Monte Testaccio

In the heart of the eponymous neighborhood, this grass-covered mound, known locally as Monte dei Cocci, is effectively a huge pile of smashed amphora fragments (testae in Latin, hence the area's name Testaccio). Between the 2nd century BCE and the 3rd century CE, Testaccio was Rome’s river port. Supplies of olive oil were transported in huge terracotta amphorae that, once emptied, were broken and the shards stacked near the storehouses. Over time, this pile grew into a 54m-high hill – Monte Testaccio.