Daily life in Pigneto

Shopping and markets

Every morning the pedestrian strip of via del Pigneto hosts the fruit and vegetable market, with fish, grocery and household stalls too: it is the centre of the district's daytime life. Medium-sized supermarkets are on via Casilina, via Prenestina and via dell'Acqua Bullicante; in the inner streets bakeries, grocers, butchers and shops run by families of Bangladeshi and Chinese origin survive, with long hours. The Nuovo Mercato Esquilino, in via Principe Amedeo, is twenty minutes on foot beyond Porta Maggiore.

Services, health, schools, library

Pharmacies are on via del Pigneto, via Casilina and via Prenestina. The nearest hospital is the Madre Giuseppina Vannini, on via dell'Acqua Bullicante, with an emergency department; the Policlinico Umberto I and San Giovanni are a few kilometres away. There are state nursery, primary and lower secondary schools in the district and licei in the adjacent districts.

The Goffredo Mameli library of the Biblioteche di Roma network is in via del Pigneto, on the pedestrian strip, with a children's section and a study room.

Green space and leisure

Green space inside the Pigneto triangle is scarce: the garden around the Torrione prenestino (a Roman mausoleum on via Prenestina), small playgrounds and the courtyards of the villini. For a real park people go to Villa De Sanctis towards Casilino, the Villa Gordiani park along the Prenestina, or Villa Torlonia and Villa Borghese by tram. The district keeps the archaeological remains of Porta Maggiore and the tomb of Eurysaces and, beneath via Prenestina, the first-century underground Neo-Pythagorean basilica, visitable by booking.

In the evening via del Pigneto, via Fanfulla da Lodi and via Braccio da Montone concentrate bars, wine bars, beer bars, neighbourhood kitchens, pizzerie and venues with live music and DJ sets, with a young, mixed crowd; the neighbourhood cinema on via L'Aquila programmes arthouse films and festivals. The character is informal and prices are below those of the centre.