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Market · Roma, Lazio
Mercato di Testaccio
Covered market in the Testaccio neighborhood, with stalls selling fruit, cheeses, cold cuts and Roman street food. Good for having lunch like the locals.
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
Discover
About Mercato di Testaccio
Testaccio is a working-class neighborhood south of the Aventine, known as the birthplace of traditional Roman cuisine. There used to be the city's slaughterhouse there, and workers were paid in part with offal, the so-called quinto quarto. That’s where dishes like coda alla vaccinara (oxtail) and rigatoni con la pajata come from, and they still appear on neighborhood menus.
The Mercato di Testaccio is a covered, modern market with about a hundred stalls that functions as a local market. Romans go there to buy fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, cheeses and cold cuts, and there are also stalls selling shoes, clothing and household goods. Several stalls serve ready-made food: filled sandwiches, pizza al taglio (pizza sold by the slice), pasta and sweets, to eat at the market tables.
Below ground, excavations for the market’s construction revealed the remains of a horreum, a Roman-era storehouse, with hundreds of amphorae. The archaeological area can be visited by reservation.
Near the market are Monte Testaccio, an artificial hill formed by millions of discarded amphora fragments from the Roman river port, the Pirâmide de Caio Céstio and the Cemitério Acatólico, where the English poets Keats and Shelley are buried.
Before you go
Practical information
Cidade Turismo reviews its information regularly, but something may have changed. Check with the place before planning your trip.
How much time to set aside
1 to 1½ hours, including lunch.
Best time
In the morning or around lunchtime, Monday to Saturday. The market usually closes in the mid-afternoon and is closed on Sundays — check before you go.
How to get there
From Piramide metro station (line B), about a 10-minute walk. Trams 3 and 8 run nearby. On foot from the Aventino, the descent takes about 15 minutes.
Tip
Go hungry and try more than one stall. Many sell food to take away, but there are tables inside the market. To experience quinto quarto cuisine, look for the neighborhood’s traditional trattorias at dinner.
Official website
Get your questions answered
Frequently asked questions about Mercato di Testaccio
Does the Mercato di Testaccio open on Sundays?
It usually doesn't open. It operates Monday to Saturday, from morning until early afternoon. Check before you go.
Can you have lunch at the Mercato di Testaccio?
Yes. Several stalls sell ready‑to‑eat food like sandwiches, pizza al taglio and pasta, and there are tables inside the market.
What is the 'quinto quarto'?
It's the name given to the offal and less noble cuts of beef, the basis of Testaccio's traditional cuisine, such as coda alla vaccinara and rigatoni con la pajata.
What to see near the market?
Monte Testaccio, a hill made of shards of Roman amphorae, the Pyramid of Cestius and the Non‑Catholic Cemetery, about a 10‑minute walk away.