Garbatella, Rome

[fumobici]

The Garbatella neighborhood is located near the Tiber, South of the city center. It started out as a rather utopian collective social housing experiment of blocks of small apartment buildings with worker-owned flats. These buildings are clustered around a green space/courtyard where the residents could garden and enjoy a bit of greenery. I gather most of these flats are now ordinary private apartments/condos.




The neighborhood is easily accessible from the city center via metro, the station is Garbatella near the river and you just walk uphill from the station to find it.



As you near the top of the hill up these residential streets you reach a piazza with this school facing onto it.



Lots of street art, much of it unabashedly leftist.



Alternative school Scuola Popolare Piero Bruno









Neighborhood theater/performance space, Pallladium.





Popped into one of the courtyards.





Loooved the facade on this restaurant. It's apparently Georgian food (not Y'alliban Georgia!) and very good.



An archway to access one of the communal courtyards.









I'm not generally a fan of mid/late 20th c. Catholic churches, but this one ain't bad.



I I fell in love with this little piazza nursing a big, blood orange spremuta in the shade surrounded by locals chatting at their tables. I think they know how great they've got it here. Just heaven. This is not a touristy place— not even slightly. I didn't see another tourist taking photos until I'd almost got back to the metro station.







There was a green square nearby where there were a bunch of food trucks setting up for lunch.







Really liked this arched entrance to another block of apartments around a green courtyard. One of the flats was for sale. I didn't inquire.



















This is a little social collective 0km restaurant/cafe/neighborhood hang out situated in a park. I was still too full from my hotel's ginormous complimentary Full English breakfast to give it a try, but the reviews are good and the menu is more than affordable.

[kerouac2]

Really excellent overview of an area that I have certainly never seen. I always regret that Rome does not have many tree lined streets like Paris, but I know that the climate is not the same, so it probably would not be possible.

[bixaorellana]

Well! What a wonderful slice of a real contemporary Roman neighborhood and a great bit of lefty heaven, too. Thank you for seeking this out along with the history of it.

Do I detect a hint of wistfulness in your comment about not inquiring on the vacant flat? If one had the desire & the wherewithal to live in a major world city, this area seems very tempting. The soft tones of the buildings add to the appeal.

Absolutely love the pictures and see that you caught some of your trademark good doors in there. How appropriate to include an overview of the dining opportunities in the neighborhood -- it is Rome, after all. And "Y'alliban Georgia"

[cheerypeabrain]

A very interesting and enjoyable report fumobici. The image with the ochre and orange apartments against a clear blue sky is particularly pleasing