The lore of Trastevere Rome
Trastevere means beyond the Tevere. Tradition says Rome took it in 640 BC as a buffer, so no invading army could hold the hill.
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c. 640 BC
King Ancus Marcius fortifies the Gianicolo, the hill of Janus above Trastevere, so no enemy can hold it, and bridges the Tevere.
Perseus / Perseids, Tufts UniversityDickinson College CommentariesUniversity of Notre Dame Rome Global Gateway, Rome guideRomewiseWikipediacatholic-resources.org (Felix Just, S.J.)
c. 38 BC
Legend says oil gushes where the church of Santa Maria stands. Orosius, a Christian writer, read it as a sign of Christ's coming.
University of Chicago (LacusCurtius, Bill Thayer)attalus.orgCorpus Cosmatorum, Università della Svizzera italiana
AD 109
After more than 50 km, Trajan's aqueduct reaches the Gianicolo. Trastevere gets good water from its own side of the Tevere.
Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)Archaeological Institute of AmericaFrontinus, via ToposTextUniversity of Virginia
AD 271
Emperor Aurelian begins 19 km of walls around Rome. They take in part of this bank, through the Porta Settimiana gate.
Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
537
The besieging Goths cut the aqueducts, stopping the hill's mills. General Belisarius floats new mills on boats below the bridge here.
University of Chicago (LacusCurtius, Bill Thayer)Archaeological Institute of AmericaTurismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
1140
Pope Innocent II tears down the church of his rival, Anacletus II, and begins today's Santa Maria on its 4th-century foundations.
Corpus Cosmatorum, Università della Svizzera italianaTurismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
1473
For the 1475 holy year, Pope Sixtus IV rebuilds a Roman bridge broken since the 700s. It is still called Ponte Sisto.
Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
1612
Trajan's aqueduct runs again under Pope Paul V. Its fountain reuses columns from St Peter's old basilica, which he is demolishing.
Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)Archaeological Institute of AmericaTurismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)Musei Vaticani
1643
Pope Urban VIII rings Trastevere and the Gianicolo with new walls, replacing a stretch of the Roman one.
Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
1849
French troops besiege Rome's new republic for a month. Garibaldi defends the Porta San Pancrazio gate, which is half destroyed.
1870
The Tevere floods Rome for four days, filling some houses to the third floor. Rome decides to wall in the river.
il manifestoTurismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)Museo di Roma in Trastevere
1926
The river walls are finished. Building them has destroyed Ripa Grande, Trastevere's port, where boats from the sea landed goods and fish.
Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)Museo di Roma in Trastevere
OUR PICK2026
On Piazza di Santa Maria, the aptly named Il Gelato di Santa Maria. Our pick for the best gelato in Rome.
Today
Today Trastevere is famous for its trattorias and its nightlife.
SOURCES
- Ponte CestioTurismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
- Cassius Dio, Roman History 48.43.4 (Loeb Classical Library, vol. V, 1917), on LacusCurtiusUniversity of Chicago (LacusCurtius, Bill Thayer)
- Orosius, Seven Books of History Against the Pagans, Book 6 (English translation)attalus.org
- S. Maria in TrastevereCorpus Cosmatorum, Università della Svizzera italiana
- Trajan aqueductTurismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
- A Recently Discovered Spring Source of the Aqua Traiana at Vicarello, Lazio (Taylor, O'Neill, Rinne et al.), American Journal of Archaeology 124.4 (2020)Archaeological Institute of America
- The Aurelian WallsTurismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
- Porta SettimianaTurismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
- The Basilica of Santa Maria in TrastevereTurismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
- Sixtus Bridge (Ponte Sisto)Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
- Fontanone del Gianicolo (Mostra dell'Acqua Paola)Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
- Le lapidi delle inondazioniTurismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
- Livy, History of Rome 1.33 (trans. Canon Roberts, 1912)Perseus / Perseids, Tufts University
- Eutropius, Breviarium 1.5, with notesDickinson College Commentaries
- Over the Tiber: discovering Rome's seven most iconic bridgesTurismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
- Museo della Repubblica Romana e della Memoria GaribaldinaTurismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
- Pietro Zander, 'La Basilica Vaticana: dalla tomba di Pietro alla cupola di Michelangelo' (exhibition catalogue essay)Musei Vaticani
- Alberto Olivetti, 'Il Tevere prigioniero dei muraglioni', 14 May 2021il manifesto
- Donatella Occhiuzzi, 'Legnaroli, pescatori e molinari: i mestieri fluviali nella Roma Pittoresca'Museo di Roma in Trastevere
- Una passeggiata tra le mura, gli archi e le torriTurismo Roma (Roma Capitale, official tourism portal)
- Il Gelato di Santa MariaWanderlog
- Il Gelato di Santa MariaSpinach guide
- Nominatim lookup of OSM nodes 1349038365 and 9805301403OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
- Procopius, History of the Wars 5.19 (Loeb Classical Library, 1919), on LacusCurtiusUniversity of Chicago (LacusCurtius, Bill Thayer)
- Janiculum HillUniversity of Notre Dame Rome Global Gateway, Rome guide
- Gianicolo hillRomewise
- Inside guide to Trastevere, Rome's emblematic neighbourhoodNational Geographic Traveller
- Trastevere in Rome: what to seeCarpe Diem Tours
- Pons SubliciusWikipedia
- Ancient Rome: the Tiber and its bridgescatholic-resources.org (Felix Just, S.J.)
- De aquaeductu (Bennett translation)Frontinus, via ToposText
- Waters of Rome 9 (2016), Taylor et al.University of Virginia
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. The print of Trastevere