Trastevere and Santa Maria in Trastevere

The name comes from the Latin “trans Tiberim”, across the Tiber. Cobbled lanes, ivy-covered façades and trattorias make it one of Rome's best-loved districts. At its heart is Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of the city's oldest churches, with golden 12th-century mosaics shining on its façade.

Did you know: The people of Trastevere call themselves “noantri” (“we others”) to set themselves apart from the rest of Rome; every July the district celebrates its traditional Festa de' Noantri.

✦ The legend: The basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere stands, by tradition, where in 38 BC a spring of oil welled from the ground and ran down to the Tiber for a whole day. Christians read it as the announcement of Christ's birth, and the spot is still marked in the floor of the apse with the words “fons olei”.