Prati: the elegant grid north of the Vatican
Via Cola di Rienzo's shopfronts, Piazza Cavour, and the marble bulk of il Palazzaccio. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Via Cola di Rienzo
The shopping spine of Prati, a long straight run from the Vatican wall to the river. Less frantic than the Corso and the Romans here are buying, not photographing. Start at the Ottaviano end and walk it slowly downhill.

2. Castroni
The old grocery-and-roastery at the heart of Via Cola di Rienzo — coffee beans, imported tins, a bar at the back. Order a *caffè* standing up and pay the counter price; sitting down doubles it across the city.

3. Mercato Trionfale
A short detour north of the spine: one of Rome's largest covered food markets, hundreds of stalls of fish, cheese and produce. Go in even just to look — this is where the neighbourhood actually eats. Closed Sunday.

4. Piazza dei Quiriti
A quiet residential square with a fountain of four caryatids that scandalised Prati when it went up in 1928. Worth the two-minute stand to see why the locals once wanted it removed.

5. Piazza Cavour
The green civic heart of Prati, all palms and magnolias, with the Waldensian church on one flank. Cross it toward the river and the full marble face of the courthouse rises ahead of you.

6. Palazzo di Giustizia (il Palazzaccio)
The supreme-court building, so vast and over-ornamented that Romans nicknamed it 'the bad palace'. Walk the river side for the bronze chariot on the roof. You can't go in, but the scale is the point.

Prati: the elegant grid north of the Vatican