Monti, the old neighbourhood behind the Colosseum: Michelangelo's Moses at San Pietro in Vincoli, Trajan's Markets, the mosaics of Santa Pudenziana, Santa Maria Maggiore and Santa Prassede, the fountain square, and where to eat and drink, as a walk that fits the churches' hours.
Monti is the neighbourhood right behind the Colosseum and the Imperial Forums: a slope of cobbled lanes, ivy and small shops between Via Nazionale and Via Cavour, with a fountain square at its heart. It's Rome's first rione (district), named for the hills it once covered, and the city's tourism office calls it one of the centres of Rome's nightlife. By day it has some of the city's greatest churches; by night it's where people who've spent the day at the Colosseum go for dinner.
Do it in the order of a day: the churches in the morning (two of them close at lunchtime), lunch, the ancient Trajan's Markets in the afternoon, then the square and the wine bars for the evening. The churches are free to enter; Trajan's Markets is the one ticketed sight (€15). For the Colosseum itself, Colle Oppio park and Nero's Domus Aurea, all a few minutes south, see our Colosseum guide, and for the Forum just over the road, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill guide.
Getting here: Cavour on Metro (subway) line B is about five minutes' walk from Piazza della Madonna dei Monti; Colosseo (lines B and C) is about ten. Churches here are working parish churches, so cover shoulders and knees, and visits pause during Mass. For the rest of the city, see things to do in Rome, and for a plan that ends here for dinner, our one-day Rome itinerary. For a budget, what a trip to Rome costs adds up meals, hotels and tickets.
The churches (go in the morning)
Santa Pudenziana, halfway up Via Urbana, is easy to walk past: it sits below the level of the street, down a short flight of steps. Inside, the apse has one of the oldest Christian mosaics in Rome, Christ enthroned among the apostles, who are dressed like Roman senators; the basilica's own site dates it to around 450 AD. Today it's the main church of Rome's large Filipino community.
Price: no ticket; donations welcome. Open: Monday to Saturday, 9am to 11:30am only. Allow: 15 minutes. The catch: those short morning hours, and it's closed to visitors on Sunday, so make it your first stop.
Mornings only, and not on Sunday. The church sits below street level on Via Urbana; it's the main church of Rome's Filipino community.
Santa Maria Maggiore, three minutes up the hill, is the big one. It's one of Rome's four papal basilicas, and Rome's tourism office calls it the only one that has kept its original early Christian structure: look for the 5th-century mosaics along the nave and over the triumphal arch, and the gilded coffered ceiling. Pope Francis, who died in 2025, chose to be buried here, and it holds the relic of the Holy Crib.
Price: no ticket for the basilica. The museum, the Loggia of the Blessings (with its 13th-century mosaics), Bernini's staircase and the rooftop terraces are a separate paid visit, booked on the Vatican Museums' ticket site. Allow: 45 minutes to an hour. The catch: it's a major pilgrimage church, so expect crowds; for visiting times, call the basilica's visitor line on 06 69886841.
One of Rome's four papal basilicas, and the burial place of Pope Francis (2013-2025). Nearest Metro: Termini (lines A and B) or Cavour (line B).
Santa Prassede, two minutes away down a side street, is the one most people miss and the one not to. Its Chapel of San Zeno is lined floor to vault in gold mosaic from the 9th century, with Christ in a medallion at the top; Rome's tourism office calls it perhaps the most important Byzantine monument in the city. The apse mosaic over the altar is from the same century.
Price: no ticket. Open: go outside Mass times: Mass is at 6pm Monday to Saturday and 11am and 6pm on Sunday, and visits stop during services, so come in the late morning. Allow: 20 to 30 minutes. The catch: the chapel is tiny, so only a few people fit at a time.
Two minutes from Santa Maria Maggiore. The Chapel of San Zeno, off the right aisle, is the reason to come.
San Pietro in Vincoli ('St Peter in Chains'), about ten minutes' walk back down Via Cavour and up the steps of the Salita dei Borgia, is the church with Michelangelo's Moses. He carved the horned, bearded prophet in 1513 for the tomb of Pope Julius II, a monument planned on a huge scale. Julius ended up buried in St Peter's in the Vatican, so the tomb here is empty, and the Moses at its centre has been here since 1545. Under the high altar are the chains that, by tradition, bound St Peter in Jerusalem.
Price: no ticket. Open: Monday to Saturday 7am to 12:20pm and 3pm to 6:50pm (5:50pm in winter, from late October to late March); Sundays from 9am to noon, then the same afternoon hours. Allow: 30 minutes. The catch: it closes over lunch, and tour groups crowd round the Moses; come before 11am or after 3pm.
Closed over lunch, 12:20 to 15:00. From Via Cavour, climb the Salita dei Borgia steps. Metro: Cavour (line B).
Lunch
La Carbonara, on the steep stretch of Via Panisperna, has been cooking here since 1906. Despite the name, it isn't named after the pasta: the first owner's husband was a charcoal-maker (carbonaro) with a shop across the street. It's a classic Roman osteria; order the carbonara anyway, or the fried vegetables, and the profiteroles.
Open: lunch 12:30pm to 2:30pm and dinner 7pm to 10pm; closed Sunday. Spend: it doesn't publish prices online. Book: on its site or on +39 06 4825176. The catch: it's well known, so book for dinner. For more Monti cooking, the best pasta in Rome picks La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali, on Via della Madonna dei Monti, for its gricia (€14), and for a cheap lunch, cheap eats in Rome has Zia Rosetta's small sandwiches on Via Urbana.
On Via Panisperna since 1906. Book on its site, by phone (+39 06 4825176) or by email.
Ancient Rome (the afternoon)
Trajan's Markets is a semicircle of brick shops, halls and streets stacked up the slope behind Trajan's Forum in the early 2nd century AD, and you walk through it: down the old Via Biberatica, past rows of vaulted rooms, to terraces looking straight over the Forums of Trajan and Augustus. It's also the Museum of the Imperial Forums, with the carved marble that once decorated them.
Price: €15 full and €9.50 reduced for non-residents, plus €1 if you book online; free for Rome residents with ID. Open: every day, 9:30am to 7:30pm, last entry an hour before closing. Allow: an hour and a half. The catch: it isn't on the Colosseum ticket, and much of the appeal is the view over the Forums, so skip it if you've already spent the morning in the Roman Forum.
Open every day, Monday included, and until 7:30pm, so it works for an afternoon. Entrance on Via Quattro Novembre, at the top of the slope above Trajan's Column.
The evening
Piazza della Madonna dei Monti is the neighbourhood's living room: a small sloping square with a fountain in the middle, where people sit on the steps with a drink from the bars around it, and the lanes running off it (Via del Boschetto, Via Panisperna, Via dei Serpenti, Via Urbana) are lined with small fashion, vintage and craft shops, wine bars and trattorias.
For drinks, the best bars in Rome has three in Monti: the old wine bar Ai Tre Scalini on Via Panisperna, La Barrique for wine with dinner, and the cocktail bar Drink Kong on Piazza di San Martino ai Monti, on The World's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list for 2026. Price: free. Metro: Cavour (line B), five minutes. The catch: the square is loud until late on warm nights, so if you're staying on it, ask for a room at the back.
Busiest after dark, when the fountain steps fill up. Metro: Cavour (line B), about five minutes' walk.
This route is about 2.5 km on foot, mostly downhill after the first climb, and it's timed around the churches: Santa Pudenziana opens only from 9am to 11:30am (not Sunday) and San Pietro in Vincoli shuts from 12:20pm to 3pm. Allow a full day with lunch and the museum.
Start at Santa Pudenziana on Via Urbana at 9am (from Cavour Metro it's about 8 minutes' walk east along Via Urbana). Walk about 3 minutes up to Santa Maria Maggiore, then 2 minutes round the side of it to Santa Prassede for the San Zeno chapel. From there, walk down Via Cavour, about 10 minutes, and climb the steps to San Pietro in Vincoli before it closes at 12:20pm.
For lunch, walk about 6 minutes over Via Cavour to La Carbonara on Via Panisperna (closed Sunday), or eat in the lanes below it. After lunch, walk about 10 minutes west to Trajan's Markets on Via Quattro Novembre, open until 7:30pm.
Finish at Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, about 8 minutes back down through the lanes, for an aperitivo on the fountain steps, and dinner nearby. From here the Colosseum is about 10 minutes' walk south, and it's lit up at night.
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Best time: the morning for the churches (Santa Pudenziana mornings only; San Pietro in Vincoli closed over lunch), the afternoon for Trajan's Markets, and the evening for the square, when Monti is at its best.
Sunday and Monday: on Sunday, Santa Pudenziana is closed to visitors and La Carbonara is shut, but the rest works. Trajan's Markets opens every day, including Monday, when many state museums close.
Shopping: Monti is one of the centre's best areas for independent shops: small fashion labels, vintage and design along Via del Boschetto, Via Urbana and Via dei Serpenti. Many open late morning, close for a few hours in the afternoon and stay open into the evening.
Eating out: a coperto (cover charge) isn't allowed in Rome; restaurants may charge for bread or service only if it's printed on the menu before you order, so check it, and don't feel you have to tip. Many Monti trattorias are small, so book dinner on Friday and Saturday.
Staying here: Monti is central and walkable, with the Colosseum and the Forum on the doorstep, and quieter than Trastevere, though the square itself is lively at night. Our Monti hotels guide has ten here, and where to stay in Rome compares Monti with the other areas.
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