Italy · Lazio · Rome
Testaccio, Rome — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Testaccio is the twentieth rione of Rome, a former river-port quarter named for Monte Testaccio, a mound built from broken Roman amphorae.
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Where to stay in Testaccio
Where visitors usually base themselves, and why.
Beds cluster in a compact grid. Most rooms sit in the streets below Monte Testaccio, an easy walk from the Aventine Hill to the east and the Tiber along the western edge, where small guesthouses and a few hotels share the quarter with markets and trattorie. The Pyramid of Cestius and Porta San Paolo mark the southern gate, putting metro and rail within reach.
You should base yourself here for food, late dinners, and quiet nights away from the centre's crowds.
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Monte Testaccio
Streets ringing Monte Testaccio, the mound of broken Roman amphorae, hold trattorie and clubs cut into its flank.Find hotels in Monte Testaccioarriving by metro or railPorta San Paolo
Rooms beside Porta San Paolo and the Pyramid of Cestius open straight onto the metro and the rail lines.Find hotels in Porta San PaoloHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
Things to do in and around Rome
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
1- Centrale Montemartini Heritage
Churches & Religious Sites
8- Santa Cecilia in Trastevere Heritage 5th-century church
- San Francesco a Ripa Heritage
- San Crisogono Heritage
- Santi Bonifacio e Alessio Heritage church on the Aventine Hill
- Santa Prisca Heritage
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- San Saba, Rome Heritage
- Santa Maria dell'Orto Heritage
- Sant'Ambrogio della Massima Heritage
Castles & Historic Sites
8- Pyramid of Cestius Heritage Ancient pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery
- Pons Probi Heritage road bridge
- Circus Maximus Ancient Roman circus
- Cloaca Maxima sewerage system
- Monte Testaccio Artificial mountain made from broken Roman pottery
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- Aqua Appia first ancient Roman aqueduct
- Porticus Aemilia a portico
- Baths of Decius baths of ancient Rome built on the Aventine Hill in 252 CE
worth knowingacross 3 categories in and around Rome
About Testaccio
What are the main landmarks in Testaccio?
The mound itself is the landmark. Monte Testaccio rises from millions of broken amphorae, the discarded oil jars that gave the rione its name and the amphora on its coat of arms. Brick ruins of the Porticus Aemilia line the river, the warehouse that once stored goods landed at the Emporium.
To the south stand the Pyramid of Cestius and Porta San Paolo. The Centrale Montemartini, a former power station, displays Roman marbles among its old turbines.
What is the history of Testaccio?
Rome's river trade made the place. Ships unloaded at the Emporium, and the empty oil amphorae were carried up and stacked until they formed Monte Testaccio, the hill of pottery shards that gave the rione its name. Brick warehouses of the Porticus Aemilia held what the port landed.
The modern quarter was laid out as a working district, and in 1921 it was constituted as the twentieth rione of Rome. Its coat of arms still carries that amphora.
Where is Testaccio?
Testaccio fills a Tiber bend south of central Rome, between the river to the west and the Aventine Hill to the east, with Monte Testaccio at its core.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Testaccio?
Monte Testaccio: diners and night owls. Porta San Paolo: arriving by metro or rail.
Good for
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Updated October 2026