Traditions of Rome
The eternal city, whose Easter blessing, pasta customs and saints' feasts are celebrated in the same piazzas for centuries.
Rome has been inhabited for nearly three thousand years, and its calendar is the Catholic year layered over Roman habits. Pilgrims arrive at St Peter's and the Pope blesses the city and the world at Easter and Christmas. Daily life is organised around the table, the bar and the piazza.
Holy days and street feasts
On Good Friday, a candlelit Way of the Cross is held at the Colosseum, led by the Pope. At Ferragosto, on 15 August, Romans leave the city for the sea. The Festa de Noantri in Trastevere, in July, parades a statue of the Virgin with candles and food stalls. At Epiphany, the good witch Befana brings sweets.
At the table
Roman cooking includes carbonara, cacio e pepe, amatriciana, carciofi alla giudia, fried Jewish-style artichokes, and supplì, rice croquettes. Coffee is an espresso at the bar, standing. Thursday is gnocchi, Friday is fish and Saturday is tripe, by old custom. Gelato is eaten walking.
Signature traditions of Rome
Also part of it, and being written: Befana (The Italian witch of Epiphany.), Carbonara (The pasta.), Cacio e pepe (The pasta.), Italian coffee culture (The espresso ritual.).
A trail idea for Rome
- Campo de' Fiori Visit the morning market.
- Trastevere Walk in the evening.
- St Peter's Square See the blessing.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, markets and festival dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
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Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Christmas: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Public domain, source
- Ferragosto: Ra Boe, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Festa della Repubblica: Anthony Majanlahti, CC BY 2.0, source
- Feast of Corpus Christi: Fennec ., Public domain, source
- Caffè: Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Conclave: User Maus-Trauden on de.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ta'ziyeh: Payam Moein, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- All Souls' Day: William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Public domain, source
- Pontifical Swiss Guard: The White House, Public domain, source
- Stations of the Cross: Tango7174, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pre-Cana: Jebulon, CC0, source
- Lord's Day: Globetrotter19, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Easter: Piero della Francesca, Public domain, source
- Saturnalia: Themadchopper, Antoine-François Callet, CC0, source
- Patronal festival: Ranieljosecastaneda, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saint Joseph's Day: Guido Reni, Public domain, source
- Bacchanalia: Nicolas Poussin, Public domain, source
- Marian feast days: © Ralph Hammann - Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ambarvalia: Alberto Pisa, Public domain, source
- Translation of relics: User:Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vinalia: JPS68 via photoshop, Public domain, source
- Tauroctony: Jastrow, Public domain, source
- Actia: Flavius Hermogenes at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source