Rome's Antico Caffe Greco - Historic Coffee Bar, Writers, Artists, Goethe, Twain, Est 1760, Spanish Steps

☕ Caffè Greco, serving customers in Rome for over 250 years. Antico Caffè Greco, historic bar on Via dei Condotti near the Spanish Steps, opened 1760. Caffè Greco is the oldest coffee bar in Rome & the 2nd-oldest in Italy, after Caffè Florian which opened in Venice 1720.

Over the centuries the elegant Caffè Greco has provided a refuge for an eclectic range of intellectuals and characters such as Hans Christian Anderson, Byron, Buffalo Bill, Casanova, Goethe, Gogol, Ibsen, Henry James, Keats, Shelley, Stendhal, Mark Twain and Orson Welles. Caffè Greco has also been frequented by important 20th-c. Italian artists including Giorgio de Chirico, whose house-museum is located nearby, and Renato Guttuso who immortalised the bar in a celebrated 1976 painting (below). Antico Caffè Greco by Renato Guttuso de Chirico seated far left & cameo appearance by Buffalo Bill, centre).

Around 300 paintings, memorabilia and vintage photographs of the illustrious clientele cover the walls of the hallowed bar, whose gilt mirrors and grand piano help it to retain its other-worldly atmosphere. However visitors should be aware that Caffe Greco's prices do not come cheap. There is a significant difference in the cost between taking your coffee or cocktail standing at the bar and being served by a waiter while seated in one of the 8 antique rooms. In recent years Caffè Greco has reportedly faced the threat of closure over a rent increase however it remains open and enjoys a special place on Rome's culture tourist trail.
http://www.anticocaffegreco.eu. Via dei Condotti, 86, 00187 Roma RM, Italia
https://www.wantedinrome.com/yellowpage/antico-caffe-greco-romes-oldest-coffee-bar.html
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MORE:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/02/21/oldest-cafe-in-rome-saved-from-closure/

https://arkivet.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk/articles/caffe-greco/

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