Monti is central Rome's secret urban village. Tourists dutifully tick off the Colosseum, the Quirinal hill, the imposing Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, but tend to ignore what lies between them, assuming "there's nothing to see" and so missing out on one of the city's most charming old residential neighbourhoods.
Once this was the Suburra a crowded inner-city district nestled right up against the Empire's centre of power, and eventually divided from it by a long wall, designed to protect the Forum from the regular fires that would break out in a district colonised by craftsmen, chancers and sex workers. Today its ochre-washed houses on cobblestone lanes are prime real estate, inhabited by architects, trust-fund screenwriters and other well-heeled creative types. But despite the gentrification, Monti retains a bohemian edge, and has become one of Rome's most rewarding areas for alternative fashion, gourmet street food and alfresco cafe culture.
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