The Auto Repair Garages of Rome

While walking in Rome, don't neglect the garages--the places where Romans get their cars and scooters repaired, or washed. Unlike many businesses, they are usually open to public view from the street. And they are in a variety of ways revealing--revealing of the interests and inclinations of the proprietors, who are invariably men. (We've seen a lot of women doing physical work in Rome--sweeping the streets, collecting garbage, delivering mail--but we have yet to see a female mechanic.)

Rome's a soccer town, and city-center Romans tend to be fans of the AS Roma team. 

Lots of AS Roma stuff, and a shout-out to the military, at left.

More sedate. Just a Totti jersey. Tools organized.

Sometimes you have to wonder how the mechanic can find anything. Not sure I would take my car here (below).

Garages represent the last bastion of sexism. Pin-ups are less common than they were, say, 20 years ago, but they're still around, here and there (far left and elsewhere in the photo below). This garage in the photo below (taken in 2018) is in Tiburtina. [And see the garage pin-ups Bill discovered in 2012 at the end of this post.]

Very organized, clean, highly decorated. 

Scooter repair shops often have a more subdued vibe:

This gommista (tire place) was closed when we went by, but the seranda was "revealing." 

Another tire place had created a waiting area for customers. Very "Los Angeles" we thought. 

It's not uncommon for auto repairs shops to do much of the work on the street. One could quibble about the use of "public property," but the activity is fun to watch. 

Steps from Piazza dei Re di Roma

This garage is interesting because of its location. It's cut into the Aurelian wall, in San Lorenzo. We saw it first on one of our "Wall Walks" in 2014, written up here.

And this garage is interesting because of what's inside and for sale: a 1965 1500L Fiat.  

We'll close with a couple of car-wash places. The first is an Auto Lavaggio a Mano--a hand car wash, probably do-it-yourself (fai da te). The attraction here is a large picture of Jesus (and a smaller one upper right, not too prominent).   

Christian car wash

And finally, from avant-garde Pigneto, a suggestion of who might be washing your car (as long as it's a Mercedes).

Bill (who else?)

A PS - In 2012, we found a set of pinups in a garage, and Bill declared it was the only one he had found to that point.  His post titled "Garage Art: the Pinup in Rome" is here.

Il Buchetto: "Authentic" pizzeria--and a brief tour of via Flaminia

Il Buchetto

Like most tourists, we're always on the lookout for "authentic" Rome eateries--whatever "authentic" means.  Here's our latest recommendation: Il Buchetto ("The Little Hole"), a hole-in-the-wall pizzeria at via Flaminia 119, a 5-10 minute walk from Piazza del Popolo.  We found the place in Mario Matteucci's La via Flaminia (2016), a frustrating yet valuable guide to the street and environs between Piazza del Popolo and the tangenziale highway a few miles north.  Matteucci describes Il Buchetto as famous in the area and beyond, crowded at all hours of the evening, serving the best pizza "del forno."  We can't say the pizza was the best we've ever eaten, but it was good, inexpensive, served promptly--and there's no doubt that the place is "authentic."

Nothing fancy

No such thing as an underage drinker in Rome and teenage boys love plentiful, cheap food, as we know.

While you're in the area, you might take note of some of the nearby "sights."  The building in which the pizzeria is housed (via Flaminia 125) is a worthy one, designed by one of Rome's premier architects, Marcello Piacentini, and completed in 1924.  It's decorated with grotesque masks (mascheroni) and a phrase by Cicerone: homo lucum ornat/non hominem locus, which we surmise has something to do with humanity and its need for the decorative.  The building was originally public housing, and in the early 1930s it housed 45 families made homeless by new construction in the EUR and Appio neighborhoods.

Piacentini building, 1924.  

Just south of the Piacentini building is the home of the Italian navy.  One can't tour the building except on special occasions, but the facade, on the Tiber, is worth a glance, and the giant anchors out front are good for a photo op.  It may be possible to enter and enjoy the great hallway that runs across the front of the building.  We toured the building in 2015.

Still home to small auto shops.  

The area across the street from Il Buchetto (and, if we recall, a bit south) has a long history of automobile repair and construction, dating to the early 20th century.  In 1918, the area housed the Carrozzeria Maraga, the factory where the Maraga roadster was produced.  Mussolini owned a Maraga.   During World War II, the Maraga factory was converted to the production of ambulances and military vehicles.  After the war, the Maraga facilities were abandoned, and some of its buildings became gardens and bed and breakfasts.  Even so, as you walk the lanes off this area of via Flaminia, you'll see that there are still some small automobile repair shops.

Also across the street but further north are the remnants of a much older past.  The large building directly across the street from the pizzeria is la Casina ("the little house") Vagnuzzi, seat of the Accademia Filarmonica Romana (Roman Philharmonic Academy)  (founded 1821).  The building was at one time a part of Villa Giulia, the residence of Pope Julius III (1551-1555).  Composer Franz Liszt stayed here when he was in Rome.

Dianne at the Fontana dell'Arcosolio, struggling with
Matteucci's disorganized (and in Italian) book.  

Beyond la Casina (and moving north), and usually tucked behind a row of garbage dumpsters, is the Fontana dell'Arcosolio.  The tub is of ancient Roman origins.  It wasn't always here, which is probably why Romans refer to it as "la fontana che cammina" ("the fountain that walks").

Nice wood door from 1930 could use some TLC.

Next door (still moving north), is the headquarters of Rome's notaries, a Fascist-era building dating to 1930. The wood door and its handle are of modest interest.

Palazzo Borromeo

Finally, at the intersection of via Flaminia and via delle Belle Arti, you'll find the Palazzo Borromeo . Although it's seen better days and is much changed from the original, it's an historically significant structure.  Dating to 1561, it was designed by architect Pirro Ligorio as a residence for Pope Pius IV.

Bill

Detail.  Hey, it still works! Nice fish.