The Antico Caffè Greco

The Antico Caffè Greco in Via dei Condotti is probably the most famous Roman public venue, with its three centuries of illustrious history. Its birth dates back to 1760, with the foundation by a certain “Nicola di Madalena coffeemaker”, perhaps of Levantine origin, after whom it was named. The first literary testimony is attributed to Pierre Prudhon, who mentions it in a personal letter to Cesare Pascarella. At the beginning of the 19th century, Caffè Greco became the favorite haunt of German artists and intellectuals based in Italy. From then on, the illustrious patrons never ceased to crowd the elegant rooms of the Caffè, which, with its more than three hundred works of art displayed in the elegant halls, also constitutes the largest private art gallery open to the public in the world. Over the centuries, patrons lingering in the restaurant could easily have come across Giacomo Casanova, Giacomo Leopardi, John Keats, Percy Bhysse Shelley and Lord Byron (who were staying in the nearby pink little house in Piazza di Spagna), Antonio Canova, Gioacchino Rossini, Stendhal, Arturo Toscanini, Gabriele D’Annunzio, Friederich Nietzsche, Thomas Mann, Alberto Moravia, whose miniatures are exhibited in the Omnibus Room.

Antico Caffè Greco
Via dei Condotti, 86