Once in Italy everyone wants to admire its monuments and museums, enjoy walks in its coutryside and relax with some good wine and food.
Italy is famous worldwide for its deliciuos wines and is a typical experience to enjoy some wine tasting during an italian holiday.
The Roman district of Trastevere hostes some of the most famous and oldest “Osteria” in the entire city and is something really characteristic to walk around its alleys and stop around to eat and drink.
Initially these were places where people just went to drink, it wasn’t usual to eat outside as we do today as for most of the people wasn’t something affordable.
The innkeeper, in italian Oste, served wine in typical terracotta jugs of different sizes depending from the quantity the client wanted, but soon it was clear that with these kind of jugs it was too easy to cheat about the right level of wine, thus by the end of 1500 pope Sixtus V introduced a new law: wine had to be served in glass jugs to make sure the level of wine was correct, and if a innkeeper was caught serving a wrong ammount of wine he risked up until 3 years of jail.
In 1800 popes decided to introduce also food inside the Osterie to “absorb” the wine people drunk, outside these places were placed gates and people who could pay for wine and food entered, while who just wanted wine it could buy it and drink it once at home.
Trastevere had always been a popular area, one of the most ancient of Rome, where you can breathe the typical Roman atmosphere. Since the ’50 many artists, poets, videomakers and photographers visited this district and loved its Osterias.
Here is a picture of a typical night in Trastevere back in 1958. This lady started dancing and then undressing during the birthday of a famous noblewoman of that time, Olghina de Robilant. The coincidence was that a Paparazzo took this picture that immediatly became famous around the world, inspiring la Dolce Vita of Federico Fellini¹, one of the most brillant italian movie director of that time.
During our Trastevere Tour we take a pleasent walk throught its alleys while discovering its history and the most ancient osterie still serving wine and food nowadays. If you’re planning your Roman holidays you must check our website and discover all the experiences we suggest as you never stop discovering this amazing ancient city.
For more info about tours in Trastevere click HERE
For Food tours click HERE
