The Coppedè District, Rome's Fairytale Corner Just Steps from Via Veneto

Rome is the city where finding silence seems impossible, and yet you need only stray a little from the great tourist axes to find it again. The Coppedè District, set between the Trieste quarter and the Parioli, is one of these refuges. It's a small cluster of buildings designed by the Florentine architect Gino Coppedè in the early twentieth century, an experiment in style that mixes Art Nouveau, medieval and Baroque references, and almost dreamlike decoration. Those arriving here for the first time struggle to believe they're still in the same city as the Colosseum.

The heart of the district is Piazza Mincio, with its Fountain of the Frogs at the centre, surrounded by buildings with evocative names such as the Villini delle Fate (the Fairies' Cottages), covered in frescoes, arches, stained glass and details that change at every step. Above the entrance on Via Dora opens a large arch from which a wrought-iron chandelier hangs: crossing under it is like passing a threshold into another dimension. Walking slowly, looking up at the façades, friezes and asymmetrical windows, is the best way to take in the details.

The great fortune of this place is that it remains largely unknown to mass tourism. There are no tickets, no queues, no stalls: it's a lived-in district, where people go about their normal lives, and for this reason it should be visited with respect and in a low voice. Twenty minutes are enough to walk through it, but it's worth returning at different times of day, when the light changes the colour of the stone.

To truly enjoy it, choose the early morning hours or the less crowded months, avoiding the height of summer. From here you can walk to Villa Torlonia and its gardens, extending a stroll well off the more obvious circuits of tourist Rome.

How to get there

The Coppedè district unfolds around Piazza Mincio, in the Via Tagliamento area of Rome. It's easily reached by trams 3 and 19, which stop at Piazza Buenos Aires a few steps from the entrance arch, or by the buses running along Via Tagliamento; the nearest metro stop is Sant'Agnese/Annibaliano on the B1 line. Access to the district, which is pedestrian, is free, and the reference airports are Fiumicino and Ciampino.