Testaccio Tours

The Testaccio neighborhood is one of the old districts of Rome. It sits along the eastern bank of the Tiber River to the south of the city center, and in Ancient Roman times it was the equivalent of the city’s shipyards.

Many goods were brought into the city via the river, and were unloaded in Testaccio. The broken shipping containers, primarily clay pots of varying sizes, were discarded in a pile that eventually became the Testaccio Hill. As you can imagine, archaeologists have found all kinds of interesting things in and around Testaccio Hill - an Ancient Roman dump turned historic treasure trove.

Today, Testaccio is changing from a mostly working-class neighborhood, with several butchers still in the area, to a neighborhood with a growing reputation as a foodie destination and nightlife hotspot. It’s still not as well-traveled as the more central parts of Rome, but tourists interested in that so-called “authentic Rome” so many people look for may find some of it in Testaccio.