Cinecittà & Tuscolano: neighbourhood guide
Labieno 39 is in Cinecittà, in south-east Rome along Via Tuscolana: a residential area with Metro A on the doorstep, the film studios one stop away and the Parco degli Acquedotti close by. Here is what to know before you arrive.
Piazza di Cinecittà and Viale Tito Labieno
Viale Tito Labieno starts at Piazza di Cinecittà, where Via Tuscolana meets the avenue and where you find Subaugusta station on Metro A. It is a neighbourhood of 1960s and ’70s apartment blocks, families and local shops: bakeries, cafés, greengrocers, supermarkets and pharmacies are all within walking distance, and the Cinecittà Due shopping centre is a few minutes away. It is not a tourist area, and that is the point: you live like a Roman and the evenings are quiet.
Cinecittà: the home of Italian cinema
The Cinecittà studios, opened in 1937, are just one metro stop away (Cinecittà station). Ben-Hur, La Dolce Vita and many Fellini films were made here; Fellini worked in the legendary Studio 5. The visitor route Cinecittà si Mostra and the MIAC, the Italian Museum of Audiovisual and Cinema, are at Via Tuscolana 1055 and open every day except Tuesday: check times and tickets on the official website before you go.
Parco degli Acquedotti
About 20 minutes on foot (or one metro stop to Giulio Agricola) is the Parco degli Acquedotti, part of the Appian Way Regional Park: some 240 hectares of meadows crossed by the arches of the Aqua Claudia (1st century AD) and the Acqua Felice (late 16th century). This is where La Dolce Vita opens, with a statue of Christ flown by helicopter along the arches, and it is one of the locations of The Great Beauty. The best time is sunset.
Quadraro: street art and memory
Four metro stops towards the centre, at Porta Furba-Quadraro, is old Quadraro, with the murals of M.U.Ro. – Museo Urban di Roma, a project started in 2010 by the artist David “Diavù” Vecchiato. Start from Via dei Lentuli. The district has a powerful history: the Nazis called it a “wasps’ nest” because of its resistance, and on 17 April 1944 almost a thousand men were rounded up and deported. A mural by Lucamaleonte on Via del Monte del Grano remembers it.
Getting around: Metro A
Subaugusta station is a 3-minute walk away. On Metro A towards Battistini you reach, with no changes, Termini (about 20 minutes), Repubblica, Barberini, the Spanish Steps (Spagna), Flaminio (Piazza del Popolo) and Ottaviano, a short walk from St Peter’s and the Vatican Museums. For the Colosseum, change at San Giovanni to Metro C or at Termini to Metro B: about half an hour in total. Towards Anagnina, one stop takes you to the Cinecittà studios.
Getting here from the airports and Termini
From Fiumicino: the Leonardo Express train to Termini (about 32 minutes), then Metro A towards Anagnina to Subaugusta. Alternatively, the FL1 regional train to Roma Tuscolana and Metro A from Ponte Lungo. A taxi takes 45–60 minutes and is metered (the fixed airport fare only applies inside the Aurelian Walls).
From Ciampino: ATAC bus 520 to Cinecittà metro station (about 30 minutes), then one stop on Metro A towards Battistini to Subaugusta.
From Termini: Metro A towards Anagnina, no changes, about 20 minutes to Subaugusta.