(map) Rome
Porta Portese, one of the largest flea markets in Rome, is a unique cultural experience for any visitor or native. Greetings and shouts from hawkers and vendors come from all directions, inviting visitors to individual stalls to find a bargain.
And bargains will you find! On everything from pins to bathtubs to CDs and antiques, (although unfortunately, rumor has it that many of the antiques are stolen).
The entrance to Porta Portese is a reconstructed wall originally built by Pope Urban III during the 17th century to fortify the Janiculum Hill against any future sacks of Rome. However, the market itself has some history, too. During World War II, Porta Portese was Rome’s mercato nero (literally, black market). Although most of the goods are now legal, the liveliness of this weekly Sunday market lives on.
Secret tip: to avoid the crowds and find the most interesting articles, go early…around 8 am!
- Contributed by Dawn Selak. Many thanks!
July 20th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
At last, a place we actually visited when we were in Rome! We did get some great bargains. It was our last day in Rome. If I ever return, I’ll be at the flea market as soon as I can be.
July 20th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Great to know; however I’ll miss seeing this market, as my time in Rome this November will be for a few days. I arrive on a Monday and depart Thursday a.m.
Any suggestions for me to visit another market on Tuesday or Wednesday of my visit?
July 21st, 2009 at 12:41 am
And the Porta Portese market is probably the best place in several continents to be robbed, cheated, conned, flim-flammed, and lied to. I have been there twice in probably 55 years of going to Roma and I will never go there again. I have NOT been robbed there because I was paying attention and am not normally so gullible. You should have mentioned that visitors need to be very, very careful and take nothing of value on their person. Also, I heard more outright lies than you hear in Congress on an average day.
August 22nd, 2009 at 1:12 am
…Been there, done that. It is a very fascinating place on Sunday morning. I wonder if it is still a place of danger for snatch-thieves. We were hit once by one of those. Be forewarned: do not do as foreigners often do, and that is take out a whole “wad” of money and peel off a couple of Euros to pay for whatever…and then put the “wad” back in your pocket. You are thereby “asking for it.” Still a great place for bargains and just plain “watching” everybody else. A friend looked down at a pile of junk on a sheet on the street; he asked how much they wanted for a piece of junk, and they said …? “Ten Thousand Lire” ($1.60 cents back then). He took it home, cleaned it up, and it was a solid silver plate with a little dent. He and his wife used to serve meat on that plate!