Rome: Down By the River
Images of Rome’s secluded Tiber riverbank
In my last article, I described how empty Rome felt on my first visit back there following the Covid lockdown. One area of Rome that always feels abandoned is the secluded Tiber riverbed.
The Tiber, which winds its way through the city, and has played such an important role throughout Rome’s history, is hidden away, its banks set several meters below the hustle and bustle of the streets above. Walking along the water’s edge, it is easy to think you have left the city behind, or rather: that the city has left you behind. Nature has reclaimed much of the riverbank, with trees, bushes and grass growing wild. Neither Romans nor tourists embrace the river like, say, people in Paris or London do. You might meet a jogger or two, and a few homeless people living under the bridges (there are supposedly 900 bridges in Rome), but you are pretty much left alone. I have no idea why this is so, but so be it.
Every time I visit Rome, I make a point of taking a longish walk along the riverbank (you can literally walk for hours), which is not only quiet and pretty but also very photogenic. Here is a selection of the photos which I took down by the river.
