Here’s the story of Pasticceria Regoli—a small but beloved spot in Rome’s Esquilino hill district, where baking meets history and everyday elegance. Founded in 1916 by the Regoli family, this pastry shop has quietly become a Roman institution. The surroundings of Esquilino matter: this hill—one of the city’s seven—once lay partly outside the ancient walls, was a zone of gardens, burial grounds, and later urban development, so a pastry shop here blends the local rhythm with deep roots in the city’s evolving story. What to try: their signature maritozzo with cream – a soft brioche bun filled with generous whipped cream. It channels a working-class breakfast turned modern classic. And in the photo, you see the tart topped with wild strawberries (fragoline di bosco) – that one is a real treat when it’s in season: crisp base, rich custard, fresh berries lightly dusted with sugar. Both desserts embody different facets: traditional simplicity and seasonal flourish.
Rome rises on seven hills, and this walk takes us across two of its most revealing ones — Esquiline and Palatine. The Esquiline, once the city’s eastern edge, still carries traces of imperial gardens, hidden nymphaea, magical gates, and traditions that survived the fall of the empire. The Palatine, the hill of the emperors, preserves stadiums, palaces, terraces and views where the entire history of Rome — Republic, Empire, Middle Ages, Baroque and modern Italy — lies in a single panorama. Along the way, we meet the monuments, streets and layers we uncovered in this journey: the baths of Trajan, the Domus Aurea beneath the grass, the Palatine stadium, the Forum’s arches and temples, and the buildings that reshaped Rome across two millennia. And we pause for something timeless: a pastry shop on the Esquiline that has kept its flavours unchanged for more than a century — a taste of Rome as constant as its stones.
