about Romanian cuisine will find in the city shops and restaurants run by Romanians, especially in the neighborhoods where the community is most present, but we don’t point to any by name. For addresses selected with care there is the list of addresses on Google Maps, and on the site you will also find the guide where to eat in Rome.

What to combine in a day

From Via Gallia the nearest stop is the basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, with the Holy Stairs and the Lateran Baptistery. Continuing east you reach the basilica of Holy Cross in Jerusalem. To the south, along the walls, you reach Porta Latina and the church of San Giovanni a Porta Latina, with its medieval frescoes. It’s a morning on foot, after the liturgy.

Anyone going to the Tuscolana can combine Via Viviani parish with a walk in Parco degli Acquedotti, among the arches of the Acqua Claudia and the Felice. Anyone heading toward the Appia finds the Appian Way Regional Park and the catacombs of Rome, places of the first Christian Rome that Orthodox worshippers recognize as common heritage. For those going to Ostia, the sea and the neighborhood are covered on the page about Ostia Lido.

For the Monte Mario parish, dedicated to the physician saints Cosmas and Damian, the natural pairing is the Monte Mario Nature Reserve. The same saints give their name to the basilica of Santi Cosma e Damiano at the Forums, one of the oldest Roman churches, with the mosaics of the apse. Anyone following the thread of the feasts can read the pages on Christmas in Rome and on Easter in Rome.

A themed day on the Rome of faiths can start with a Romanian liturgy in the morning, continue with the Russian church of Santa Caterina and the Non-Catholic Cemetery, and end in the Jewish Ghetto, with the Synagogue and the museum. They are places that cost nothing or almost nothing, and more ideas along these lines are collected on the page Free Rome. It’s best to respect the service times in each place.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the main Romanian Orthodox church in Rome?

The diocese does not name a cathedral in Rome. The seat of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy is at Via Ardeatina 1741, with the chapel of the Dormition of the Mother of God. The Roman parish with the oldest founding among those published by the diocese is the one of the Nativity of the Mother of God, at Via Gallia 162, San Giovanni area, born in 1999 and hosted in the parish hall of a Catholic church.

What time is the Sunday liturgy in Romanian?

It depends on the parish. The diocese publishes precise times for Aurelio, at Via Adriano I 189/B, with the Divine Liturgy at 9:30, and for La Rustica, at Via Bernardino Bernardini 55, with the Divine Liturgy at 10:00. For Via Gallia it indicates four liturgies a week with no time. In these cases you have to ask the parish priest, at the number published on the diocese’s site, or the diocesan chancery at 06 7197343.

Can someone who is not Orthodox come in during the liturgy?

Yes. The services are public and entry is free, with no ticket and no reservation. It’s enough to stay quiet, preferably at the back, in sober dress, and not to photograph or film without the priest’s permission. Communion is reserved for prepared Orthodox faithful, as in the practice of the Orthodox Churches. At the end of the liturgy it’s normal to stay and say hello and ask the priest a few questions.

Why do Romanian Orthodox Christians celebrate in Catholic churches?

Because the communities, which grew quickly after 1989, needed stable spaces for the liturgy. According to the diocese this led to the purchase or the grant of Catholic spaces and churches for long periods. In Rome the parish pages cite parish halls, crypts, chapels of religious institutes and, in Torre Spaccata, a chapel in a Municipio VI facility. The legal form of the agreements is usually not published.

Do Romanian Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7?

No. Romania adopted the revised Julian calendar in October 1924, and since then the Romanian Orthodox Church celebrates the fixed feasts, including Christmas on December 25, on the same days as Catholics. Easter, however, is still calculated with the Julian calendar, as in the other Orthodox Churches, and often falls on a date different from the Catholic one. In 2026 the difference was one week.

Who does the Romanian Orthodox Church in Italy depend on?

On the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy, established by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church in 2007 and led by Bishop Siluan since 2008. The diocese is part of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of Western and Southern Europe, led by Metropolitan Iosif, and this in turn of the Patriarchate of Romania. The Italian seat is in Rome, at Via Ardeatina 1741, with the chancery open on weekdays.

How many Romanian Orthodox parishes are there in Rome?

The diocese’s official list gives 19 entries with the name of Rome, including the diocesan seat. Some, however, are in neighboring municipalities, like Monterotondo, Palestrina and Pantano, and one, in Laurentina, is listed as a parish in formation. Within the municipality there are communities in San Giovanni, Tuscolana, Aurelio, Monte Mario, Monte Sacro, Tor di Quinto, Prima Porta, Ostia, Trullo, La Rustica, Prenestina, Borghesiana, Torre Spaccata and Torre Angela.

Is there a Romanian parish for faithful from Moldova?

The Tor di Quinto parish, at Via Tuscania 12, dedicated to the Protection of the Mother of God, is aimed in particular at the Orthodox faithful of Bessarabia, that is the present-day Republic of Moldova, according to its page on the diocese’s site. It was founded in 2009 and celebrates on Sunday in the chapel of the Catholic church of San Gaetano, near the intersection between Corso di Francia and the Cassia Nuova. The liturgy time is not published, the priest answers at the number given by the diocese.

Has Via Gallia parish always celebrated in San Giovanni?

No. According to the monograph published by the diocese, the community was born in the autumn of 1999 in the church of Santa Maria del Buon Consiglio, in central Rome, and in 2000 moved to the San Giovanni area, to the Catholic parish of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. At first it celebrated in a hall used for meals for the poor, to be set up and taken down every week, then it obtained permission to use the parish hall, where it still celebrates today.

Who wrote this and on what sources

The text comes from the team at Tour Leader Pro, the Roman structure that designs itineraries, visits and cultural events across Rome and Lazio. Addresses, times and contacts reported here come from the official sources cited in the text as of the date indicated at the opening: for the parishes, the pages of the diocese’s site and the history page of the diocesan portal are authoritative. Let us know what you find changed.

Organizing a visit to a religious community for a group means first of all asking. A liturgy is not an event to book, and the presence of many outsiders has to be agreed with the priest, choosing the right moment and number, and explaining the purpose of the visit. For anyone planning cultural outings of this kind, a useful resource for people organizing group travel is Tour Leader Pro, with tools designed to coordinate visits and itineraries.

The Romanian Orthodox presence is one of the keys to reading today’s Rome, made of outlying neighborhoods, foreign communities and shared churches, alongside the city of monuments. Putting together the Rome of the basilicas, that of minority faiths and the surroundings, from the Castelli to the coast, takes a few days and some planning, and a useful resource for putting together a multi-day itinerary is Italy Planner.