What started as a weekly digital newsletter on Substack – a curated guide to the 10 best cultural happenings in Rome each week – has now taken a physical form.

Ernest Bisgrove belongs to a generation of Italians often described as cervelli in fuga – literally, brains on the run. For many, departure was simply what you did. Bisgrove left Rome for Milan, then London, then Barcelona. Returning changed how he saw the city.

In San Lorenzo, a dense network of artist-run spaces, studios and cultural initiatives has taken shape within just half a square kilometre, building on a long tradition of self-organised art rooted in the neighbourhood.

Nearly two millennia ago, before paved streets and a buzzing nightlife, the landscape outside the Aurelian walls was mostly fields. The views were interrupted only by the Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le mura, built on the grave of the martyr Saint Lawrence (whose Italian name was, you guessed it, San Lorenzo).

We ask for a table. The room is full.

Tania Fauci looks up, reaches for a notebook, writes down a name and says to come back in fifteen minutes. No phone number, no app, no hostess desk. Just paper, pen and a system that exists entirely in her head.

At Sapienza University, a protest against gender-based violence sparked a wider debate about culture, tradition, and accountability in contemporary Italy. Set against a backdrop of recent femicides and legal reform, the essay argues that while the law increasingly recognises structural violence against women, the roots of the problem remain embedded in enduring social norms that cannot be legislated away.

The Aurelian Walls mark the southern edge. The cemetery of Verano, the largest in Rome, marks the east. Between them: one of the city's most stubbornly alive places. What follows is a selection of what’s worth coming back for, from somebody who lives in San Lorenzo.