Prati was drawn with a ruler. When Rome became the capital in 1870 the new state needed offices, courts and flats for its civil servants, and it laid them out here on a grid north of the Vatican — deliberately turning its back on the popes, with streets named for the men of unification. The result is the most un-Roman quarter in Rome: straight, ordered, and quietly grand.
Come up at Ottaviano and walk Via Cola di Rienzo down its full length. This is the shopping street Romans use, anchored by Castroni, the grocery-roastery where a caffè taken standing at the counter is part of the morning. Cut north to the Mercato Trionfale, hundreds of food stalls under one roof, then back through Piazza dei Quiriti and its scandalous caryatid fountain.
The walk ends grandly. Piazza Cavour opens green and palm-lined, and beyond it stands the Palazzo di Giustizia — so heavy with statuary that Romans call it il Palazzaccio, the bad palace. Walk the river side, look up at the bronze chariot, and take Lepanto home.
